Bernard of Chartres is first credited with noting that we may seem great, but th
ID: 3889046 • Letter: B
Question
Bernard of Chartres is first credited with noting that we may seem great, but that we are dwarves on the shoulders of giants. This doesn't mean that we can't accomplish amazing things, but that we are able to do so because many came before us to lift us up to where greatness is possible. A modern view of intellectual property, though, makes it harder to stand on any shoulders at all -- people hoard their information, seeking to share only when it is in their financial best interests. The rise to greatness has been slowed by the pursuit of temporary gains.
Both sides have their merits -- if I use my skills to do something amazing, I should gain from that, and in a way I can recognize. But, without turning those gains over to the world, I limit the growth of the world. Giving those results over too quickly, though, removes the tangible incentive to strive for success.
A third view is that the individual owns none of their ideas, and that any new concept must be shared to create greatness in all. It is a noble idea, but hard to sell to those that may think amazing things while starving and homeless.
Where should we set our rules for sharing thoughts? And, once setting those rules, how should we handle the inevitable exceptions that will arise? Who, really, owns your brain, and to what extent? Do you owe society, or does it owe you? Do these rules make sense for ideas of little value, or even anti-value?
Start your discussion topic with a position statement, and defend your position with at least two citations that support you. Do not draw from the law as your aid as it is flexible and moves as the whims of a population dictate. Instead, show specific cases, events, or failings where your position is strengthened as a result of that point.
Explanation / Answer
Information is a thing that is not readily available in our society, especially those information which will do good to an individual but potentially risking the individuals who previously knew this information and did not wanted to share this as they felt it would risk their well-being.
Thoughts are something that is random and unfiltered.
Sharing these, unfiltered thought can prove to be a threat to the sharer as well as to the people who is listening to the thoughts.
Before sharing the thoughts, we should keep the following points into consideration.
Exceptions can arrive any time when your brain and heart will contradict. While the emotions in you will tell to share the thought but the brain will stop you from doing it to avoid consequences after sharing the thought.
In this case, a consultation with an expert can be taken, where you can share your thought without any hindrance and let the expert guide you on this.
If such an expert is not available, you can ask a potential audience to gauge your thought without giving out much information and just in brief giving the person an overview of your thought.
In any such exceptions, we should always think about the consequence and take a decision accordingly.
The brain is a slave of various things like the company/institution you are a part of, the society you live in and the people you are working with. But they cannot control our brain entirely. They can influence our brain to share/not share/ generate thoughts as to an extent. But it is ultimately entirely upon the individual to decide what to do and not to let others influence his decision.
Society has given us various good things from it, so yes we owe to the society.
Also the society owes to me as well because it is our duty to give something good to the society for the progression and betterment of it.
Yes the rules in most of the cases make the sense of ideas valuable as they guide us to give the proper ideas to the society and customizing the ideas and making in valuable from the societies point of view.
For an example, a scientist wants to share an idea to the society about his recent discovery. But the scientist has to thing after sharing the idea will it befit him only, benefit the society only, or benefit both. Accordingly, he will modify the information he is going to give to the society. Also if he thinks that sharing the information in social media can be a threat then he will publish proper copyrights to his information and share it with certain people with the condition that not to give away the information to the people not intended to given to.
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