What the packet enclosed was a short handwritten essay which, line by line, spelled out virtually the same theory of evolution by natural selection that Darwin believed was his alone. Isolated in the jungle for four years, Wallace had independently hit on the same argument as Darwin. All of Darwin’s main ideas were repeated. To Darwin’s agitated mind these ideas seemed to hang together in Wallace’s essay far better than they did in his own unpublished writings. Wallace wrote clearly—so clearly that no one could mistake his meaning. The struggle for survival among animals and plants; competition and extinction; the improvement of domestic races by selection; the divergence of species into different forms; all these were included. Wallace demonstrably removed the divine Creator and proposed an entirely natural origin for species. His words indicated that he fully understood the significance of what he was saying.
Darwin was stunned. “I never saw a more striking coincidence,” he moaned helplessly. “If Wallace had my MS sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short abstract!”
He was well and truly forestalled. It was impossible to pretend otherwise. All his originality was smashed, all his years of hard work suddenly useless. For a moment the news hit him like the death of a child. Then, his mind churned with painful emotions—not anxiety or panic, he confessed afterwards, but much baser feelings of mortification, possessiveness, irritation, and rancour, each flaring up one by one after the first unaccountable, humiliating surprise. Hour after hour they returned, making him cross and edgy. These were probably the most lonely hours of his life, facing the knowledge that what mattered to him now was not so much the long-gone moment of discovery but the possession, the ownership, of his theory. Wallace’s easy brilliance forced him to confront the focus of his entire working life. Had it all been a waste of time? Those years he had spent laboring over barnacles, the deterioration of his physical health, the endless attention to notes and letters, and the huge manuscript so close to completion?
In summary: Hey, that’s MY idea!
Two and a half points I’d like to make:
Point 1: The absurdity of *owning* an idea.
Congratulations, your neurons have stumbled upon a novel-seeming combination of old concepts! It must’ve been some mix of God-granted destiny and your inherent brilliance that led to this personal epiphany. Clearly, then, if God doesn’t want you to carry the torch for this idea, then there can be no denying that you EARNED it through sheer force of brilliance. This is why we have intellectual property. What happens in my head belongs to me and me only, and is forbidden to happen in other people’s heads. SO GET YOUR DIRTY NEURONS OFF MY IDEA.
Point 2: Ownership of an idea is not what matters.
Darwin felt that all was lost when he learned that someone else’s neurons were touching “his” idea, but, of course, it wasn’t. Ideas are cheap. No, really. If you don’t believe me, try to sell one. I’ve tried. I’m currently raking in $0.005 per idea. I’m hoping that one day my lifetime’s sum of creative brilliance might be able to buy me lunch.
Marketing people know that packaging matters. Corporate executives know that who you know matters. (1) Packaging, and (2) who you know—that’s at least 85% of what it comes down to.
Alfred Russel Wallace may have brought the idea to the public (i.e., intellectual elites) first, and he may have even articulated it better than Darwin, but we don’t call it the Darwinian Theory of Evolution for nothing. Wallace did not write tens of thousands of letters to people who could help polish or publicize his idea. Wallace did not obsessively test the theory, turning even his lawn into a laboratory. Wallace did not publish a giant manuscript after decades of self-funded research.
And let us not discount that Wallace probably didn’t have the $$ that Darwin had.
Point 2.5: The narcissism and possessiveness might not be all bad.
You might be thinking that I’ve been leading up to a grand conclusion of “Free Ideas” and “Hard Work.” I’m not.
It’d be nice to suppose that Darwin’s drive was a matter of truth-seeking and the thrill of discovery, and I’m sure that’s partially true. But his reaction to Wallace’s letter is evidence that there was a not insignificant force called narcissism involved, too. As I see it, from a policy perspective, we have two options: (1) Pretend that narcissism doesn’t exist and hope that noble forces win out, or (2) use narcissism to our advantage. You can probably guess which option I support.
I’m not saying I support IP law – from what little I know about IP law, it makes me grumpy – all I am saying is that the feeling of possessiveness and ownership of an idea, while clearly absurd and misguided, is probably largely to credit for many of the best theories and businesses we’ve got.
