Agreed that the presentation does not help but it <i>is</i> an interesting train of thought and by far the most interesting part of this particular thread on HN. Indeed the <i>output</i> has value, the skill by itself is of no value. Just like painting has value and writing have value. There are lots of terrible paintings, terrible programs and terrible books. Those have no value, and then there are some really good paintings, great programs, great books. Those do have value. And the skill that allowed the bad stuff to be created is the same skill that allowed the good stuff to be created. So the skill per-se is not the differentiating factor, the quality of the application of that skill is what allows one to create valuable work and being the intermediary between someones ideas and valuable work is why programmers, writers and painters can make a living.<p>It&#x27;s the whole basis of IP law and all the associated bits-and-pieces that allow all of us to make a living. Intellectual property has a shadow side, but this side is the one that keeps the IT world afloat.<p>The same laws that govern file sharing allow writers, programmers and other people skilled in some art to create enough value that they can make a living, sometimes even a very comfortable one and those writers and programmers that manage to hold on to the fruits of their labor long enough can do very well for themselves indeed.<p>&gt; What would happen if you exercised clarity? Bad things?<p>Unlikely, but not everybody is equally capable of expressing their thoughts clearly. I should know, I&#x27;ve struggled with this for many years and only in the last 5 or so I&#x27;ve gotten better at that. HN has definitely been a tremendous aid in learning how to express myself more clearly to avoid being mis-understood.