I think on sufficiently close inspection, the lines between all types of abstract ideas - "algorithms", "copyrightable text or other art", "engineering techniqu

I think on sufficiently close inspection, the lines between all types of abstract ideas - "algorithms", "copyrightable text or other art", "engineering techniques", and "patentable technology" - will prove to be as vaporous as the distinction between "numerical" and "nonnumerical" algorithms. Even squishy, unmathematical art is ultimately the product of algorithms running in our brains - and probably simpler ones than we'd like to admit. Fundamentally, is there any difference between Vincent Van Gogh discovering that he can make pretty pictures by flicking his brush just so, and Benoit Mandelbrot discovering he can make pretty pictures with z => z^2+c ?