Over at my tech blog at Forbes, I’ve counted down the Five Best Inventions of the Founding Fathers in honor of Independence Day.
And yes, if you’re wondering, Franklin does make the list twice.
The Five Best Inventions of the Founding Fathers
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8 responses to “The Five Best Inventions of the Founding Fathers”
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To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
And the Found Fathers’ interest in the useful arts prompted them to enshrine The Most Powerful Idea in the World in the Constitution, i.e. the protection of the right to profit from your ideas (for a limited time). Thus ensuring we shared in the advances in the well-being of mankind brought forth by the industrial revolution.
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While it speaks well of Franklin and Paine for not seeking Patent for their inventions, we are indeed fortunate that Patent was included in our Constitution as the right of a person to a profit from their idea is what makes progress. Many today might lament the idea of the industrial revolution that resulted from the innovation revolution but they do so only because those many were inspired to invent by the prospect of profit giving them the time to lament rather than scrambling to eek out a subsistence in a harsh and unforgiving world.
