The interesting bit is if you read his letter with the attached question and answer session, he talks about how trivial items that could be discovered by a stud

The interesting bit is if you read his letter with the attached question and answer session, he talks about how trivial items that could be discovered by a student on their own shouldn't be patented. It's a great point because it seems there is a mutually exclusive situation here: either teachers (starting from grade school) are inhibiting students from becoming creative with math and making proofs, in which case they are told to just learn existing material (that is presumably patented and in the course work) so as not to deviate from the other children. Or they are offered the other option in a software patent free world of ideas where they can think for themselves. Lockhart's Lament: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130499 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130499