Comment by throwaway2202
7 days ago
There was a point in history when science was not public. Even after it became public, moat was still a thing.
7 days ago
There was a point in history when science was not public. Even after it became public, moat was still a thing.
I presume you're referring to the concept of alchemy in the middle ages?
The problem in that context is test it would have been impossible to keep the process a secret. To be useful (to say the king) it would have to be more than one guy in a castle. And between spies, and traitors who could be materially incentivised), and outright kidnapping and torture, well, I just don't see it staying hidden.
And its not like a King could really even hide the fact that he had a "gold mine" producing endless quantities of gold.
It's kinda like the story of the goose laying the golden eggs. The story fails to elaborate on what they did with the eggs. Presumably they sold them, but to whom? And did that person not get curious as to the source of the gold? And what did he do with all that gold? He'd need to sell enough of it to pay the peasant. Did his customer not notice the increase in volume?
So no, alchemy wouldn't have remained a secret for long. And the king would just be financing wars to protect it.
Fair point.
Yes, the moat is that you need the LHC.