Why Innovate?
I am here replying to several criticisms I faced on Quora:
There is no evidence that greed will work in a socialist society, or that it is more effective than the motive to reduce the working week. There is also no evidence that greed even motivates every inventor today, that it is the sole motivator or even the most important motivation. Fame and social recognition, a desire to help others and make life easier, or to invent something and solve a problem no one else has cracked before, are just as effective, perhaps more so.
For example, we read this:
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First of all there is something in the mind and spirit of an inventor which is understood only by that person, that drives him to create, to make something new that is serviceable to mankind. Perhaps it is something of the artist merged with the mechanic along with a curiosity and a desire to make things better and easier. And there must also be the desire to be acknowledge as a creator.
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Quoted from here:
The author then outlines three important case histories.
And then there is this Japanese study of over 5,000 inventions, which concluded as follows:
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Our study reveals that two intrinsic motives -- satisfaction from contributing to science and technology “taste for science”, and interests in solving challenging technical problems “taste for challenge”-- are more important determinants for the inventor productivity than any other motives. [Bold added.]
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https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/11e022.pdf
The study also noted monetary reward as a motivation under capitalism. But if that is replaced by an increase in hourly pay -- which is an automatic spin-off of the reduction in hours worked for the same pay under socialism --, then that motive can also be accommodated in and by such an economy. Although a reduction in the working week is the main motivator, anyone who wants to work more hours will also be allowed to do so, thus increasing their gross pay.
You (the individual with whom I was discussing this):
“Money brings researchers and workers together in pursuit of a common goal - which is ultimately to make more money. I can't imagine another mechanism (besides repression) that could produce new technology and innovation (outside of manufacturing).”
It also works in another and more important way, where a common goal can replace monetary reward. For example, such a common goal can bring people together — as happened, for example, in the UK in WW2. The common goal of defeating Hitler meant the UK government brought together top physicists, mathematicians and engineers who created the first electronic computers. As far as I know, the motive wasn’t monetary reward, it was to solve certain problems, become famous and help their country in time of war.
Many similar examples have happened in the USA and other countries.
The common goal in socialism will be to advance our control over nature, and reduce the working week with no loss of pay, thus helping our fellow human beings. Motives will also include the desire to solve problems and to be regarded as a hero, as an inventor, as someone who has solved something or made something, or even just to improve on someone else’s invention, that no one else has managed to do.
What capitalism does is transform motives like these and in some cases make them self-serving, but it doesn’t eliminate those motives. As we have seen, not even capitalism can do that. What socialism will do is replace the self-serving aspect with a public service, social recognition and public honour as the dominant set of motives.
We can see this operating in 'primitive' societies that have no money; individuals innovate in order to help the tribe, or their people. What capitalism has done is distort those motives and made us forget our past when our ancestors invented early machines and techniques when there was no money to reward them. Had that not happened we’d still be living in caves.
We are educated and socialised in a society that places monetary value on everything and we so easily conclude that this is part of ‘human nature’ when it is simply an ephemeral feature of one stage in human social evolution.
So, no repression or coercion will be needed. Just a freeing of the human spirit no longer distorted by selfish gain.