> I would personally prefer it to have those be government funded (like with CERN or NASA) and patent free as opposed to what’s happening with medicine <cut>

I have to vehemently disagree with this.

Copying ideas and making incremental improvements on existing inventions is the core of what makes technological progress possible. Even just plain 'ape-ing' ideas is vitally important to getting improvements available to the public. This works best in a decentralized environment. Fundamentally it is my contention that a 'wild west' scenario will yield faster and more meaningful human progress then a carefully regulated and regimented system.

Assuming this is true: Then the patent system, as flawed as it is, is still superior to what was popular before it... which was official government academies were scientists and inventors were effectively wards of the state. This is uncomfortably close to what you are advocating.

In that sort of system internal bureaucratic politics and 'administrative law' (which is a term meant to indicate rules-decided-by-committee) dictates the distribution of resources and activities of scientists rather then merit or actual need. I do not think that is a effective environment for the creation of innovation.

I say that it's more freedom that is needed, not less.