51–60 of 100 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you need a lot of wealth to do this? Why not start on these goals today?
Yes, you need a lot of wealth to do serious research on your own topics and not have to do what the grant-granters want.
During WWII the president asked the people to make sacrifices in order to win a war against some fairly bad people. If the president today asked people to stop eating meat for a day, the cattle lobby would have a cow (pun intended). They'd start tossing around money and it would be over. That's not leadership, that's middle management at best.
Maybe its too difficult (or impossible) to be a good leader these days, which may explain why most smart people really don't want the job. How can a leader spend 5 minutes on TV and tell everyone to eat better and even hope to compete with an evening full of fast food commercials. I don't think those are bad people, either. They're just another group of people, like many of us, trying to find a way to get ahead in this world so they can finally do some good. We're all a little aimless -- we need a leader.
So here's what I think any and all of us could do today:
1. Start making the sacrifices of a leader and getting people behind you to move the world in a positive direction.
-- or --
Accept that you aren't the person for the job (even for now) and rally your big throbbing brain behind someone who can and will lead.
2. Start working on your todo list.
I have a simple answer to your question. Simple, but definitely not easy. And certainly not popular. Shooter, you are Dorothy wearing Ruby Slippers. You already have the answer (but may not realize it.) I clicked on your name and read all of you comments here. Looks like you've been involved in some pretty healthy debate (pun intended) about diet, lifestyle, etc. The debate IS the answer. We don't need more science,…
Good post. Just wanted to voice my respect.
> designing software and working for hedge funds liquidity. > So, if anyone here has any ideas to save lives > or make a massive improvement in the world, give > me a shout. Find a way to destroy copyright and other attempts to allow people to own ideas. These laws are both bad for the economy and directly damage the ability of people in third world countries to get a leg up.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you need a lot of wealth to do this? Why not start on these goals today?
Yes, you need a lot of wealth to do serious research on your own topics and not have to do what the grant-granters want.
An interesting question, but you seem to be assuming that AJAX development skills directly port over to other "Save The World (c) (tm)" functions, when in reality they don't. A mildly proficient and motivated 15 year-old can create an application worth $400M with little more than a case of [caffeine drink], a computer of some sort, and a handful of Google queries to self-learn various required bits of knowledge. That…
One is an effective, inexpensive system to stop the spread of waste borne disease in the developing world. Another is a means that makes distributing complicated AIDS medications to illiterate populations practical. The last is an inexpensive system that can be deployed on the most primitive electrical grid that will curb the theft of electricity (which runs at 12% of all electricity sold in Algeria for example).
When distributed over our small teams, all of these projects combined require less work than a single engineering course.
Software is powerful. Engineers are powerful.
this just reaffirms that the little bubble world of YC, TechCrunch, and Web 2.Oh really don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of life. This guy wouldn't trade some extra time with his family for all the startups and VC cash in the world. Saving time is to me the most important point of doing a startup. You compress the tedious business of making a living into the smallest number of years, instead of letting it d…
> Saving time is to me the most important point of doing a startup. I mis-read this in an interesting way: some startup ventures may seem like "not a big deal", but if they save 1% of the US population 1 minute of time every month, that's almost 70 person-years per year. I can't imagine how much time GMail has saved for me that I would have spent setting up mail clients. Ditto for reddit, or news.YC - there is no way…
I think about the triviality of this stuff all of the time. I just want to get moneymaking out of the way so I can do something significant with my life (biochem and physics research), as I define 'significant'.
Do you need a lot of wealth to do this? Why not start on these goals today?
While there are some very rewarding aspects of medical research, please understand that it is not all unicorns, roses, and saved lives. I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful professionals and amazing patients, but I have also experienced mind-numbing ineptitude and questionable research practices. Like any industry, there is good and bad.
I don't want to discourage you from getting involved in research if that is what you truly feel is your passion, however, I believe that regardless of industry, it begins with you. If your talent is in entrepreneurship and investing, you might be most effective in your area of expertise. (Of course, if it's lost its luster and you want something more personally fulfilling, that is a different issue).
One area that I am interested in is micro-lending, and I think it would be a good way of putting your talents to use. You could do something in the developing world or something in the US, depending on your interests. If you have not already, I would recommend that you read "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus. Best of luck to you.
i can't believe i've gotten to the bottom of this thread, and no one has mentioned this. first of all, you can't look at kiva.org and tell me that software can't make a difference in the world. second of all... - measured in dollars, the bill+melinda gates foundation is the biggest charitable organization in the country, by an order of magnitude. they give more to fight aids in africa than any country does, i believe…
It took me a while to get my MD and Ph.D. and I've done research and helped build cancer treatment systems. At the end of the day, I feel that I'm an ant moving a leaf compared to Bill Gates moving mountains. Very few MDs and PhDs contribute the small bits of knowledge that may lead to a cure for cancer or AIDS. Very few people build successful companies and donate millions or billions. But we all can do small acts of kindness and approach the world like Randy Pausch. For me, that starts with loving your family and being nice to others around you. The rest is all gravy.