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An interview with Bill Gates

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Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not very related. That looks very expensive. Mine is intended to retail for $10 to $20.

A $20 laser? I'm skeptical.

I will gladly send you a prototype to try (and return the 20 dollars to you if you do not like it). I don't believe in NDAs, so be aware that if you decide to annex the design, I will eat you.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so you would risk having cancer for internet access? Does internet define your quality of life?

Of course it does. I use the internet to generate money.

So do I, but if the pills make me healthy enough to go and do work elsewhere, then so be it.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about "realistic", but it expresses a value other than "all lives are created equal". I think if someone has a value other than "all lives are created equal", then focusing on expanding internet usage ahead of malaria eradication is a conclusion that could be deduced from that (when combined with other values we might all share). The problem is that all sorts of other whacked conclusions can also be dedu…

All lives are not created equal. That's just bs. Of course not all lives are created equal. For example if I had to pick between the lives of Einstein and Hitler, I'd pick Einstein.

You are confusing the meaning of life. Not the some of their experience, but the beating of their heart. Life is equal, the world over.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#164
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show me the (at the very least) the correlation between internet access and social mobility. You may help educate some people, though the data says educational outcome is more correlated with socio-economic status. And education is correlated with social mobility, but now we are two correlative (at best) steps away from the conclusion you are drawing. We've yet to show any causation... Your outrage of having to expla…

> Your outrage of having to explain this, is misplaced. This is not an obvious fact, nor is it backed by any evidence. I'm not outraged at all, just surprised. I don't have enough time to explain something like that on HN (especially to someone who may just be trolling or acting in bad faith, not saying you are but you could be) and I don't feel the need to because the evidence that the internet has a positive effect…

... you moved the goal posts significantly. We aren't talking about whether the internet has a positive effect on society or the economy.

We are talking about uplifting the poor. Which is more formally known as "increasing social mobility". The internet doesn't do that... Social mobility in the US did not change significantly with the introduction and growth of the internet... what more evidence do you need against your point?

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#165
post #119

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Yeah giving internet to people who barely have running water and electricity is REALLY going to help uplift the poor. Solve health issues so people can work rather than spread disease. Introduce agriculture and self sustaining society. Then maybe you can introduce technology...

You might be surprised at the priorities of the poor themselves. Internet access means knowing the market price rather than being ripped off by a middleman for your crop. Getting the market price might mean being able to afford indoor plumbing, but maybe a scooter comes first so grandma can be taken to a doctor when needed. Curing malaria is inherently a top down priority. Acquiring communications is bottom up. To ta…

"Internet access means knowing the market price rather than being ripped off by a middleman for your crop."

This is a classic tale that got retold over and over again for the positive impact of communication. Farmers know the market price - that's not a problem. The problem is they might not be able to sell their crops at market prices due to logistical choices and availability.

If there are only a few trucks today to deliver your produce to the faraway market, you take whatever price the middle man gives you - regardless of the market price - because the other choice is leaving them rotten on the field.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#166
post #53

Gates is right , but the reasoning is a bit more complicated: Starting with "connectivity" is basically "putting the cart in front of the ox". There's this utopical view that once you give them internet access smart African children will start freelancing and provide for their families, but it doesn't work this way: once you give him internet access, the African child with an IQ of top 0.001% will just learn there ar…

he will find a way to leave his country and pursue a better life for himself, leaving his family and all the other around him behind in the same state of poverty.

The World Bank estimates that migrants transfer around $500 billion per year back to their home countries; that's around 4x times the global amount of foreign aid.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/10/02/Migrants...

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#167
post #114

Oh no, so my power point presentation on the cloud won't save the world? What a cruel realization for someone like me, living in the startup world, constantly getting told how great everything I do is. What comes next? The realization that electronics, like the iPhone end up as waste, destroying the environment and its acid causes cancer to children instead of bringing them rainbows and unicorns? It sounds just as ba…

This is not a technology vs something else. Vaccines are technology too. This is a discussion on a specific technology vs another.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it does. I use the internet to generate money.

So do I, but if the pills make me healthy enough to go and do work elsewhere, then so be it.

But are you not healthy enough? The situation didn't involve actually having cancer, just a risk of developing it.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it does. I use the internet to generate money.

So do I, but if the pills make me healthy enough to go and do work elsewhere, then so be it.

Sounds to me like you have an irrational fear of cancer and/or death.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#170
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All lives are not created equal. That's just bs. Of course not all lives are created equal. For example if I had to pick between the lives of Einstein and Hitler, I'd pick Einstein.

You are confusing the meaning of life. Not the some of their experience, but the beating of their heart. Life is equal, the world over.

Some people are born with good genes, intelligence, money, muscles, height, amazing good looks, etc etc Some aren't.

Life is certainly not, in any way equal, and it's idiocy to pretend it is.

We are all born with totally different strengths and weaknesses, and that's what makes us unique, and should be celebrated. Not denied.

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