Should Information Be Free?

The title is pretty self-explanatory.
Should information be free? Should price barriers be put in the way of accessing scientific research, medical research, religious texts, or other pieces which claim to represent the "truth"?
In my view, if a text claims to represent "facts", i.e. observable reality, then it should be freely accessible to anyone interested in it. Fiction is entirely created by its author(s) and that justifies compensation, but non-fiction being held behind a paywall only results in a less informed world.
I am curious to see if other Jedi agree with me or disagree, and why.

I do agree information should be free but only in the fields stated above.

So this is an off the cuff response but I would say the information, yes. The raw information should be free but if you are looking at a study or someone's work to organize that information are they not entitled to the value of their work? Really, I think in a lot of cases you can get raw information for free but we all pay for someone to frame it for us because the sheer volume of info is not applicable for us to even look fully into our most passionate study.

There is a lot to this though, and this is just my opinion.

Good question my friend.

Much Love, Respect and Peace,
Kobos

https://youtu.be/FgLvhyUmrsw?t=61

Should not food be free, because we require it to nourish ourselves?;
Should not medicine be free, because we require it to heal our sickness?;
Should not shelter be free, because we require it to protect ourselves from the elements?;
Should not education be free, because we require it to become contributing members of society?;

If so, then wherefore comes the need for monetary gain?

TheDude wrote: In my view, if a text claims to represent "facts", i.e. observable reality, then it should be freely accessible to anyone interested in it. Fiction is entirely created by its author(s) and that justifies compensation, but non-fiction being held behind a paywall only results in a less informed world.

I take issue with this particular statement, as it seems to imply that all these facts are just lying around, and that collating them together and putting them into a format that the average joe can comprehend is such a simplistic task that it does not justify compensation.

Firstly, for something to be deemed a 'fact', one must first make an observation and/or come up with a hypothesis as to why this may be the case. One then has to research and experiment, play around with variables to see how they effect the outcome, they provide evidence which proves beyond any and all reasonable doubt that their original idea or statement is true, and they have to submit their findings to be reviewed by leading authorities, who will then attempt to repilacte the results in their own experiments and research. Then, and only then, can something really be deemed to be a 'fact'.

So, for example, my girlfriend spent 9 years doing various degrees and finally a doctorate in Chemistry, to become a scientist specialising in Atomic Force Microscopy. She has been working on the same project for the past 4 years doing continual tests and research, many of these tests have failed and she's had to go back to the drawing board etc. Ultimately though, all of this time and effort will produce a report which will almost entirely be made up of facts.

I understand the argument for this research to be freely accessible in terms of educating and informing the individual, but do she and her team not deserve recompense for all the work that went into producing it?

When you buy non-fiction, you're not paying for the information. You're paying for the years of studying, researching, failing, overcoming obstacles that went into that piece of work. You're also paying for the peers who review the work, and the publishers and printers who produce the document, and the distributions costs that all go into putting the final article in your hands.

Saying this sort of stuff should be free, is like saying that the water which comes from your tap should be free because its 'just water' or that the food you get from the supermarket should be free because 'those animals exist in the wild'. It completely ignores all the work that went into getting that water/food/research to you in the first place.

Economics, and it would seem politics, hinges on this very matter.

Research (and ancillary things, like the food the researchers eat, the medium they publish the information on, the swimming lessons they take their kids too....) takes resources.

I'd be happy for everything to be free, but if you want more than your half-cup of JamesGin each week....

well, feel free to leave JamesTopia, and go to somewhere where you have the "freedom" to have an expendable income to spend on whatever you want......

So, for example, my girlfriend spent 9 years doing various degrees and finally a doctorate in Chemistry, to become a scientist specialising in Atomic Force Microscopy. She has been working on the same project for the past 4 years doing continual tests and research, many of these tests have failed and she's had to go back to the drawing board etc. Ultimately though, all of this time and effort will produce a report which will almost entirely be made up of facts.

Fake news. You don't have a girlfriend.


(I'm being a little snide, partially because there is a rottweiler trying to steal my croissant, and partly because I feel the various "positions" on what should be government run and be "free" (erm?) and what should be available to be leveraged for profit are more or less up for grabs.)

Whether you (or Jediism?) have a preference for individual liberty, or the sort of peace and prosperity than can only be the result of the rule of benevolent philosopher kings could be debated to the end times (and probably will be) - Given the broad range of cultures attempting to partake of Jediism, I'm not sure the brand is willing to take a staunch position on the matter...

JamesSand wrote: Fake news. You don't have a girlfriend.

Honestly, I can barely believe it either! Though, I do sometimes suspect that I'm just a part of her science experiments :laugh:

Theres a place in the world they have bought and collected info and hid it away. Rome some where. Why? Why hide info? Why not let the world in on its secrets?
My home
Library is full of informational books. It’s being “sharpened” every day. No book report has a chance in it at any level.
When I was growing up we didn’t have internet... we had a guy named “Chatto.”
Chatto was in our grade and when Mr. Delaney showed the entire class about dry ice and a plastic bottle - I think - we all think that was the first time he actually took notes in class. Two weeks later we see him with Bandages and a splint on his right hand. Turns out he blew up a gas tank and hurt himself with - water and dry ice- too much.
During one of my tours in ... my time in the army - we made dry ice bottles for dropping and throwing people off and even just to get away. Silly stringed things too but that’s a different story for another time.
The point is the application. You can’t ever tell what people will do with what they have... most time they don’t know them self’s. Years later I hear Mr Delaney say” science is often what pot it grows in.” To me that’s info. What we do with it if we had it can be the missing piece of things or our demise.

Every person I know who is interested in science uses library genesis, scihub, and other online resources to get their materials for free. I don’t wish to show disrespect towards the researchers who put together these studies, but how much money do researchers even see from their publications? There are surely people out there who don’t use online resources to avoid paywalls on this kind of information, but from what I’ve seen they must be very few in number.

Theoretically, I could take a bunch of free resources, build some sort of course material from it, and charge people for taking the course.

The cost comes from added value, and everyone who is not a Public (i.e. tax payed) entity is free to choose whether or not to share information, and how they share it.

Free market does its wonder. If these organizations continue to hide information behind pay walls, then eventually you get the rebel sites that find loopholes to having to pay for it.

Personally, I would make everything available for "free", in exchange for the viewers soul bwahahahaha (cookies to take a look at buying and browsing patterns, ads to monetize traffic, etc.)