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I'm curious if this is true. Are there specific historical examples of this that come to mind?

rsynnott 2y ago
The closest real-life thing (and probably what a lot of believers in this particular conspiracy theory are drawing on directly) is probably the Phoebus lightbulb cartel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel It’s rather hard to imagine even something like that (and it’s pretty limited in scope compared to the grand conspiracy above) working today, though; the EC would definitely stomp on it, and even the sleepy FTC would probably bestir itself for something so blatant.
- marcosdumay 2y ago
  It only worked at the time because it benefited the public at large.
- dgoodell 2y ago
  And that’s not really the same thing. Did someone invent the LED bulb in 1920 and that cartel crushed it? Not really. In reality, the biggest problem was they had no incentive to invest in new lighting technology research, although they had the money to do so. It takes a lot of effort to develop a new technology, and significantly more to make it practical and affordable. I think the story of the development of the blue LED which led to modern LED lighting is more illustrative of the real obstacles of technological development. Companies/managers don't want to invest in R&D bc it’s too uncertain and they typically are more interested in the short term. And it’s hard for someone without deep technical knowledge to identify a realistic worthwhile technical idea from a bad one. So they focus on what they can understand and what they can quantify (). And even technical people can fail to properly evaluate ideas that are even slightly outside their area of expertise (or even sometimes the ones that are within it )
marcosdumay 2y ago
There are plenty of examples of good things being unavailable due to market manipulation and corrupt government. But I don't know of anything nearly as extreme as destroying an entire invention. Those tend to stick around.
pulvinar 2y ago
You're asking for historical examples of great inventions that were hidden from history. I only know of those great inventions that I've hidden... There are a number of counterexamples though. Henry Ford, etc.
- l33t7332273 2y ago
  Just wondering if you’ve actually hidden inventions you would actually consider to be great?

The closest real-life thing (and probably what a lot of believers in this particular conspiracy theory are drawing on directly) is probably the Phoebus lightbulb cartel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel It’s rather hard to imagine even something like that (and it’s pretty limited in scope compared to the grand conspiracy above) working today, though; the EC would definitely stomp on it, and even the sleepy FTC would probably bestir itself for something so blatant.

marcosdumay 2y ago
It only worked at the time because it benefited the public at large.
dgoodell 2y ago
And that’s not really the same thing. Did someone invent the LED bulb in 1920 and that cartel crushed it? Not really. In reality, the biggest problem was they had no incentive to invest in new lighting technology research, although they had the money to do so. It takes a lot of effort to develop a new technology, and significantly more to make it practical and affordable. I think the story of the development of the blue LED which led to modern LED lighting is more illustrative of the real obstacles of technological development. Companies/managers don't want to invest in R&D bc it’s too uncertain and they typically are more interested in the short term. And it’s hard for someone without deep technical knowledge to identify a realistic worthwhile technical idea from a bad one. So they focus on what they can understand and what they can quantify (). And even technical people can fail to properly evaluate ideas that are even slightly outside their area of expertise (or even sometimes the ones that are within it )

marcosdumay 2y ago

There are plenty of examples of good things being unavailable due to market manipulation and corrupt government. But I don't know of anything nearly as extreme as destroying an entire invention. Those tend to stick around.

pulvinar 2y ago

You're asking for historical examples of great inventions that were hidden from history. I only know of those great inventions that I've hidden... There are a number of counterexamples though. Henry Ford, etc.

l33t7332273 2y ago
Just wondering if you’ve actually hidden inventions you would actually consider to be great?