RE: A brief musing on intellectual property
Generally speaking if an inventor is good at their job they will receive rewards by being just that: an inventor. If you've only ever invented the hammer and could not think of anything else, then that is where your creativity ends and thus your role as an inventor didn't evolve into a real career to support your community. Just because the hammer is particularly useful doesn't mean you can hoard the idea without direct negative consequence to your entire society. However, if you invent regularly and others find them useful inventions, people will come to you with their problems and you can then negotiate a wage to compensate for the time and effort you will put into solving their problems. Curators do not make a living off of their creations, they make a living off of their ability to create.