Should Profit Belong to Scientists or to Businessmen?

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
I keep on hitting the same wall again and again, so I might as well went it out here, since I am sort of regular.

My big dilemma is should I be a businessman or a scientist.

Business is really simple thing and most people who call themselves businessman celebrate the motto of all the businesses, big and small: "Rinse and Repeat".

But "Rinse and Repeat" is not enough for me. I want to discover. I get jolt of adrenaline each time I learn something new. I really do love both science and biographies of thinking men, from Archimedes to Elon Musk.

Where my problem lays, is that discoveries cost money and time, same as any other enterprise, yet effectively, after your patent expires, anybody can use it. It's like, for example, lets say one buys and renovates a house, and than rents it out to some tenants. But after 17 years, tenants can stop paying rent. That's how intellectual property works now. So somebody makes relatively straightforward investment into a property and that property belongs to him or his discernment for next thousand years. Yet if you invest into intellectual property, that IP belong to you just for 17 years or so. I mean, what's the point. Everybody should invest in property and forget about developing new technologies. I think that intellectual property should last forever same as material property. Why should $1,000 invested into one type of investment last forever and into other type of investment just a limited time?

Even worst is when one looks at economy, more than anything else US economy, that at a present the whole economy is run on knowledge. Simple proof is that 200 years ago at least 90% of businesses didn't even exist: like telecommunication, oil extraction, transportation, computing, Internet etc. Yet, knowledge has almost no value in comparison with business skill. I mean, to start business one just needs money and a common sense. Essentially, you just need everyday banal emotional intelligence, so you can keep customers happy and that's all.

In short, we owe our huge wealth to scientists, not in a slightest bit to businessman. Businessmen are just 'husbanding' the 'rinse-and-repeat' circular motion and do not produce any NEW value. Businessman produce profit, which is not a new value.

US is great example of dominance of importance of science over business, because America owes even it's inception to a scientific discovery (ref. Columbus etc.). Not to mention that over the last 300 years America had been scientific and technological leader of the world. If it wasn't for all these technologies developed over the last 300 years, would US be able to feed and create employment for it's 350 million people?

Yet, I find it totally humiliating that scientists have, cap in hand, to go and beg businessmen (and politicians) for research money. While all that money was created by scientists in the first place. I can give you dozens of examples of when those who created technologies ended having to beg for money. It's so sad that when NASA got some $300 M for a new satellite, 140 scientists submitted proposals, but only about 5-6 would make it to production. Wright brothers never made much money from selling aeroplanes, were completely ripped off by business people and ended up, luckily, investing in property. Nikola Tesla, who gave world both AC and radio, died penniless in New York. Henry Ford built Ford Motor Company on not paying royalties on patents. Scientist who invented Internet got almost nothing for it and Internet is at least 25% of US economy today. There is this brilliant scientist (forgot his name again) who invented both RAM memory and Lithium Ion battery. He got Nobel prize, but almost no commercial royalties for two products that underpin economic power of today word. Etc. Etc.

All the business people I met so far are essentially "one-trick-ponies" who just understand cash flow in their own business. They completely 'freeze' if they have to step out their "rinse-and-repeat" comfort zone.

What I am trying to say, we are not rewarding the most able men. And it's not even about the reward, but about progress and productivity. If all these scientists just had more money to do the research, wouldn't economy grow even faster for benefit of businesses themselves.

Why than scientists are so poorly rewarded in comparison to businessman (who are not necessarily the brightest fellows)?

In short, I see business as less worthy endeavor than science and I would say that business should be paid far less than scientists.

Do you agree or disagree?
 
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nivek

As Above So Below
I think all should share in any profits, anyone who has their hands in it or contributed in even a small way should gain some of the profits and benefits of the outcome...

...
 

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
Of course. Nobody should work for free.

What I am arguing is that contribution of businessman is of lower financial value than that of scientists. Business is essentially based around maintaining relationships or emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is rudimentary form of intelligence, because, without a shadow of doubt, if it was only for emotional intelligence we would still be in a stone age.
 
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Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
upload_2020-1-3_13-51-6.png
Economic Growth

This is what I am talking about. From 13th to 21st century average income grew about 36 times. That graph shows growth of the global economy since 13th century. Exponential growth of the financial wealth coincides with rise of science, say from 1800s. None of that growth and welfare we enjoy was delivered by business. It might be hard to accept, because of persistent brainwashing, but that graph proves that business people actually don't create financial wealth. Businesses existed in the old Babylon 5,000 years ago and business didn't create any dramatic growth for 5,000 years since than (yellow graph). Than suddenly, approximately at a beginning of 19th century, science kicked in and economy had this unstoppable growth (blue graph).

So, if business people don't contribute at all to creation of the financial wealth, why are they rewarded disproportionately to their contribution. It is clear from the above growth that it is scientists to who create financial wealth and that they should be millionaires and billionaires.
 

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