Inside Bill’s Brain • Hacker News Board

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#81

Post by kamyarg » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

Uhuhreally wrote: post #48

now let me ask this: is Gates smarter and harder working in proportion to his wealth than Knuth ?

In various points in the documentary he points out how lucky he was for:

- having a good family

- having good environment that mostly ignored his stubbornness and let him grow

- how lucky he was to be good in math and engineering

- coming from a well off family

- having a mother to push him to outside of his comfort zone(She was also in various boards so could teach the politics of leading people)

- having friends that helped him get better at understanding the computers.

Being smart is only one parameter in his success, he wouldn't have been so good if they hadn't given him the chance to program at private school he went to for solving the school scheduling problem for example.

IMO Comparing Knuth to Gates is the case of apples and oranges, most important reason being Knuth was born in 1938 and Bill Gates was born in 1955, Gates was in his prime years when the personal computer revolution was beginning.

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#82

Post by samspenc » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:41 PM UTC

Holden83z wrote: post #64

My problem with the documentary series is that they gave Bill Gates credit for inventing DOS. This starts at 34:00 in episode two. There was no mention at all that Microsoft bought it. https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-bought-ms-dos-os-ea... This happens frequently in business and tech. CEOs look like geniuses when they can take credit for the work of others.

Yeah, that surprised me too. I thought they would at least throw in a reference to CP/M at that point, but that was missing.

The other interesting story that I thought went missing was when they talked about Bill and Paul working on the class scheduling software for the school after the all-boys school merged with another school to allow girls in. I think they missed the story about how Bill set up his schedule so that he could be in an all-girls class.

Overall, it was a pretty good documentary. I do want to note that it focuses more on Bill's philantrophic efforts, especially in Episode 1, but then Episodes 2 and 3 do a good job of covering his history and Microsoft (though still more focused on his recent philantrophic work.) So this is just a PSA for anyone more interested in his Microsoft story: you may find that more in Episodes 2 and 3.

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#83

Post by deogeo » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

turbinerneiter wrote: post #80

deogeo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which parts of CEU was founded in 1991 by hedge fund manager, political activist, and philanthropist George Soros [..] A central tenet of the university's philosophy is the promotion of open societies. [1] major donations from some of the nation’s wealthiest liberal foundations, including [..] the Open Society Foundations of the financier George Soros [..]. Over the past decade those donors have invested more than $3…

It's not about disagreeing with his goals, it's about stylizing him as a Boogeyman using anti-Semitic tropes for political gains. The people who call Soros their enemy are literally fighting against liberal democracy. Orban himself states as his goal a illiberal democracy. You can disagree with Soros views on immigration, but there is no way in hell you can defend what has been done to him. What Soros advocates is a…

> The people who call Soros their enemy are literally fighting against liberal democracy.

I haven't kept up with all the things Soros has been accused of (falsely or not), but isn't this statement also making them into boogeymen? They can't possibly be just against a handful of policies he's pushing in their country - they must be against liberal democracy itself? Why are the only two choices Soros, or enemies of liberal democracy? Assuming you didn't use "people who call Soros their enemy" to only refer to Orban's government.

I'll agree that Orban (and others) fabricated smears against Soros, but it's false to extend that to "the whole Soros story".

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#84

Post by mav3rick » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 9:37 PM UTC

Uhuhreally wrote: post #76

mav3rick wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it matter ? You may be both but unlucky or not market your skills.

because he has been awarded by the putative meritocratic competition a vast sum of money for his mediocre operating system

Wohoo Year of the Linux Desktop. Best Desktop OS ever.

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#85

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:12 PM UTC

kissgyorgy wrote: post #57

joezydeco wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly get downvoted for pointing out that Saint Bill the Philanthropist refuses to acknowledge all the shitty behavior and the damage he left behind to earn him that fortune in the first place.

What shitty behavior exactly?

[deleted]

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#86

Post by pedalpete » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 11:31 PM UTC

Holden83z wrote: post #64

My problem with the documentary series is that they gave Bill Gates credit for inventing DOS. This starts at 34:00 in episode two. There was no mention at all that Microsoft bought it. https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-bought-ms-dos-os-ea... This happens frequently in business and tech. CEOs look like geniuses when they can take credit for the work of others.

I normally agree with this, but it can be distracting to an audience which may not be completely familiar with the ins-and-outs of the details.

It's the same as when people say that Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla, and most people have never heard of Martin Eberhardt (who I think had another partner who's name I can't remember!).

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#87

Post by delusional » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 11:58 PM UTC

mjfl wrote: post #51

ScottFree wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention his philanthropy work frequently causes considerable damage itself, like the malaria nets[0] that poisoned the local food supply, the failed public school overhaul[1] and common core[2][3]. [0]: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/africa/mosquito-net... [1]: https://nancyebailey.com/2018/07/04/gatess-blunders-destroy-... [2]: https://www.philanthropydaily.com/gates-philanthropy-failure... [3]: htt…

Can’t do anything to please you people, even spending 35 billion a year on charity wouldn’t suffice.

Donate the money to someone completely independent, and stop talking about it.

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#88

Post by delusional » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 11:59 PM UTC

rantwasp wrote: post #34

blueside wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more. How he got there is always overlooked. Bill is certainly very intelligent and competent. But could Bill start a company from scratch and be competitive today? One that is remotely close to MS and from competing fairly? I'm doubtful.

oh wow. just wow. i think it's really easy to be an armchair philosopher vs actually doing things. I for one, even though I am not a big fan of MS or Gates, have no doubt that he could find a niche and grow a successful business today. There is a lot of luck involved when starting from scratch so it's anyone's guess if it would grow as large as MS - but it would definitely take off the ground. Competing fairly is IMH…

Yeah, fuck fairness. If you want to win you have to break the rules. Fuck society, this is about getting what's mine!

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#89

Post by delusional » Sun, Sep 22, 2019, 12:01 AM UTC

riazrizvi wrote: post #72

shadypupper wrote: post #17

I tried to watch it, but it just felt like a 'Bill Gates' public profile PR piece. Basically just espousing how great Bill and his family are and were at all points in history.

Though he has pledged to give away his fortune. So far he has given out $35billion. On things like curing malaria, as opposed to buying self-portraits and NFL memorabilia. I’d say his behavior is the text book definition of great.

He hasn't given away anything he's still the one spending it.

Re: Inside Bill’s Brain

#90

Post by hogFeast » Sun, Sep 22, 2019, 12:24 AM UTC

cromwellian wrote: post #78

hogFeast wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of the things that he is doing also have huge political implications. From the U.S. that isn't obvious. Some wealthy guy can dole out cash but the system is stable, so that is fine. Outside of the U.S. the opposite is true. Wealthy guy comes in and starts handing out cash, and that occurs within a political context (which is often the issue: these places often don't lack money or tech, what they lack is stable p…

Rather than make abstract accusations that are theoretical, perhaps you could be specific. Gates has donated a lot to basic health, vaccination, malaria, clean water. Saying that some of it might be siphoned away by corrupt locals doesn’t remove any good done. The same is true of internationally run NGOs, the WHO, UN, USAID, etc the locals get some power and capital siphoned from the system. But there is no system th…

That is the issue. You are making assumptions about what you think Gates is like. Gates is nice. He is like me. That isn't how it should work (because most impressions about people are wrong, and heavily influenced by things like Netflix documentaries).

And the point is: all the other bodies you mention have controls over how they spend. There is direct oversight of their spending, and yes some money goes missing...but if that is the best case then what happens when there is no oversight. Just blind trust that someone is probably okay (or just not like X group that you dislike).

To help other people effectively, you need process. It isn't about Gates, or talking about how wonderful and generous he is. It is about helping people.

Also, I didn't mention corruption. You can assume that no corruption occurs - virtually impossible in the places Gates is operating - and what Gates is doing is still very troubling. I actually mentioned an example where someone actively avoided becoming involved with a corrupt politician...and it still went horribly wrong. You are proving the point: there is a political context, no-one acknowledges it (and most people who work with Gates are actively disinterested in this too), and it will eventually go wrong.

The solution is for people who give overseas to work far more closely with policymakers (who have reams of information that Gates does not have, and is likely not aware of).