At what price secrets? Fear, scarcity and protection for what purpose?
In this age of everything being online and everyone’s phone being able to be tapped, what is left to be private?
Add to this the ridiculous mess of the patent system, particularly the US patent system, where theft, pillage and outright manipulation through idiosyncrasies of language are normal practices.
A sensible question to ask is, what is the price of secrets?
When we have zero to hide we are incapable of being humiliated or shamed.
If we really have a new technology that is going to rock the world, then surely there is a better way than trying to keep it enclosed in a boundary. Besides, show me any idea that ever occurred in a vacuum? It takes so many people for me to have one good idea. Who exactly gets the credit?
Secrets are good for surprise birthday parties.
But when we put an enclosure around something because of fear of being exposed or fear of being ripped off, is it a true protection we are seeking? And what is the time and energy cost of that protection? I would posit that at some point, it becomes too high.
My worldview on this matter…
If you are going to swim with sharks, then you better be a bloody shark. I prefer not to swim with sharks.
Openness and transparency are a lighter way to live. If there is something you are not able to be open about, tell the truth about why.
If you have something to hide, like a failure or past mistake, then the failure has more hold over you than you do over yourself. When you can talk to anyone about anything that you have felt shame over before, then you are done with that shame, and that equals freedom. Freedom is a wonderful feeling to have.
If you have to protect your idea or your technology and the act of this protection becomes the central force of your life, then soon everyone will become a suspect. This is no way to live.
Sure, there are variables of this. And timing. But when we propagate fear and scarcity, then we get more fear and more scarcity.
Is this the world you want to live in?
