Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not • Hacker News Board

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#261

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

eaenki wrote: post #169

paulcole wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My solution is: take a piece of the federal budget and give $1-3MM to anyone with a far fetched idea that has a prototype to back it up So giving millions to people who are already privileged enough to have access to the tools/resources/education to make to a prototype?

You usually can make a prototype of literally anything with less than $10K. Education on the internet is free. And the internet itself is free at any Starbucks.

How ? $10K doesn't go very far in most areas of deep tech, where most significant inventions are usually created.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#262

Post by NhanH » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:42 PM UTC

alchemism wrote: post #167

abakker wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question is: why did we install the protections(barriers) in the first place? I assume that a major component of that was as a reaction to the increasing complexity of modern life. Self sufficiency is fine, but it is difficult to take the consequences for many things knowingly. As such, we created, one at a time, experientially driven barriers designed to protect people from new, novel issues. I don’t think…

For the many regulations in American society, there is usually a dead body buried underneath, possibly many dead bodies, including those of women and children, etc. For each and every one, someone suffered terribly or died.

Yes, but that doesn't mean the regulations are still relevant, or that they were ever been a good regulation to start with. The PATRIOT act came from a horrible tragedy, and many people would tell you how terrrible it is.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#263

Post by Judgmentality » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:42 PM UTC

imtringued wrote: post #108

criddell wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had been given $1 million when I was 22 to build something, the world would have a pretty awesome Honda Civic with a flamethrower on the front, a 40" subwoofer in the hatch, and a dial to change the camber angle of the wheels on the fly.

If I had that amount of money I would try to build an army of humanoid robots. However I think the end result won't be much more useful than an animatronic manequin. AGI doesn't exist so even a simple feature like "bring out the trash" would be a million dollar project by itself.

I really wish you could build a robot that could "bring out the trash" with just $1 MM, but robotics is not so forgiving. Anki, which raised around $200 MM, started with advanced toy robots and were shifting towards a home chore robot and ran out of money before they had a prototype. The only company I know with a viable solution in this space, and honestly I am stretching 'viable' in terms of what it can do for what it costs, is Boston Dynamics. It'll be interesting when someone finally leaks a price for SpotMini - I'd guess something like $60k.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#264

Post by elliekelly » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:55 PM UTC

BoiledCabbage wrote: post #258

rayiner wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot of rhetoric, but I don't know if your response is any more substantive. At least if we're talking about college degrees rather than high school diplomas, OP may be correct: https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-American-adults-had... We sent a man to the moon in 1969. At the time, half of Americans didn't have a high school diploma, and just 10% had a college degree. In the 1940s and early 1950s, when…

> Do you think the same society that did those things couldn't have invented the Internet and Facebook? Society didn't invent those things. People with the education conveyed from a college degree did. As was almost every notable invention and discovery of the past 80 years. This is not controversial.

> > Do you think the same society that did those things couldn't have invented the Internet and Facebook?

> Society didn't invent those things. People with the education conveyed from a college degree did.

But Zuckerberg famously doesn't have a college degree so that can't possibly be the case...

And off the top of my head I'd also call the Apple computer and MS-DOS "notable" but that's just my personal (and apparently controversial) opinion.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#265

Post by codingdave » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:58 PM UTC

NHQ wrote: post #188

I have tech talents that maybe a few thousand people in the world have, and research ability to move the needle (maybe even novel ideas in the field, if you ask me). I can't work in academia (no Ph.D), find capital (no connections), and the software job market is a crazy stupid PITA (no thanks). I know it's me, that I can have what I want if I really go for it, and that is what I do by living simply and continuing my…

It is easy to find teaching work. The educational system needs good teachers. And many districts even have programs to bring new teachers up to speed, without a degree in education. (Assuming you have a degree of some kind.)

Likewise, the public sector would love to find talented people willing to do the tech work required, for the salaries they can afford. There are always opportunities to be found.

If you aren't doing those things, it isn't due to lack of opportunity in our society.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#266

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 7:58 PM UTC

eaenki wrote: post #9

Imo Education is overvalued, Capital is under appreciated, And, Because Capital is trapped into networks, that Capital is squandered among an infinite array of companies employing the talent and producing products that don’t make you, or the planet, better, healthier, smarter or happier. (Apple’s SJ era, Google until 2014~ and Tesla fit the useful smarter happier paradigma, and not many other) My solution is: take a…

> producing products that don’t make you, or the planet, better, healthier, smarter or happier.

Business Capital goes towards products that people are willing to pay for. People buy products that make them better, healthier, smarter, or happier. Or at least they believe so. Are you sure you know what's better for them to buy?

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#267

Post by rrivers » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:05 PM UTC

eaenki wrote: post #9

Imo Education is overvalued, Capital is under appreciated, And, Because Capital is trapped into networks, that Capital is squandered among an infinite array of companies employing the talent and producing products that don’t make you, or the planet, better, healthier, smarter or happier. (Apple’s SJ era, Google until 2014~ and Tesla fit the useful smarter happier paradigma, and not many other) My solution is: take a…

Education as a whole is not and cannot be overvalued enough given the trajectory of technology, society, and the nature of work.

What can be overvalued is the character of our present educational institutions. Because the system of education that produced many of us was designed for another time. This is reflected in both the character and the quality of education.

Education in the U.S. is also unevenly distributed due to a funding model that relies on municipality taxes, creating a multi-generational disadvantage.

Capital may be under-appreciated and you're correct that it's "trapped in networks" - but I believe that the solution is to legally tie that capital to real economic purposes. Companies floating billions in cash reserves waste the productive potential of those resources. Same could be said for the stock market, speculation has it's purposes but modern financial markets just churn money to make money. Wall-street was intended to fund the productive agenda of society, not tie up capital in the hands of an isolated few.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#268

Post by fuzzfactor » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:10 PM UTC

blurbleblurble wrote: post #110

Capital is so trapped up that people don't even have the capital to take care of basic needs.

Seems to me capital is not just ordinary resources.

More like when preservation or a positive return is intended in a businesslike situation, even though negative returns are often encountered.

Other people's money can be used to leverage some amazing outcomes.

When capitalism is dominated by greedy capitalists, basic needs are not intended to be taken care of, since no return on that type investment can be recognized.

When capitalism is dominated by benevolent capitalists, basic needs are intended to be taken care of, since huge return on that type investment can be recognized.

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#269

Post by lopmotr » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:11 PM UTC

The lack of exposure to role models for girls is a load of carefully crafted dishonesty. It gives the impression that role models are the reason for gender differences in inventing without actually saying that. Instead, it uses the same weasel word "can" as cosmetics advertising telling you that some chemical "can" reduce wrinkles. It also doesn't quantify the effect because that would probably be embarrassing. Of course role models will have some effect but it's not the only one - sexual dimorphism is there too and all the role models in the world won't change that. I wish people would stop lying to themselves and others about gender differences. Men and women are not cognitively equal on average. We have different strengths and weaknesses. There's nothing wrong with that. You don't have to pretend that women would be just as good as men if only society would stop misunderstanding them. It's trying to pull girls under a spell of delusion to fool them into behaving like boys, perhaps so that more of those who can do so will fulfill their potential. Why not be honest and help people understand that their own individual qualities are not the same as their group average?

Re: Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

#270

Post by sflanagan » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:25 PM UTC

ozim wrote: post #145

criddell wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had been given $1 million when I was 22 to build something, the world would have a pretty awesome Honda Civic with a flamethrower on the front, a 40" subwoofer in the hatch, and a dial to change the camber angle of the wheels on the fly.

Just like Casey Neistad spent budget for Nike commercial on doing stupid shit around the world. There was also a band of musicians that got loads of cash from music company and they wasted it on drugs in Berlin instead of production of an album (someone on Joe Rogan, don't remember name). So those things happen in some people reality.

Instantly made me think of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7hhDINyBP0