even believe that a business that would have to pay royalties on top of all other expenses may not open at all.
Alpha: So? It may go about something else. Why would they take something from me for free? Why don’t they take my equipment, as well?
Delta: When someone takes your equipment, you lose it. When someone learns your idea, you still retain it. You lose nothing. There is a big difference here.
Alpha: But I lose money! How many times must I remind you of this?
Gamma: I don’t see how you lose money so far. You get additional money for sure because of references. You said this yourself at one point and then you changed your mind and called it “a pat on the back!” You have changed your opinion ten times today and have never considered all of the arguments!
Alpha: I never acknowledged that your references increase my earnings, and I never will.
Kappa: By the way, I never finished my summary.
All: (Look puzzled.)
Kappa: Alpha’s limited time and amount of royalties cannot be determined by market forces and should be set up artificially, based on … who knows what.
Alpha: I haven’t heard this argument before … except for the part about royalties.
Beta: Does this really affect the logic behind it?
Alpha: We agreed to do a summary and return to the original issue.
Teacher: All right.
Starting Over
Gamma: OK, if we return to our topic, I’d like to recall one thing which impressed me.
Teacher: Great!
Gamma: Just one tiny thing. We feel personal affiliation with people and works of art, and, therefore, we are not willing to easily substitute them with other people or other works. We do this more easily with other things.
