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I think perhaps you belong at another forum, perhaps DU. The simple lession discovered by Adam Smith is that the profit motive always works better than altruism in producing useful inventions.

The notion really riles you, doesn't it?

In the case of a free energy device, already invented whether motivated by profit or not, and whereas such a device would for all practical purposes lift a growing mantle of tyranny beginning to cover the world; and whereas the public announcement of the development of such a machine would move the powers behind the tyranny to suppress it at all costs, including buying the inventor off for a fantastic sum or assassination, that would be the time to forget any previous profit motive and altruisticaly bestow it on the world and people everywhere.

History is full of attempts to hide production or technology to corner a market -- pineapples, tulips, lava lites -- all kinds of critical things. The trade secret is a recognized way of protecting an invention. But it just doesn't last. There are too many bright people with too many conflicting interests to keep free energy secret.

In the special case of a gift to humanity, the corner-the-market strategy wouldn't exist. The only strategy would be to get it out as widely as possible as soon as possible, in detail so that any recipient could make one himself. In this particlular case, there would be no protection of any invention or keeping of any trade secret.

I'm conservative, limited government type, and I believe wholeheartedly in capitalism in its commonsense form, but if I were to stumble onto a free energy device in my tinkering or started off to develop one on purpose, and succeeded, I would exclusively consider the process I described, because riches are ashes in the mouth when your basic liberties are gone.

To the best of my knowledge, the current crop of free energy nuts are prospering, are not being assassinated, and are contributing nothing to the world's well being.

It is completely unreasonable to believe that a device that can be made with off-the-shelf components by a relatively untrained person could be kept secret with any amount of effort.

Some of the recent devices have even had diagrams published. It's all garbage.

Besides, no Irishman would pass an opportunity to destroy England's economy. You appear to have no idea how much different groups hate each other and how far some would go to ruin someone else. Money can only buy off certain kinds of people.

Bu I digress. The published "demonstration" has nothing mysterious about that requires explanation. When Houdini makes an elephant disappear on stage I may not know how it it's done, but I'm comfortable believing that it does not require a rethinking of physical laws.

I'm conservative, limited government type, and I believe wholeheartedly in capitalism in its commonsense form, but if I were to stumble onto a free energy device in my tinkering or started off to develop one on purpose, and succeeded, I would exclusively consider the process I described, because riches are ashes in the mouth when your basic liberties are gone. ...or you're dead.

Indeed. Something of this nature would have such a profound impact on the world in general, and world economies in particular; that that would be the only way to get it out to the public. Publishing for all the world to see, full detailed plans on how to build, operate and maintain such a device. Otherwise governments, companies, or someone else is gonna come along and kill it, and most likely you (a bullet is cheaper than lots of cold hard cash) along with it.

Still, work continues on so-called free energy. I was surprised to learn that a patent has been issued on a device for collecting energy from a vaccum. You can read about it at Understanding Zero Point Energy