ABSTRACT
This part conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters. The part examines the patent system, which, should be reformed to widen accessibility to new knowledge without weakening incentives to create further new knowledge. It focuses on the historically rooted schism in the research institutions between those who generate technical, how-to knowledge and those who focus on, among other things, what constitutes a sound conception of knowledge and what values particular actions promote. The part offers that standoffs on such issues as whether to preserve food by irradiation derive from the inability of the two groups of knowledge producers to talk to one another. It presents a view of medical practice as properly including, in addition to technical, probabilistic, goal-directed knowledge, an overriding regard for each individual patient's beliefs and values. The part argues that political systems can and do shape knowledge utilization, a finding that should both please and concern us.
