Does that mean new ideas provide no value? Also, all modern patent systems are intrinsically based on this reality, to the extent that we have a problem with m

Does that mean new ideas provide no value? Also, all modern patent systems are intrinsically based on this reality, to the extent that we have a problem with maintaining a high bar on obviousness. Today, patentability is based on how much an invention differs from the prior art, which is based on the premise that all new innovations are built on top of previous ones but we still want to reward "worthy" inventions. Unfortunately, obviousness is so hard to quantify without subjectiveness and hindsight bias that the commonly adopted objective measure of "worth", is the delta from the prior art. You find a delta the examiner cannot refute with prior art, you get a patent.