I believe in sharing. For this reason, I’ll never be a rich woman in the sense of “net worth”. I will, however, be rich in experience, happiness, morality, and a sense of purpose. I will be rich in friendships and knowledge.

Some things should be and must be shared. Science is one of these things. Scientific findings small and big belong to everyone. We don’t live in a world in which we have time to keep secrets for personal gain. It is morally wrong to keep a world-changing scientific discovery to yourself. You would be surprised how many “little” victories could actually make a BIG impact.

Fear

Secrets are a thing of fear. We keep things to ourselves when we are afraid of what other people will do with them. People today live in a lot of fear and with good reason. When valuable information ends up in the hands of one wrong person, the result can be catastrophic. We have seen it in our history time and time again. The Holocaust, chemical warfare, terrorism, the list goes on. When certain information or tools are obtained by the wrong people, bad things can happen.

The unknown future causes us to hold on tight to the things we have. Fear for financial security is a reason to push as many people as we must out of the way so we can get to the “top”. If you’re not first, you’re last because if you’re not first, no one will give you the credit you deserve. If you’re not first, you don’t get the royalties, you’re just another person that missed the crucial moment to catch the wave.

Optimism

But what if enough of the right people had access to valuable information and technology? Could we beat out the people that aim to do bad with these things? There are so many quotes to instill optimism in the face of darkness. Just a sliver of light is enough to lighten the darkness. How many of us live by these quotes? Not enough.

To be frank….

we don’t have time. Our species managed to significantly damage the state of the environment in a little over 200 years, since new technology and the use of fuels, like coal, were used to develop the factory system in Britain during the 1760s. If we keep this behavior up, who’s to say how long our kind has to survive? Earth will still be here without us, it will introduce species that can handle the higher global temperatures, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, and elevated sea levels. Earth will be fine and us tree-huggers know that. We aren’t fighting for the trees as much as we are fighting for our home as we know it.

Oddly enough, most tree-huggers like me don’t get much credit for the work we do and certainly aren’t paid well. Yet, we are still afraid to share! We still are in this ridiculous rat race to get to the “top”. Here’s a thought, if we aren’t getting paid well now, only allowing for limited access to our research certainly won’t change the situation. As someone who grew up barely scraping by, I’ve found that I am at least more fulfilled when I share my home, food, and love with others. My mom taught me this. You always have something to give to someone who has less than you, in both a monetary and emotional sense.

What happens when you get to the top anyway? I imagine you just sit on a mountain of cash with noone to share it with until you realize you should give back and start donating to charities. I know for sure you can’t use that money to buy back the time you spent losing friends and ignoring the people “below” you. You can’t use that money to sift through the young prodigies you sent away after they kindly asked for 30 minutes of your time to share a coffee and talk about ideas. You shooed them away because time is money.

I wonder how many brilliant minds could have already changed the world by now, but gave up on their ideas because no one gave them the time of day. Because no one shared a $42 published article with them that could have given them the epiphany they needed to develop something really incredible. This is the danger of scientific information not being free. We have no idea how many people could have changed the world but didn’t have the means to do so. What a shame.

 

If sharing could save the world, would you do it? If risking your place at the “top” could ensure that your children and grandchildren would have a better home, would you settle for co-author instead of the author, co-founder instead of the founder?