From: Cory Przybyla (recherchetenet@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Nov 23 2002 - 15:37:08 MST
--- Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 23, 2002 at 02:24:17PM -0500, Alexander
> Sheppard wrote:
> > Similiarly, you'll find that most of these people
> who are hailed as
> > great inventors and corporate leaders actually
> didn't really invent
> > all that much compared to many other people who
> aren't recognized at
> > all, because corporate leadership is basically a
> job of empire
> > building, and that's not conductive to truth
> either, any more than
> > the literal empire building of say, Hitler or any
> number of US
> > Presidents was.
>
> Hmm, what about Edison? A brilliant inventor who
> even *invented* the
> modern research lab to aid his empire building.
> Granted, quoting
> examples at each other will not lead to any deeper
> understanding,
> because we can always find people who fit our
> rpeconceptions.
Maybe there are better examples than Edison?
"Edison was Tesla's polar opposite. He wasn't
actually much of a scientific thinker or inventor; he
once said that he had no need to be a mathematician
because he could always hire one. That was Edison's
main method. He was really a businessman and
publicist, spotting the trends and the opportunities
that were out there, then hiring the best in the field
to do the work for him. If he had to he would steal
from his competitors. Yet his name is much better
known than Tesla's and is associated with more
inventions."
-Robert Greene "The 48 Laws of Power"
"Everybody steals in commerce and industry. I've
stolen a lot myself. But I know how to steal."
-Thomas Edison
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