Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated • Hacker News Board

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#91

Post by keithpeter » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 11:05 AM UTC

technogeek00 wrote: post #78

keithpeter wrote: post #74

"Student question. What advice to someone like me to become someone like you?" "Gates: I didn’t start out with dream of being super-rich." Is it the transcription or has Mr Gates interpreted the phrase "someone like you" in a very narrow way?

I was there and although the transcription does take some paraphrasing at points, this is a direct quote. It leaves out that before this the student said something like: "Before I ask my question I want to tell a little story: When I was growing up my parents and friends always asked me what I wanted to be and I would tell them I wanted to be the richest person in the world. Now you are here speaking to me so if A=B…

Thanks very much for clarification, and yes, the student who asked the question therefore set the context for the reply. Sounds like a good event!

If A = B and B = C then A = C is an example of a transitive relationship in Maths.

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#92

Post by gmac » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 11:14 AM UTC

mattm wrote: post #54

alexhaefner wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it increasingly bizarre, day by day, that people are so fixated on money and not value, or meaningfulness. There's something about the way that money is discussed on HN that I find odd, but I haven't quite put my finger on it yet. Maybe it's that there can sometimes feel like a larger emphasis on politics or money than the things people have actually created... maybe. I'm not sure. I'm still working on figurin…

> I find it increasingly bizarre, day by day, that people are so fixated on money and not value, or meaningfulness. ...or happiness. I recently read "Stumbling on Happiness" which had an interesting discussion on the fact that there are several studies that show that pay raises up to around $45k per year result in an increase in happiness. But after that, an increases in salary brings only a marginal increase in happ…

Yes. I do research on the economics of happiness, and I do lectures/seminars on it occasionally. In these sessions, I often can't get general agreement that earning money is just a means to the end of being happy. Some students will maintain that earning money is the ultimate goal. Which is frankly weird and a little scary.

I think the point of the $45k/year figure, though, is that you get no extra happiness from spending more than $45k/year. But being paid more than that helps 'keep score' in the sense that you know that someone really values your work -- particularly if you're able to compare with what other people are being paid.

Edit: I also sometimes wonder if there are differences related to social safety nets, and particularly health. It seems in the US that you need $millions to be completely certain that health issues couldn't financially ruin (or kill) you, so more money provides more security even when you're already fabulously rich. Whereas in most of Europe, if you're sick, you get treatment, so if you have a million euros in the bank you basically can't get any more security from money.

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#93

Post by basugasubaku » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:10 PM UTC

technogeek00 wrote: post #78

keithpeter wrote: post #74

"Student question. What advice to someone like me to become someone like you?" "Gates: I didn’t start out with dream of being super-rich." Is it the transcription or has Mr Gates interpreted the phrase "someone like you" in a very narrow way?

I was there and although the transcription does take some paraphrasing at points, this is a direct quote. It leaves out that before this the student said something like: "Before I ask my question I want to tell a little story: When I was growing up my parents and friends always asked me what I wanted to be and I would tell them I wanted to be the richest person in the world. Now you are here speaking to me so if A=B…

I think she is saying if I want to be B, and B is Bill Gates, then I want to be Bill Gates, therefore the question "how can I become like you, Mr. Gates?"

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#94

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:33 PM UTC

vladd wrote: post #88

ehsanu1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of making the billion dollars yourself is having a say in where it gets spent, not in "giving it all away" indiscriminately. Indeed, someone else might choose to just keep their billions in the family, for the sake of obnoxious levels of luxury. I'm sure there are some billionaires exactly like that. Anyways, the whole problem with trying to become a billionaire is that it's really a lottery. Sure, someone…

> The point of making the billion dollars yourself is having a say in where it gets spent I doubt people that are great at creating value would appreciate making these kind of decisions once they get to know what's involved. Just to give an example: an 8 year-old requested $50'000 from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to help him survive by contributing to his leukemia treatment, but Gates turned the request down be…

[deleted]

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#95

Post by adaml_623 » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:37 PM UTC

mattm wrote: post #58

davidjohnstone wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found it interesting that Steve Jobs was worth "only" about $6B when he died, and more of that wealth came from Pixar than Apple. But, the driving force behind wealthy and successful people is very rarely money.

I don't quite believe that. Look at periods of history where high taxes on wealth have led to a drastic decrease in entrepreneurship activity. I think the dream of becoming wealthy is what does drive people initially, however, (not through experience but from what I've learned from others) once wealthy the pursuit of earning more money does not become the motivation - although I did work for someone who had sold a pr…

Any chance you could elaborate on the periods of history that you are talking about?

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#96

Post by khafra » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:40 PM UTC

forensic wrote: post #79

learc83 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow I can't find anything at all supporting anywhere near that. The total net worth of all the worlds billionaires is only $4.5 trillion according to forbes.

Forbes only knows about public wealth. The Rothschilds in the mid 19th century owned half the wealth of the world, and the contemporary argument is that they have not lost money since then, rather it has grown steadily, and is hidden off the books in countless family controlled foundations as well as secret reserves stashed away before there was the type of public accounting we have today. Heads of state and CEOs hav…

How does the total value of privately traded companies compare to publically traded companies, and how many privately traded companies can the Rothschilds plausibly own without it being public knowledge?

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#97

Post by lincolnq » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:44 PM UTC

mattm wrote: post #54

alexhaefner wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it increasingly bizarre, day by day, that people are so fixated on money and not value, or meaningfulness. There's something about the way that money is discussed on HN that I find odd, but I haven't quite put my finger on it yet. Maybe it's that there can sometimes feel like a larger emphasis on politics or money than the things people have actually created... maybe. I'm not sure. I'm still working on figurin…

> I find it increasingly bizarre, day by day, that people are so fixated on money and not value, or meaningfulness. ...or happiness. I recently read "Stumbling on Happiness" which had an interesting discussion on the fact that there are several studies that show that pay raises up to around $45k per year result in an increase in happiness. But after that, an increases in salary brings only a marginal increase in happ…

The optimal philanthropy community is trying to figure out how to convey these messages: 1) more money doesn't directly buy more happiness; and 2) more money DOES buy better world outcomes (which probably leads to more happiness overall).

It seems like it should be possible to convince people with some disposable income to put a substantial fraction of their extra money into actually saving the world. Giving What We Can (http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/) is one of the organizations trying to do this. Givewell (http://givewell.org) is doing research on cost-effectiveness -- and there's a HUGE range of cost-effectiveness among charities.

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#98

Post by lincolnq » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 12:47 PM UTC

nickpinkston wrote: post #29

hansy wrote: post #5

A million dollars isn't cool, you know what's cool? Not a billion dollars. But yeah I always wondered what the threshold of wealth is when you literally can do anything you want without any thought to how much.

You know what's cool? Actually making a difference in this world. Fuck anything for money's sake.

I posted this as its own link, but it's worth reposting here: Jaan Tallinn, founder of Skype, at the most recent Singularity Summit, talks about what to do with your money and how to make a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84G6An1Ff2E

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#99

Post by kreek » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 1:04 PM UTC

"Student question. Computer science in education, starting even in elementary school. Good idea?

Gates. Hmm. I think computer is a great tool, but if by computer science we mean understanding queing theory and hashing and database indexes, not sure. But knowing how to write a program, prime numbers by algorithm is very interesting test of whether I know prime numbers. What’s really necessary? Geometry? No, probably not. But certainly a level of complex thinking valuable to be exposed to. Statistics very important. Where computer scientist falls in hierarchy, I don’t know."

Obviously elementary level students don't need to know queing theory etc. However, I think a lot games developers might disagree that Geometry is not really necessary. There's other uses as well I'm developing a web app for customizing products and I use Geometry every day.

Re: Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

#100

Post by hvs » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 1:37 PM UTC

vladd wrote: post #88

ehsanu1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of making the billion dollars yourself is having a say in where it gets spent, not in "giving it all away" indiscriminately. Indeed, someone else might choose to just keep their billions in the family, for the sake of obnoxious levels of luxury. I'm sure there are some billionaires exactly like that. Anyways, the whole problem with trying to become a billionaire is that it's really a lottery. Sure, someone…

> The point of making the billion dollars yourself is having a say in where it gets spent I doubt people that are great at creating value would appreciate making these kind of decisions once they get to know what's involved. Just to give an example: an 8 year-old requested $50'000 from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to help him survive by contributing to his leukemia treatment, but Gates turned the request down be…

The Gates Foundation isn't your traditional "take money, give money" charity, though. It is actually just the kind of charity that you would expect a successful entrepreneur to create. They require results from the research that they fund and they require regular status from the research they fund. It is a very hands-on style that entrepreneurs are good at and other charities, traditionally, have not.