Kappos, rejecting a patent on weather derivatives because it covered an an abstract idea.

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But I think probably more importantly, it's the abstract idea of an ultimate authority figure, and to date I think we haven't changed out perception of that person from male to female, or without gender.

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The idea of becoming conscious of the subjectivity of our perceptions is an admittedly abstract one -- the stuff of philosophy and science fiction.

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Yet despite what seems to be an innate preference for more or less literal representation of the visible world, the abstract idea remains to this day both seductive and perennially relevant.

WSJ: The Seductive Lure of Abstraction | Sightings by Terry Teachout