The product of mental labor - science - always stands far below its value, because the labor-time necessary to reproduce it has no relation at all to the labor-time required for its original production.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Science, a product of mental labor, is undervalued because its reproduction time doesn't match its original creation time.
- In plain terms
- Science is cheap to reproduce but expensive to create.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize the true value of intellectual work.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How should we price scientific knowledge?
- What incentives align creation and reproduction?
Another view
Market mechanisms can reflect value differently.
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