Is your idea worth two cents?

Amusing little postings on the subject of ideas, and how much they are worth. It starts with a post on ValleyWag about how to get great people to implement your great idea without sharing said idea in the first place. Answer: impossible + ideas on their own have no worth.... [Global Ideas Bank answer: if it's a socially beneficial idea, don't be proprietary: share it, build a community round it and make it happen].

This was followed by an offer from Jackson Miller , with tongue firmly in cheek, to buy up people's ideas for two cents (i.e. two cents for your two cents' worth of thinking; or 'penny for your thoughts' as we might say in the UK). I've put in a request on behalf of the Global Ideas Bank authors for $114.

Obviously all flippant and so forth, and we all get tired of people saying "I've got a world-changing idea...but I can't tell you what it is", but worth pondering a bit on the value of ideas, methinks, and the value of positive thought.....and the value of 'ownership' of ideas. All of which are interconnected amongst the work of the GIB.

Comments

[Rachel]

Comment on "is your idea worth two cents?" says:
[Global Ideas Bank answer: if it's a socially beneficial idea, don't be proprietary: share it, build a community round it and make it happen].

So I am sharing:

Project Mind Foundation - http://www.projectmind.org

and inviting any and all comments, correspondence, and thoughts.

Best,
Rachel
[email protected]
Project Mind Foundation
www.projectming.org

[Peter Mucha]

Gee, I didn't realize I was joining some kind of idea-sharing movement. I just thought I was nuts. But original. Glad to find out only the first part is true. I think. But how can I tell? Anyway, interesting site, and thanks for the links to other sites where people can give and take ideas.

[Matt]

I'm only 6 months late with this response but I'll share it anyway:

It definitely makes more sense (cents?) to share ideas to stimulate collective action as suggested...but, in a sometimes less than ideal world, I can fully appreciate why many of us are resistant to it. Apparently it was a Deutsche Bank advertisement that came out with, “ideas are capital; the rest is just money”. And some of us probably feel that our only wealth is in the potential of our ideas to come to something – so having them and the time, money & energy invested “co-opted” is an understandable deterrent for ideas sharing.

Anyway, we’re doing our best to share our working ideas. One project we’re currently putting together (working title: where's my whale?) is integrating animal species tracking programs around the globe with an interactive online interface. Users will be able to follow movements of animals of their choice on a visual medium such as Google Earth. They will also have the possibility to “adopt” animals of their choice with personalised information with proceeds going back into the conservation programs themselves. Demand for certain species over others may also allow for the set-up of a virtual trade & exchange “stock market”. Many possibilities. It presents itself as an ideal way to engage the broader public in wildlife and biodiversity conservation issues.

Feedback or interested collaborators (and offers for co-financing) are certainly welcome

Matt
[email protected]