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An interview with Bill Gates

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Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#81

Post by killme »

mtgx wrote: post #54
zaptheimpaler wrote: post #9

He's right. Poverty, disease and basic things like that are things about _survival_, the internet is not. But mainly, the title is provocative and misleading. The article clearly states, he was asked a leading question "asked whether giving the planet an internet connection is more important than finding a vaccination for malaria", and he answered. The title makes it seem like he went out of his way to make the compa…

No, it wasn't "just a leading question". Bill Gates has said something similar before, and quite recently, about Google's Loons: > Bill Gates: Google's Project Loon Doesn't 'Uplift the Poor' Which is a pretty stupid statement to make considering technology does in fact "uplift the poor", since it leads to better economic environment, jobs, and better living conditions. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422884,00.…

Bill Gates has spent a lot of time among the world's poorest poor. When you do that, your perspective changes completely and he seems to be talking from that perspective.

Also, did you read the linked article? He clearly addresses your point.

>Innovation is a good thing. The human condition – put aside bioterrorism and a few footnotes – is improving because of innovation,” he says. But while ­“technology’s amazing, it doesn’t get down to the people most in need in anything near the timeframe we should want it to”.

Well, what Google and Gates' are doing is still better than Jobs' take on charity from his biography that demeans it:

"“Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology. He just shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.”"

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#82

Post by bolder88 »

neya wrote: post #59
bolder88 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things are also about increasing our problems down the line IMHO The world population has doubled in the last 30 years. Doesn't that scare anyone else? Sure, you could save a few million poorly educated people from dying. Then what? They're all going to need food, energy, education, housing, etc etc. Saving people from dying is no good at all if they still have a shitty life and die from something else anyway.

>Saving people from dying is no good at all if they still have a shitty life and die from something else anyway. Wow. That's ultra-elitist. So, let's say you are diagnosed with a rare disease and the doctor gives you two weeks to live unless you get a medicine that costs $1000 which let's assume you can't afford. And you're going to die someday, anyway. Does that mean you have a shitty life and you deserve to die now…

Death is a natural, and essential part of evolution, and is crucial for the survival of the species.

If you could magically save everyone from dying tomorrow, then well done! You've just killed everyone from overcrowding.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#83

Post by gaius »

Tarang wrote: post #37
mtgx wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why does he have to trash everyone else's priorities then? What if I worked on making a fusion reactor technology that could give "free energy to everyone". Would I get to shit on Bill Gate's "anti-malaria" campaign, too, because I'd think my priority is more "important"? Phone and Internet communications are very important to people. Much more important than it might seem at first glance. I come from a relatively…

The thing is providing internet access is obscenely profitable in Africa. Looking at Vodafone's margins in countries such as Kenya (via Safaricom) they're amongst the highest for a telco in the world. This was even true before MPESA came along. These companies can afford to pay outrageously high license fees, taxes, interest expenses amongst other things and still invest in networks all around the country & still tur…

You see services pop up that use SMS to get information over a web experience because of these cost

Google discontinued their one: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/12/google-kills-sms-search/

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#84

Post by pearjuice »

Vaccinations bring up a very controversial debate. The counter argument to vaccinations is that they increase the rate of autism dramatically because they contain a preservative of mercury. Research has shown that in 1992 when they increased the amount of vaccines given to children the rate of autism sky rocketed. Coincidence? Some say that it's a direct link, others oppose of that conclusion. The debate rages on.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#85

Post by bolder88 »

tunesmith wrote: post #39
bolder88 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple though. There's quite a few people who are not at risk of ever getting malaria, but who don't have any decent internet access. So for them, curing malaria will make 0 difference to their life. Also, since when has Microsoft or Bill Gates ever been sold on the idea of the internet as a good thing?

Not sure what your point here is, but it kind of reads as if you're saying that the life of someone on the verge of internet access is more valuable that that of someone on the verge of fatal malaria.

Point is they're two separate groups of people.

From the majority of people from 1st world countries, it is more valuable. I'm never going to meet anyone who has had malaria, or even anyone who knows someone who has had maleria. It's a non issue. But I'll certainly experience and interact with a larger internet population.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#86

Post by batgaijin »

batgaijin wrote: post #23
Alterlife wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to agree with everything that a person says or does in order to acknowledge a simple truth. If Gates said the sky is blue, would you (as you have done) call him a 'cunt' for saying so? Clean water, healthy food, tenable living environment... All these things obviously matter more than internet connectivity. I don't know how anyone could argue otherwise. If you can get yourself vaccinated against a dise…

The country these people are living in should have hospitals. They should be able to affordably produce antibiotics, malaria nets and everything else. Antibiotics and most other medical products are unnecesarilly burdened by patents and become prohibitevely expensive unless some rich patron grants them something they could buy at a much cheaper price. Patents can be a tax on those who are unlucky. I think certain thi…

I take back most of my shit. I guess that's what happens when you are a neckbeard that can't even code.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#87

Post by schuke »

pearjuice wrote: post #84

Vaccinations bring up a very controversial debate. The counter argument to vaccinations is that they increase the rate of autism dramatically because they contain a preservative of mercury. Research has shown that in 1992 when they increased the amount of vaccines given to children the rate of autism sky rocketed. Coincidence? Some say that it's a direct link, others oppose of that conclusion. The debate rages on.

This has been busted for ages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine#False_claims_about_...

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#88

Post by bolder88 »

jbrooksuk wrote: post #70
mtgx wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if the government knocks down on your door tomorrow and says: "Look, you have two choices, we can help you not get cancer, and we'll supply you with daily pills for the rest of your life, but you will not be allowed to have Internet access ever again, or you can choose Internet access, and we won't give you the cancer-fighting pills anymore". You're 30 years old. Go. Which do you choose?

The pills.

That's an insane choice. Do you really value raw lifespan over quality of life?

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#89

Post by deskamess »

Xylakant wrote: post #45
zaptheimpaler wrote: post #9

He's right. Poverty, disease and basic things like that are things about _survival_, the internet is not. But mainly, the title is provocative and misleading. The article clearly states, he was asked a leading question "asked whether giving the planet an internet connection is more important than finding a vaccination for malaria", and he answered. The title makes it seem like he went out of his way to make the compa…

> He's right. Poverty, disease and basic things like that are things about _survival_, the internet is not. I'd say he's at least partially wrong. Diseases are often cause by lack of knowledge and education, outburst can often be contained with good means of communication. I know people doing projects that use the internet (or cellphone text messages) to allow remote villages to better manage the available health res…

Communication is the key.... and the internet is generally pretty awesome for that. However, for rural medicine, the prerequisite (assuming infrastructure exists) is the ability to retrieve and parse the information. You need to be literate, have access to an internet enabled device, and know how to search for what you think ails you. Language could be a barrier too.

Use of social worker and nurse pairs to do rural visits and vaccinations are much more effective. Verbal communication in the local language can communicate any extra information they need. Question and answer sessions are more fruitful. There is much more information to be gleaned about the community as a whole with a visit. The social worker and nurse can always update data when they get back to a location with internet access and provide a lot more medical context than the residents.

I agree it is not an either or proposition. However I believe the more effective solution, under current conditions, is the human visit. While that happens, continue to build up the infrastructure around these areas; not just internet, but access to clean water, roads to take people to hospitals, access to electricity (local or from a grid), etc.

Steps have to be taken in all directions to grow the radius of community well being.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#90

Post by Qom »

Volpe wrote: post #76
Qom wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Sorry just saw your strange reference to Newton as well. >You are saying technological advancement is more important >than people, and we should prioritise advancement over people... >why? Why should we advance technology for technologies sake? That's not what I said at all. On the contrary, I'm saying that if you want to help people technological progress will be vastly more efficient than anything else, and partic…

Why are they more valuable? You are saying they are more valuable because they provide more technological advancement. I guess my question is: Why are you trying to measure the 'value' of one (or many) human lives? Why are we not all equal?

Our goal is to help everyone achieve a better life, right? Then some people are more valuable to that goal than others. They aren't more valuable in an absolute sense (no one is) but according to our current problems they are relatively more useful. Governments are trying to spend their money in the smartest way possible. I'm saying that we should prioritize a certain type of spending over another. With enough tech, we will be able to achieve real equality that is today impossible. Once that is achieved, we can forget about tech or value of human beings. These will be problems of the past.
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