Ideas as NFTs

This is about 300 internet years too late, but it was lying around, so you know, reasons. There is some inherent value in NFTs, as receipts or tickets for instance that one day people will figure out a way that a lot of people want to use. Until then we’re stuck with them being the legacy of the now cliche trope of badly drawn monkeys worth US$250,000

Imagine that NFT’s were still in the news. Imagine that AI generating pictures didn’t overwhelm and subsume the entirety of tech-related news. Imagine that it became even more ridiculous. Or maybe not, you decide. Let’s pull on the thread of buying this non-fungible token (NFT) that is essentially a receipt for a digital thing.

The concept is, well, about as straightforward and dumb as the title of this. You mint an idea. That idea is a string of text, although I suppose you could put in numbers or something as well. But you get the picture. You come up with an idea, you mint it, then you can sell it, etc. Wow, thousands of years of hand wringing about intellectual property and ownership of “I did this,” totally sorted. Done. Right?

Let’s say after reading about how you maximise productivity in your life, you realise, “When you go inside a room, turn on a light, you can see way easier,” which you then mint and then own. You want to sell the idea? Why, go right ahead. Or how about “An electric toothbrush that is also an electric shaver.” So when Samsung or Phillips need an idea, well, they’ll pay you millions for that one, because you now have a way to prove when you thought of it, or can sell that proof.

This is ridiculous, but I thought it could go somewhere if I wrote it all out. This doesn’t always happen clearly.