The American Dream = Hoard Your Ideas!

I recently started a new blog where I post ideas for products, businesses, research projects, or anything else that comes to mind. Some of them might already exist, and many probably don't and never will. Since starting this project, I've been amazed at how often during the course of a normal day a new idea comes up in discussion.

The interesting phenomenon I have observed is when I ask people if I can share their idea with the world. In some cases they agree to do so, but in many cases they tell me that they do not want me to share their idea. This is primarily in the case where they think they could possibly make a lot of money from the idea. Now, we all know that the chances of this person bringing this product to market and making gobs of money is 1 in a million. Yet people still cling to this notion of hoarding their ideas. This seems to be some sort of odd corruption of the Amercian Dream. The way I see it - if some people want to implement my ideas and make money from them - good for them. I will enjoy using the products they create.

Example: Here is a site created by a guy who is seeking to invent a perpetual motion machine. Accomplishing such a feat would likely bring the inventor fame and riches beyond belief. Yet it appears that this individual has shared all of his thoughts, models (K'nex!), and stumbling blocks with the world - in the hopes that collectively we can develop a solution.