General > General Technical Chat
Why do the big "guns" get more credits for their technical skills?
m k:
--- Quote from: m k on September 21, 2022, 01:13:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: themadhippy on September 21, 2022, 12:36:20 pm ---Id argue many early inventors were no more than patent thiefs who had enough cash to pay off the original inventors,marconi didnt invent radio,bell didnt invent the telephone and edision didnt invent anything but all get credited for others work
--- End quote ---
Nobel invented something.
(1/4)
--- End quote ---
Tesla also.
Is Lavoisier a big name?
At least he kicked flogiston out.
(3/6)
It's publicity and herds that want to be with winners.
CatalinaWOW:
Many of the arguments here talk about "who invented something". And the answer is rarely singular, and heavily dependent on your definition of the thing.
Who invented the computer? Was it the unknown asian who invented the abacus? Pascal who invented an adding machine? Jacquard who invented the idea of programming? Babbage who combined those ideas into a single machine? One of the several who implemented the concepts with vacuum tubes and/or relays?
All who contributed to the magic machines that we embed in everything else added part of that. I think we all agree that some contributed more than others. That met the standard supposedly set for patents "something not obvious to a practitioner in the field"
I don't adulate those key contributors, but they have earned my respect. I do agree that the cult like following some of these people have is silly. Edison and Tesla being obvious examples.
But will also state that Edison and Musk are prime examples of people who are victims of another kind of cult, those deriding them as mere thief's of others work. Obviously their products depend on the creative work of a great many people. While I don't personally know, I doubt if Musk is the actual creator of most of the innovations in the Falcon 9 or the Tesla car. But he is the one with the product vision, and the one with the commitment to carrying it through. Same with Edison. People of that sort deserve respect.
The earth might be better off without these kinds of people, but it would be an earth without people able to discuss the problem with others worldwide, and time to have the discussion while sitting in a comfortable climate controlled space.
pcprogrammer:
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on September 21, 2022, 01:39:30 pm ---The earth might be better off without these kinds of people, but it would be an earth without people able to discuss the problem with others worldwide, and time to have the discussion while sitting in a comfortable climate controlled space.
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Unfortunately that is something we will never know to be true or not. Because it is not like an experiment that can be done over and over with different sets of parameters.
Would be interesting if it could be done though.
There might well have been others with some vision about communication between computers and we might still have ended up where we are today, and maybe in a better world, but most likely not due to human nature as it is. Competitive, need to rule over others, greed, etc.
pcprogrammer:
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on September 21, 2022, 01:39:30 pm ---But will also state that Edison and Musk are prime examples of people who are victims of another kind of cult, those deriding them as mere thief's of others work. Obviously their products depend on the creative work of a great many people. While I don't personally know, I doubt if Musk is the actual creator of most of the innovations in the Falcon 9 or the Tesla car. But he is the one with the product vision, and the one with the commitment to carrying it through. Same with Edison. People of that sort deserve respect.
--- End quote ---
Yes, it works both ways when you are in the spotlights. I would not want to walk in their shoes. That kind of being known and having money also brings a lot of problems.
m k:
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on September 21, 2022, 01:39:30 pm --- While I don't personally know, I doubt if Musk is the actual creator of most of the innovations in the Falcon 9 or the Tesla car. But he is the one with the product vision, and the one with the commitment to carrying it through. Same with Edison. People of that sort deserve respect.
--- End quote ---
That is exceptionally exactly that.
Some have said that people like Musk appears only few times in a century, the one right way not so level headed with an opportunity and assets.
Gates and Jobbs were not that, they surfed on the wave that was there no matter what and won, when Edison and Must made the wave, or forced it.
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