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Re: [ba-ohs-talk] Bootstrap and Licensing


Doug Engelbart - Bootstrap Institute wrote:    (01)

> The roads, bridges, traffic laws, intersection rules and controls, parking
> facilities, etc. don't seem to be controlled by private enterprise and
> free-market rules.    (02)

Spectacular observation.    (03)

The freedom to go where you want to go, coupled with a variety
of limitations on possible destinations (e.g. military facilities) and
ways to get there (speed, paths, and vehicles), complete with
referees (traffic officials) produce a "game" that allows individuals
to maximize their gain, while minimizing harm to others.    (04)

That "mini-max" region is the area of *optimal* productivity.
The right rules make it possible -- where "right" is defined as
"somewhere in the continuum of rules lying between "not
enough" and "too many".    (05)

Note that there other axes ("ax-eeze" how do you spell that?)
as well. Including simple-complex (e.g. IRS rules). The "right"
rules are one of the possible sets of rules that lie on the region
that lies between "not enough" and "too much" on all relevant
axes. (That sure looks like the plural of "ax" to me. What's the
plural of  "axis"?)    (06)