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> Mathematicians,physicists also do a lot of research and they do not ask you to pay them to use their findings. What? of course they do. The moment a physical
by tathougies 7y ago
> Mathematicians,physicists also do a lot of research and they do not ask you to pay them to use their findings.
What? of course they do. The moment a physical reaction or process is applied to industry, you can bet someone will file a patent.
At engineering school, it is common for professors, students, etc, to patent technology they invent. Colleges have entire departments.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago... which is an unfortunate example of privatization of a public good. The public pays for research, and an individual captures the profits.
- tathougies 7y agoNot all research is publicly funded. Historically speaking, most of it was not, until relatively recently. I don't disagree that publicly funded research should be public, but I think applying that universally to say that all patents are evil is rather strong and leaves no room for private investment.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago"Relatively recently" here means pre-WWII. Basic research has been heavily reliant on government funding for decades. Before that, basic research was on a much smaller scale.