flitter
10d ago
Reminiscent of this discussion on whether to list Lance Armstrong's objective achievements on wikipedia; https://www.themotte.org/post/3311/friday-fun-thread-for-october-10/375101
Although this thread is more about ethics outside the game (steroids are in the game) and chess. So maybe Bobby Fischer is a better comparison? His achievements aren't hidden but there's often an asterisk
The theory is that patents protect the people that figured out the ideas to share them and get compensation if people license them, which protects inventors from copycats and allows publishing patented ideas
In a world without patents: if i come up with a brilliant steam engine design, and go to a factory and ask them to make it for me, they could simply steal the design and claim they came up with it. And then the factory would have to carefully guard the secret techniques for making this new engine from rival factories that would steal the design.
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