So people can make money with their minds, instead of just their hands? Patents, in fields where they make sense (not software, at least not without 1000x bett

So people can make money with their minds, instead of just their hands? Patents, in fields where they make sense (not software, at least not without 1000x better patent offices) are also useful because they require disclosure up front, allowing immediate cross-fertilization, so to speak ^_^ (very important in Silicon Valley's meteoric development of ICs), and a limited life time. Without them, entities resort to trade secrets, which makes everyone indefinitely impoverished, ADDED: including the trade secret holder, because of that lack of cross-fertilization. Note the people once asked this question about land. For farms, in fact....