Building A Database Of Every Human Idea
from the shut-down-the-patent-office dept
I've seen a number of times the fake quote (yes, it's a myth) from a patent office official saying that "everything has been invented" and that the patent office should be shut down. It seems that not everyone has realized that the abilit of the human brain to continually come up with new things may be limitless. A professor in Japan believes that the number of human ideas is finite and that he can build a database housing all of those ideas. He thinks that such a database can be useful in understanding cultural differences. It's definitely an interesting project, and (depending on how it's implemented) could lead to some very valuable discussions - but I doubt it could ever be a "complete" mental map of all human ideas.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Do we really want to know?
Muslim societies have come up with ideas such as having "men" and "women" lines at supermarket cash registers, but such ideas would incur wrath in the West. On the other extreme, some radical lesbians have proposed that women be required to use urinals, but such ideas wouldn't sit well with the masses either.
Then there is also the know-how of how to commit crimes or terrorism. Do we really want every 12 year old out there to know how to seriously hurt people easily?
Such a database will probably have to have differing levels of access for the masses, for intellectuals, for law enforcement.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]