A Magical Time to Start a Movement • Hacker News Board

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#31

Post by sebkomianos » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:02 PM UTC

gopher1 wrote: post #30

oscargrouch wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger problems arent being solved because the people (or animals, plants) dont have money to pay back.. SV is solving problems for who can pay.. and that crowd already has too many people with their brains working all day to solve their problems.. The problems that are let unsolved, are the ones from marginalized people.. people smashed and invisible to the society.. the ones called the "loosers".. Even if not t…

Which is of course how SV got its start, through government investment. Socialize the risk, privatize the profits, it's the American way.

That sounds pretty much like Europe too.

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#32

Post by thetylerhayes » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:04 PM UTC

felipe wrote: post #25

thetylerhayes wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read OP's piece yet, but I agree with @dennybritz that there are plenty of us here in SV who care about solving the big problems. For example we just launched Prime, an iPhone app that allows you to download your medical record from any doctor and share health activity with friends and family. http://stayinyourprime.com . We're not the only ones in healthcare. There's also Practice Fusion, drchrono, DoctorB…

> an iPhone app that allows you to download your medical record from any doctor and share health activity with friends and family I mean no offense to you personally, but I fail to understand how this problem fits in a world in which 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation.

Sure, no offense taken. In addition to @VladRussian2's thoughts, here's a more explicit explanation of why we see both that problem and the one we're solving as big problems:

- 2.5 billion people worldwide lack basic sanitation. This is a fundamental human right and can cause harm by opening the door to disease which can sometimes lead to death.

- 130 million people in the US suffer from chronic illnesses and lack basic access to their medical records. This is a fundamental human right and can cause harm by opening the door to incorrect assessments and treatments which can sometimes lead to death.

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#33

Post by CodeMage » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:09 PM UTC

VladRussian2 wrote: post #28

felipe wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an iPhone app that allows you to download your medical record from any doctor and share health activity with friends and family I mean no offense to you personally, but I fail to understand how this problem fits in a world in which 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation.

>I mean no offense to you personally, but I fail to understand how this problem fits in a world in which 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation. some of the people making big on some app will become the next Musk (though unfortunately some will become the next Thiel) and will work on the big problems our civilization faces. That is is the beauty of SV - it allows people doing business here (or even merely employed)…

Let's be honest: how many Thiels per Musk do we get? Somehow I fail to see the beauty in this alleged springboard.

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#34

Post by VladRussian2 » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:34 PM UTC

CodeMage wrote: post #33

VladRussian2 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I mean no offense to you personally, but I fail to understand how this problem fits in a world in which 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation. some of the people making big on some app will become the next Musk (though unfortunately some will become the next Thiel) and will work on the big problems our civilization faces. That is is the beauty of SV - it allows people doing business here (or even merely employed)…

Let's be honest: how many Thiels per Musk do we get? Somehow I fail to see the beauty in this alleged springboard.

the beauty here that it sometimes produces a Musk at all. Nothing else does it. The closest we'd got is Gates - while not SV geographically, it is the same approach - make money in hi-tech and apply it to solve a big problem.

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#35

Post by jeremyx » Tue, Oct 22, 2013, 7:39 PM UTC

gboudrias wrote: post #9

jeremyx wrote: post #5

...keep telling yourself that.

Flagged because condescension is not an argument nor is it constructive.

Fair enough. Yes there is massive disruption and potential for more, but it's a fallacy to think that power lies in the hands of individuals.

The myth that "...a single person can build something on his or her laptop, instantly reach billions of people, and create a movement if he can convince others to believe in the idea." just helps concentrate power into the entities with the most processing power. Who's networks are needed to reach all those people?

Jaron Lanier puts it a bit more eloquently than I do: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/fixing-the-...

Re: A Magical Time to Start a Movement

#36

Post by epsylon » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 12:37 PM UTC

mcculley wrote: post #18

>With MOOCs we no longer need universities to educate people. I am not convinced of this. I think MOOCs are great and certainly a game changer for domains like computer science. But there's lots of domains that I know nothing about that I am not convinced I could master via an online course (e.g., biotech or anything else that requires expensive equipment). Even where MOOCs are the best answer, isn't the best provide…

A MOOC is a scalable replacement for a traditional class lecture. It's not intended to replace labs or hands-on experience, nor the value of being immersed into a campus, mixing with students and teachers...

That being said, MOOCs can help alleviate a lot of the cost of a University degree.