Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media • Hacker News Board

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#291

Post by darawk » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:54 AM UTC

sukilot wrote: post #231

ipsum2 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your full time job is to lead corporate accountants / head a large corporate accountancy firm and you've done it for several years, I'd consider you an accountancy expert.

It's not corporate in the sense of a successful business. It's a self-funded personal project with nothing to hold it accountable for competency. This is one of the major criticism of Gates in the NGO world.

Sure, but that doesn't make him not an expert. Accountability != expertise. People believe Bill Gates is credible because he has a long track record of being credible.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#292

Post by eanzenberg » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:55 AM UTC

H8crilA wrote: post #135

ani-ani wrote: post #93

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: " And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger] ". Quite literally, encrypted comm…

This is just Gates venting out, dude is sooo frustrated. Imagine doing as much as he did and still getting horseshit accusations about putting chips into people's bodies or whatever new nonsense they will come up in 6 months.

So he has thin skin? Then get out if the public limelight.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#293

Post by TheOperator » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:56 AM UTC

rglover wrote: post #39

refurb wrote: post #36

Maybe it’s just me, but I find it odd that Gates is the go to source for public health issues. His biggest contribution is money, which pays for really smart people to tackle these issues. So why not talk to the really smart people he hired?

An excellent question that shouldn't be downvoted. Why is Bill Gates "the guy?" Don't read that in a conspiratorial sense, just in a rational "can someone explain this to me" sense.

He has broad experiencing in tackling infectious diseases through methods like vaccination & propaganda and he also has doubtless expertise in computers. He has long before COVID frequently been the target of conspiracy theories of him vaccinating people for nefarious purposes.

Thus questions regarding a contemporary infectious disease potentially treated by a disease causing odd politicized conspiratorial behavior on social media is right up his wheelhouse and he's a well known public speaker. There are many epidemiologists you could hear from, and most people have heard from them repeatedly, but Gates offers a fresh perspective due to his fairly unique experience and perspective.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#294

Post by TheOperator » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:57 AM UTC

blocked_again wrote: post #97

Upvoter33 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is misleading at best. Sure, his dad was a lawyer and he was raised in a well-off househould. But he made something -- Microsoft -- through his own ingenuity, effort, and business acumen. I didn't agree with his business ethics, but to pretend he just fell into MS because of his connected family is fairly ridiculous. Amazingly, he has since turned his fortune into one of the most successful philanthropy projects…

Gates mother introduced Microsoft to IBM for the contract by speaking with the then Chairman of IBM, who she was an acquaintance of. How many of your parents can do something like that? Sure, Bill is a very smart person. But it's kind of impossible to say for sure whether he could have been as sucessful, if he was born in a different family. Parents play a major role in shaping the mind of children. For what we know…

If he was born into some other family he wouldn't be bill gates but he would still be a very successful if far less notable businessman. To become world famous does take a degree of luck not just merit. People who only have merit are boring.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#295

Post by eanzenberg » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:58 AM UTC

thingymajig wrote: post #274

ani-ani wrote: post #93

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: " And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger] ". Quite literally, encrypted comm…

If you want to completely eradicate crime one way to do it would be to completely eradicate privacy. Would you sacrifice your privacy if it could eliminate child pornography? The theory is hard to say no to, but in practice that kind of power has never worked out. If we want to retain privacy we have to accept some amount of crime going unnoticed.

This is a general debate either for or against more government. It’s why the libertarian movement is closely related to open source, free speech, encryption and bitcoin.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#296

Post by eanzenberg » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:58 AM UTC

WhompingWindows wrote: post #289

ani-ani wrote: post #93

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: " And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger] ". Quite literally, encrypted comm…

Do you think the child sexual abuse epidemic is empowered by encrypted communication?

Much illicit trade is empowered by encryption and bitcoin. I would bet at least 25% of bitcoin transactions are nefarious.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#297

Post by WarOnPrivacy » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:59 AM UTC

lern_too_spel wrote: post #265

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Gates didn't suggest that the messages be sent unencrypted through government-controlled message routers either. Gates attacked encryption. Nothing beneficial (to the public) follows that.

> Gates attacked encryption. Where did he do that? Slack and Microsoft Teams also use encryption, and he wasn't opposed to the method they use it.

>Where did he [attack encryption]?

Right here. "And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger]."

Unless you're alleging the stuff in the brackets isn't attributable to Gates and doesn't reflect his position on encryption.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#298

Post by darawk » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 12:59 AM UTC

throwaway12992 wrote: post #156

throwaway12992 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has to do with Gates' vaccine program in India. Here is a paper you can read. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30111741/

Not a paper, but perhaps worth reading, is this article, which discusses other conflict of interest accusations. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/bio...

The point of this article appears to be that the Gates foundation simultaneously promotes vaccination and helps pharmaceutical companies with their vaccine research. While that is technically a conflict of interest...it's not much of one. They do both of those things vaccines because vaccines save millions of lives per year.

It'd be like saying it's a conflict of interest to promote access to clean water, while also investing in companies that supply clean water. Sure. It's a conflict. It's also exactly what you would do if you just wanted people to have clean water.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#299

Post by eanzenberg » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 1:00 AM UTC

bg24 wrote: post #248

ani-ani wrote: post #93

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: " And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger] ". Quite literally, encrypted comm…

Problem (lie, fraud, child pornography) is real. IMHO, Bill is not proposing a solution to disable encryption. He is simply saying that government should not allow these activities encrypted. Industry, governments, academics should figure out the best solution.

Sure, but then just argue:

Lie, fraud, child porn is real. Government should install 24-7 cameras in every private room of every citizen to curb all illegal activity.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#300

Post by tehjoker » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 1:00 AM UTC

ani-ani wrote: post #93

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: " And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger] ". Quite literally, encrypted comm…

He's a billionaire. The government defends his billions from being redistributed by angry dying people. He doesn't want potential revolutionaries to be able to communicate easily.