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The case against patents

Geir Isene 6 Comments

Thomas Jefferson once said:

Accordingly, it is a fact, as far as I am informed, that England was, until we copied her, the only country on earth which ever, by a general law, gave a legal right to the exclusive use of an idea. In some other countries it is sometimes done, in a great case, and by a special and personal act, but, generally speaking, other nations have thought that these monopolies produce more embarrassment than advantage to society; and it may be observed that the nations which refuse monopolies of invention, are as fruitful as England in new and useful devices.

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And the debate on patents are more relevant than ever. Big companies suing each other for billions has become commonplace. Collecting patents to fuel an arsenal of defensive legal leverage, tip-toeing the mine field of patents when trying to invent something new, using patents to stifle competition rather than innovate, forging patents alliances that centralizes power and keeps the smaller players off the playing field. The list goes on. And the net value is hardly innovation incentive.

I want to bring to your attention an article that details the economic effects of patents (link to the full article). The abstract reads:

The case against patents can be summarized briefly: there is no empirical evidence that they serve to increase innovation and productivity, unless productivity is identified with the number of patents awarded—which, as evidence shows, has no correlation with measured productivity. Both theory and evidence suggest that while patents can have a partial equilibrium effect of improving incentives to invent, the general equilibrium effect on innovation can be negative. A properly designed patent system might serve to increase innovation at a certain time and place. Unfortunately, the political economy of government-operated patent systems indicates that such systems are susceptible to pressures that cause the ill effects of patents to grow over time. Our preferred policy solution is to abolish patents entirely and to find other legislative instruments, less open to lobbying and rent seeking, to foster innovation when there is clear evidence that laissez-faire undersupplies it. However, if that policy change seems too large to swallow, we discuss in the conclusion a set of partial reforms that could be implemented.

The article is an excellent read and complements the book, “Against Intellectual Monopoly“.

Also check out Johanna Blakley’s neat TED talk on the same:

Scientology Drama

Geir Isene 41 Comments

The world is going down a “dwindling spiral”. Society is corrupt, immoral and irrational. Psychiatry is on its relentless quest to destroy civilization by drugging every adult and child to obedient zombies. Mankind needs to be saved, and the only hope is Scientology. The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology. This is a deadly serious activity. And if we miss getting out of the trap now, we may never again have another chance. Remember, this is our first chance to do so in all the endless trillions of years of the past.

This is the true Scientology attitude. And with this attitude, no wonder life gets serious, grim and tense. And no wonder there is so much drama among scientologists. Everything gets serious. To Kirsty Alley. To scientologists in the church as they disconnect from any and all that might, potentially criticize their strongly held beliefs and cognitive dissona.nce. It is deadly serious to scientologists who carry the torch outside the church.

I have experienced being in the crossfire of some silly drama on scientology-related forums and mailing lists. And recently in e-mail exchanges back-stage. The irony is that people armed with supposedly the best tools known to Man for handling social relations manage to entangle themselves in more drama than you can shake a stick at.

Scientologists need a new course – a requirement for practicing Scientology. The title of that course would be “Chillax – handling drama by not giving a flying shit”.

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Or learn to practice hugology.

Bear-Hug-

Invitation to critique my OT VIII success story

Geir Isene 445 Comments

Just found the success story I wrote when I completed OT VIII in June 2006. Since then I have evolved and my viewpoints have changed considerably. It is interesting to look back at what I wrote at the time. I would like to invite the readers of this blog to comment on my views at the time. I will answer any questions you have. Let’s roll 🙂

I never imagined that there could be so much gain available in such a short amount of time. There are no words to describe the massive amount of gain on this level.

My viewpoint is dramatically different. Everything has shifted. People around me are brighter, the sky is clearer and the birds sing more in harmony.

Barriers are removed from me being Tone 40. My creative thrust and ability has increased immensely.

I am stripped of must-haves. I don’t need to be in action. I don’t need to be productive. This makes me free to be more in action and more productive. I do not need to perceive, neither do I need to know. I can simply and freely perceive and know.

I have never experienced such a boost on the tone scale, in awareness and in productivity.

I love life. My love for others is profound. My respect and admiration for other people is deep and sincere.

Let me share a secret with you: If you are not OT VIII; If you had just one minute of my existence, just one minute, you would spend every hour awake to get yourself to OT VIII.

To the crew of the Freewinds: You are an amazing team, spearheading existence itself by making sure the first OT level is available to all. The eligibility was the most thorough I have seen. Since withholds makes a being not have, it also makes him not have gains. The OT VIII eligibility is indeed needed to make it possible for me to have such massive gain.

To RTC: You set the standard for what a standard should be. By meticulously ensuring the tech is standard and applied to the letter, you safeguard the future for all.

To LRH: There are no words invented to describe the respect and admiration I have for you. This I will make up for in action. I will not let you down.

Update: See my current views on this success story.

Scientology: How delusional can you get?

Geir Isene 60 Comments

This is sadly how off the rails one gets from remaining in the Truman Show.

First a definition; IAS = International Association of Scientologists, an organization created to facilitate donations from Scientologists for no service in return. Scientologists are required to donate huge chunks of money to remain in good standing with the church as they move on up the Scientology levels.

Here’s a quote from an e-mail intercepted by Mike Rinder:

…”what would the planet be like if there was no IAS?”. Great question, isn’t it? When you really take a look it does not take long to realize that without the IAS the world we live in would be way worse than what it is today, that probably the majority of the population would be on psych drugs and maybe worst of all, there would be no hope for the future.

When you start believing that Scientology in any context has a real impact on society outside of being a media joke, you are delusional.

Letting Scientology give meaning to your life

Geir Isene 30 Comments

A brilliant comment by Rafael on my previous blog post deserves a blog post all on its own:

“When I was a Scientologist, I KNEW everything…… or, at least the IMPORTANT things in life.
I was CERTAIN, I had all the answers, where I came from, where I was going, why I was here, what I was, Who I was…….

Scientology gave meaning to my life. Rich, beautiful meaning.

Now that I’m not a Scientologist, I’m just an old sock who knows almost nothing and struggles to make ends meet.

My life might be insignificant in this enormous universe which I’m not saving anymore………

But now I am the one who is giving meaning to it.“

Scientology: The two primary motivations

Geir Isene 217 Comments
  1. To help oneself
  2. To help others

These are the two primary motivations of a scientologist. Most scientologists are recruited via #1. Most scientologists stay because of #2.

Scientology may deliver excellent results to individuals, but it does not deliver what it promises (Clear, OT). Some cling to the hope that it may some day deliver on its promises, but most people get the drift and leave – though it may take a while due to family ties or difficult social situations.

The church knows that it cannot deliver on its promises. Thus the bait is switched into exploiting the motivation to help others. Utilizing whatever benefits the individual may have gotten in Scientology into hooking the person on the benefit it may have for others. The person may view himself as a difficult or different case and that others will understand and benefit better from Scientology.

Failing to help oneself via Scientology, scientologists may cling to the hope that the church will help others through its social betterment programs. These programs are far and away and only reported through over-the-top false PR during the international Scientology events. And the scientologist may continue to believe that his time and money is best donated to the church. And as the church harshly penalizes listening to any criticism of itself and decries any independent research, the parishioner is left clueless – continually bombarded by the internal church PR.

It amazes me that I often hear a person, after reading a critical book on Scientology, raising the question of why scientologists remain in the fold. It does put such books in a bad light as a book on Scientology surely should be able to answer such a basic question. The answer lies in the above.

Statistics as another way of stifling creativity

Geir Isene 3 Comments

For some odd reason, I accidentally stumbled across a comment here on my blog from more than 2 years ago. Beyond the point regarding Scientology, Charles Bourke Wildbank made an excellent point about the retrospective nature of using statistics in business. While history and statistics do have their valuable uses, they can also stifle creativity. Interesting accidental dig, methinks 🙂

When I did art for Scientology many years ago, there was an enormous amount of micromanaging and stifling of creativity. I just said, “I’ve had it!” The problem with statistic hounding is that they are based upon YESTERDAY and OLD STUFF DONE, yet they wish to REPEAT those actions. That is NOT CREATIVITY. Every artist on staff I have known no longer work for Scientology today. Small wonder. We want pioneers and all artists are of the pioneering sort. There are others who pretend to be artists and paint “tradition”. That is their choice. It allows them to brush up more skill until they are ready to make that LEAP.

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On timelessness and death

Geir Isene 65 Comments

I have found this quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein intriguing:

“Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.“

Grasp the moment with love

Geir Isene 15 Comments

Touching your heart, your soul, your life
His inquiring eyes exploring yours
Taking hold of your breath, your self
The gentle feeling of a teardrop, but of course

He is new to this world, to yours
Which will never be the same again
Your futures will forever run a different course
When you end yours and his goes on – this will be then

Sad in a way as the moment evaporates
But most precious as you fully grasp
The richness of emotions, value, of what it creates
The change, the love, flowing past