8.13. Lesson 77: Unlimited Incentive
Edison always aimed innovation at practical profit, yet making a living was never the sole driver—and perhaps not even the principal driver—of his work. In a 1914 critique of socialism, he observed that, whereas the capitalist system offered the compelling social and economic incentives of competition for profit, socialism, which lacked the profit motive, would have to provide some other "unlimited incentive for its executive minds and its creators" if it were to succeed in maintaining a high level of technological civilization. This observation seems to have provoked a further burst of introspection: "Unlimited incentive. The motive I have for inventing is, I guess, like the motive of the billiard player, ...
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