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Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

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Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#21

Post by pithos »

tim333 wrote: post #4

I googled a bit. The background is quite interesting. Johnson founded and sold Braintree which is where the money came from. The main brain tech guy is Theodore Berger who has tested implants in rats, monkeys and humans with some success http://singularityhub.com/2015/11/15/first-human-tests-of-me... Berger on video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHubR09oKKE

Also looks like they are trying to hire the right (?) sort of people (from http://kernel.co/jobs/):

-VP OF ENGINEERING

-DIRECTOR TO THE CEO

-DATA SYSTEMS ENGINEER / DATA SCIENTIST

-MODELER FOR NEUROPROSTHESIS ALGORITHMS

-MACHINE LEARNING FOR NEUROPROSTHESIS

-SCALABLE NEURAL INTERFACES LEAD (ARCHITECT)

-NEUROSCIENTIST

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#22

Post by slackstation »

Roritharr wrote: post #14
dEnigma wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too briefly got excited when reading the headline. That would've really made my day. So many people could work full-time on the Linux kernel.

Making sure one of the most used parts of software in the world gets proper funding for additional security audits, better performance optimization for more platforms, leveling the playing field for small hardware vendors who can't afford their own Kernel Developers, allowing for more disruptive technology on top of the Linux kernel? Nah. Not really Valley Style, lets just fund another AI Moonshot. Because there isn'…

> Nah. Not really Valley Style, lets just fund another AI Moonshot. Because there isn't enough money in AI already.

An AI moonshot if it works would change everything. It would change way more than the Linux kernel ever even dreamed of doing.

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#23

Post by mamon »

paavokoya wrote: post #15
Roritharr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making sure one of the most used parts of software in the world gets proper funding for additional security audits, better performance optimization for more platforms, leveling the playing field for small hardware vendors who can't afford their own Kernel Developers, allowing for more disruptive technology on top of the Linux kernel? Nah. Not really Valley Style, lets just fund another AI Moonshot. Because there isn'…

This is my exact argument for why "free market" doesn't always work. Sometimes you need to subsidize an unprofitable venture to truly move forward. Then innovation and profit models come after the initial hurdle is over. Most investors don't want to subsidize for long-term profit though.

Blaming "free market" for Linux kernel underfunding is very twisted logic.

I would argue that any GPL-ed software is a hallmark of communism as it is public property and noone is allowed to make any money on it (at least not directly). Therefore, the strongest motivation for hard work (profit) is absent.

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#25

Post by geofft »

mamon wrote: post #23
paavokoya wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my exact argument for why "free market" doesn't always work. Sometimes you need to subsidize an unprofitable venture to truly move forward. Then innovation and profit models come after the initial hurdle is over. Most investors don't want to subsidize for long-term profit though.

Blaming "free market" for Linux kernel underfunding is very twisted logic. I would argue that any GPL-ed software is a hallmark of communism as it is public property and noone is allowed to make any money on it (at least not directly). Therefore, the strongest motivation for hard work (profit) is absent.

Communism, as commonly defined, is a system of government. If there was any government compulsion for Linux to exist, or even if there was government-funded work in making Linux better than commercial alternatives, you'd have an argument. But this is a product that people use in the presence of excellent commercial alternatives.

Also, it's totally untrue that it's public property (it's private property, just a lot of people's and companies' private property), and that you're not allowed to make money on it "directly". You can make as much money as the market is willing to pay you. If you are selling things that are already publicly available without any added value, that's probably $0, but that's not the result of any permission not being given to you, that's the result of you failing at business. If bottled municipal water is a thriving industry, there's no reason that providing GPL'd Linux patches in a useful form can't be a thriving industry (and in fact it is).

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#26

Post by Roritharr »

slackstation wrote: post #22
Roritharr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making sure one of the most used parts of software in the world gets proper funding for additional security audits, better performance optimization for more platforms, leveling the playing field for small hardware vendors who can't afford their own Kernel Developers, allowing for more disruptive technology on top of the Linux kernel? Nah. Not really Valley Style, lets just fund another AI Moonshot. Because there isn'…

> Nah. Not really Valley Style, lets just fund another AI Moonshot. Because there isn't enough money in AI already. An AI moonshot if it works would change everything. It would change way more than the Linux kernel ever even dreamed of doing.

Going by that logic all money should be poured into Moonshots. Every available Ship should have sailed to find India. Every Researcher should be researching immortality...

Ambition isn't the only thing that counts. As much as I'd love to seeing a full cent of every taxdollar going into NASA, handing over the whole dollar would make very people feel very miserable very fast.

I hope this makes the resentment towards the ratio of money flowing into AI Moonshots compared to a little more down to earth things that are needed right now a little more understandable.

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#27

Post by nickpsecurity »

tim333 wrote: post #4

I googled a bit. The background is quite interesting. Johnson founded and sold Braintree which is where the money came from. The main brain tech guy is Theodore Berger who has tested implants in rats, monkeys and humans with some success http://singularityhub.com/2015/11/15/first-human-tests-of-me... Berger on video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHubR09oKKE

Oh no. The guy behind my favorite company on bootstrapping page got rich selling it to a top schemer in payments industry and fell for others' bullshit that throwing money at neuroscience will make miracles happen. Wow. What an ending...

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#28

Post by forgotmysn »

hprotagonist wrote: post #20
forgotmysn wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you guys prefer that Johnson donate his $100M to the NIH or a university that's already working on related research, or is there benefit to him taking a different route and funding Berger and this org directly?

I think i'm largely agnostic about that in principle. In practice, collaborations are hard and setting up new ones is even harder, so striking out into the wild and being able to do cool stuff fast generally costs more than 100M.

From what I understand though, that's exactly why Johnson invested his own money and turned down outside investment: this is just the first step on a very long road, and it doesn't sound like he anticipates a viable return in an amount of time that a venture fund could justify participating in.

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#29

Post by badminton1 »

If they can find a way to tweak genes to force the brain to have more glial cells, the type of cells that support neuron functions, or enhance the glial performance, they can eventually make people sustain high mental performance for longer periods of time.

One of the findings after analyzing Einstein's brain was that he had a higher ratio of glias to neurons.

Re: Bryan Johnson invests $100M in Kernel to unlock the power of the human brain

#30

Post by kevinalexbrown »

nickpsecurity wrote: post #27
tim333 wrote: post #4

I googled a bit. The background is quite interesting. Johnson founded and sold Braintree which is where the money came from. The main brain tech guy is Theodore Berger who has tested implants in rats, monkeys and humans with some success http://singularityhub.com/2015/11/15/first-human-tests-of-me... Berger on video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHubR09oKKE

Oh no. The guy behind my favorite company on bootstrapping page got rich selling it to a top schemer in payments industry and fell for others' bullshit that throwing money at neuroscience will make miracles happen. Wow. What an ending...

Throwing money at neuroscience hasn't been so bad, has it?
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