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You're getting downvotes because you are assuming that the research will be focused on something that won't impact humans in some "charitable" way. >I think it's very interesting phenomenon that he values this research more than the lives of other people, It's possible to make a donation to research something that isn't curing cancer for example but still impact the lives of people.
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I feel like you're using "normal people" as pejorative. I meant it as "is able to relate to the day-to-day experience of most people in this country."
I'm definitely using it as you intended. "the day-to-day experience of most people in this country" is nothing like any of the things Altman, PG, Livingston etc... experience on a daily basis.
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I'm definitely using it as you intended. "the day-to-day experience of most people in this country" is nothing like any of the things Altman, PG, Livingston etc... experience on a daily basis.
I'd wager most HN readers can't relate to the day to day experience of most people in this country.
I remember when I was in school people would often say that to get money, you have to find something you love doing and the money would come by itself. I don't know if that used to be true, but that is certainly no longer the case.
In general, doing good is at odds with earning money.
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Reminds me of a great historical figure of Hungary, István Széchenyi. >Széchenyi gained a wider reputation in 1825, by supporting the proposal of the prime minister, Nagy, to establish the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Széchenyi donated the full annual income of his estates that year , 60,000 florins, towards it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Sz%C3%A9chenyi
>The height of the bubble was reached in the winter of 1636-37. Tulip traders were making (and losing) fortunes regularly. A good trader could earn up to 60,000 florins in a month— approximately $61,710 adjusted to current U.S. dollars. With profits like those to be had, nothing local governments could do stopped the frenzy of trading. Then one day in Haarlem a buyer failed to show up and pay for his bulb purchase. T…
> I’m going to personally donate $10 million Statements like this always turn me off. I guess it's because it breaks the illusion that Sam and everyone else at YC are normal people like most of us. They're not. They're INSANELY wealthy by any reasonable standard.
If it's any consolation, they were "normal people" before they became insanely wealthy. If anything, that's the point of YC .. to give "normal people" with intellect, determination and good ideas the chance to become "insanely wealthy" while improving the world.
TIL that Sam Altman has considerably more personal wealth than I would have guessed, if I'd ever been inclined to guess. Anyway, this is very cool. Exactly the sort of thing that needs to happen to push the world forward in deeper ways. I'll be very curious to see what sort of teams they put together and just how fundamental and long term and heretical they go with their research.
> I’m going to personally donate $10 million Statements like this always turn me off. I guess it's because it breaks the illusion that Sam and everyone else at YC are normal people like most of us. They're not. They're INSANELY wealthy by any reasonable standard.
why would you want to be sheltered from such a basic fact of life? Anyway, if it's any consolation, 10m is probably not small change for Sam. His biggest liquidity event so far was 40m for Loopt, so 10m is definitely a considered investment for him. He probably wrote it in an off the cuff manner to set a precedent for the mentality towards the fund. Basically signaling to other investors not to think about putting mo…
I love this idea. Not sure if this is driving your thinking but this would open a desperately needed alternative to Academia if you can scale this idea as successfully as you've scaled startups. I've watched my genius brother-in-law (PhD Materials Science & Chemistry / Biomimicry) be consumed by a very broken UC system over the past decade. Started with an exceptionally bright, curious, and inventive man who created…
https://www.facebook.com/jfgariepyneuro/posts/46644277686075....
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10177775
It really is nice to see an organization like YC take an interest in research. I applaud Sam for making that considerable donation and hope the outcome is better than expected.
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Sam has expressed his desired to get really good AI to become a thing. Since YC does a ton of tech I'd bet $10 it's AI. But of course this is just my useless speculation :)
AI is not really lacking for funding and research activity right now.
[2] https://intelligence.org/donate/