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In addition to thinking in words, quantities, and pictures, it's useful to think in concepts. To promote conceptual thinking, recognize similarities in what's different.
Consider the concept of "positive feedback." In a sound system, if a sound gets into a microphone, is amplified, comes out the speakers, and get back to the microphone slightly louder than before, then that sound quickly becomes the loud high-pitched squeal called "feedback." Positive feedback also occurs in the economy. When employees get a cost-of-living increase, the employer increases the price of their products or services to cover the increased salaries, that raises the cost of living for employees in other businesses, those employees get a cost-of-living increase, that employer raises prices, and the original employees are faced with a further increase in the cost of living. This similarity between sound systems and the economy reveals that strategies for eliminating feedback in a sound system offer creative ideas for dealing with a problem of high inflation.
Because the current economic problem is recession, not inflation, let's look for other similarities between economics and sound systems.
A sound system requires energy, such as from a wall socket, to make small signals at the microphones become large signals at the speakers. Analogously, in a manufacturing business, capital investment is needed to pay for the resources (such as energy, raw materials, and employees) it takes to create products that consumers want to buy. But there is an important ingredient that's missing in both of these situations. An audience doesn't go to a concert to listen to a sound system; they go to hear creative people making music. Just as it takes creative people to make sounds into the microphones of a sound system, it takes creative people to supply manufacturing businesses with ideas for new products.
In the United States, there are many creative individuals with ideas that businesses could profit from. Unfortunately, the patent system acts as a barrier between those inventors and the businesses who could profit from their ideas. One woman came up with a simple invention and called a well-known manufacturer to see if they would be interested in her invention. They said they would be interested, but only if she got a patent on the idea. Unfortunately, the cost of getting a patent is so high (in spite of reduced rates for individuals) that she could never afford it with what she earns as a professional singer. Another woman got a patent for her invention of an improved baby carrier and licensed her invention to a manufacturer, but she had to mortgage her family's house to cover the costs. Later, when she told her husband that she felt an idea coming for another invention, he said, "Get it out of your mind! I don't want to deal with another one!"
The insight that the patent system blocks financial benefits reveals that one approach to improving the U. S. economy is to provide an affordable alternative to the expensive patent process. One approach would be to offer very low patent fees for ideas that are submitted to be shared, instead of monopolized. Individuals would finally have the opportunity to affordably share their inventive ideas, and businesses could use those ideas to offer useful new products. (To discourage people from submitting unpatentable and already-patented ideas, a refundable deposit could be charged - and returned if the patent is issued. Requiring that applications be submitted electronically would facilitate screening and processing.)
What would motivate people to submit ideas knowing that they won't receive money for their ideas? People spend tens of thousands of dollars to earn a college degree that they can list on their résumé. Similarly, many people would be willing to spend, say, one hundred dollars (and risk a reasonable deposit) to get a patent they can add to their résumé. As an added incentive, the patent office could award prizes (perhaps as tax credits) for the best shared inventions.
Seeing similarities in what's different can prompt insights that reveal creative solutions to any kind of problem.
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