Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
Still, I have yet to understand why one day someone will say seek out all knowledge so that you may better understand yourself and the world, and the next day this same someone will ask you for an admission fee.
It's absurd and you know it.
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On the contrary, what would make more sense? Just because you seek knowledge doesn't mean it must be free. Why should the author toil so that you get it free. Should the farmer work for nothing just so that you can DO nothing? Should the person who make your clothes work for free? And if so, how is this person going to feed themselves.
If someone has taken the time to discover this knowledge and collate it in a book, why shouldn't you pay for that? Your attitude shows that you value the author's work at ZERO dollars and ZERO cents.
If I suggest that you wear a hat in the cold, would it be absurd that you are charged money for the hat? Not at all, and thus it isn't absurd for you to be charged money for a book.
Plus, we've been over this before: knowledge is freely distributable, the books it is contained in are not. If I learn from a book what the main exports of Sri Lanka are, I can use this information as I see fit. That doesn't mean that the BOOK is freely distributable.