"Dude, I Was Totally Gunna Say That"

"Should ideas be considered property?"

Much like the air we breathe or the water we drink, ideas are for everyone and belong to no one. That is my opinion anyhow - one that I am confident has been, at some point in time, likened to the communal properties of both air and/or water or at least presented in a similar fashion. Am I a rip-off for having this opinion? Maybe, according to the principles of intellectual property. But if these opinions were formulated as a culmination of everything I have ever learned, seen, watched or done, then every thought I have is also influenced by those experiences, rendering my entire thought process a total hack job. And so what's next in the progression of owning ideas? Will the thoughts in my own head one day become property of some corporation? Doubtful, but you can see how this has already snowballed and will continue to roll if we don't have a major shift in our thinking paradigm. The good news is, I don't have to feel like an unoriginal, uncreative sack of anti-talent...

According to Kirby Ferguson, "everything is a remix," and I couldn't agree more. His 4 part video series, all of which can be viewed here, are definitely worth watching and shed thoughtful insight on the idea that everything is essentially a remixed version of something else; there may have been some truly original ideas scattered about in our world's history, but true originality is essentially extinct. There is too much connectivity and influence to avoid the subconscious programming that is taking place 24/7 in modern society. I like to think of originality as being the first tree in the forest that grows and dies, ultimately becoming fertilizer for all of the other saplings in the surrounding patch of forest that greatly benefit from the life and death of the first tree. The saplings then grow bigger and stronger than the first tree ever imagined, due to increased nutritional properties of the soil (thanks, deadwood), all the while competing for space, exposure to the sun, nutrients, and water.

Unlike trees, our competition is usually monetarily based - even if the money trail is hard to find, it's still there somewhere - and like the saplings, we are hungry to survive. When ideas start to be considered as property, the nasty side of humanity is exposed. In Ferguson's video, he references a quote by Steve Jobs that demonstrates just how vicious we can be: "I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” Thermonuclear war? Really Steve? That's pretty hard core. If you're not familiar with the effects that thermonuclear war have had on the world, I suggest you check this out.