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The Ownership of Truth: Aligning Incentives in the Age of Discovery (ENE Formulation)

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Human civilization advances through a continuous cycle: Scientific Discovery uncovers the hidden rules of nature, Engineering Innovation translates them into functional designs, and Technological Scaling spreads those designs across society.

Traditional economies attempt to drive this cycle using Patent Law, rewarding invention — the act of applying knowledge — rather than both invention and discovery. But this architecture contains a deep imbalance:

the foundational discoverer receives the least material reward, while the final applier receives the most.

ENE resolves this asymmetry not by modifying patent law, but by redefining the very logic of value, ownership, and contribution.

The Structural Conflict: Discovery vs. Application

In classical economies, patents reward invention over discovery because granting rights over natural laws is seen as dangerous — leading to an anti-commons where every innovator must pay tribute to ancient discoverers.

But the deeper justification is financial:

discoveries are seen as “low-risk,” while inventions are “high-risk,” requiring capital investment.