Life Musings

I was having a discussion wherein someone asked why there appears to be comparatively little innovation that comes out of China. China the nation -- not the Chinese people, mind you, many of whom live in the USA.

China is, after all, known for producing a lot of highly competent scientists and engineers. They are also becoming more industrialized. So why don't you hear so much about modern Chinese inventions?

IMO, part of the problem is that their culture simply does not tend to value intellectual property -- hence the rampant piracy and copyright violations. Why invest in innovation when it's simpler and quicker to rip off someone else's work?

I'm sure that this is all an oversimplification. Still, I do strongly believe that there tends to be an inverse correlation between innovation and respect for intellectual property.

Somebody objected though, saying "Let's be a little more willing to shift cultural perspectives here. Most Chinese people would probably say they just build off each other's work."

Rampant piracy is simply "building off someone else's work"? Good grief. That's not just a difference in cultural perspective, fella. That's blatant whitewashing, plain and simple.