Owning Conversation

On the construction of cultural heritage in the digital age

Owning Conversation takes aim at two questions: "Who owns conversation?" and "What does conversation own?" Using the concept of intellectual property as its cornerstone, this book draws from economics, political science, history, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology to come to a wider perspective on how we know and value intangible relationships.

Language creates culture while culture creates language. In a democratic country, law should reflect the structure of culture before dictating it. In America, intellectual property law reflects only a small subset of the possessive forms in language. Likewise, this law is modeled after physical capital, which shares few commonalities with its social analog. Intellectual property in the digital millennium erodes a natural right of the human condition: conversation. In order for humanity to remain humane, property must retain propriety. This book analyzes the problems caused by the current structure of intellectual property in America, and outlines solutions through an interdisciplinary approach.

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Literature Review
  • Purpose of This Book
• Background
  • General Development of Problem
  • Perspectives of Linguistics
  • Perspectives of Economics
  • Perspectives of Political Science
  • Research Methodology
• Theories and Insights
  • Introduction of Insights
  • Insights from Linguistics
  • Insights from Economics
  • Insights from Political Science
• Identity of Conflicts
  • Underlying Conflicts
  • Surface Conflicts
• Creation of Common Ground
  • On Conflicts Within Disciplines
  • On Conflicts Between Disciplines
• Integration of Insights
  • On the Structure of Geometric Conceptual Spaces
  • On the Regulation of Human Behavior
  • On the Ethics of Capital
  • On the Nature of Public Goods
  • On the Humanity of Relationships
  • On the Behavior of Corporations
  • On Information as Property
• Conclusion
• References