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Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

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Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#241

Post by FrojoS »

PeterisP wrote: post #155

An interesting trend is that we're now no longer relying on governments to pursue big, hairy, audacious goals. Governments and also capital markets nowadays seem unable to pursue any really long-term projects at all. Instead, all the future-advancing progress seems to be made by independently rich individuals; and also not by the "aristocratic-rich" families, but by noveau riche upstarts such as Brin, Musk and others…

There might be a trend, yes, but we are still almost entirely relying on government funded research. So much that it will stay this way for a very long time. Have you compared say the US health care budget with say the funding of the Gates foundation.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#242

Post by ChuckMcM »

toyg wrote: post #89
300bps wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

catalyze a shift in the world's thought paradigm Absolutely. The goal should be to enact a vector of a new paradigm, as proactive team players synergize an out-of-the-box strategy of functionality and infotainment, re-engineering the learning curve framework of your dotted-line relationship.

You're not leveraging your competitive advantages, there. I bet you don't even brainstorm blue-sky thinking for an innovation agenda. Tsk tsk.

You missed my personal favorite, 'thought shower' which sounds vaguely fetish like in an intellectual way.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#244

Post by henryaj »

king_jester wrote: post #153
lukev wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but existence is so much more important than availability at this point in history. Accelerate existence by whatever means necessary; availability will follow.

> Accelerate existence by whatever means necessary; availability will follow. This is not demonstrated at all. Increasing existence and production of food hasn't tackled food insecurity and hunger, for example. That something exists, even if cheaply, does not mean it will become accessible.

> Increasing existence and production of food hasn't tackled food insecurity and hunger, for example.

Um... what about the millions of lives saved by the green revolution and agricultural advances? Hunger hasn't been eliminated, but technology has increased the carrying capacity of the earth by a few billion.

Re. technological availability: see the falling price of mobile phones, personal computers, Internet connections.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#245

Post by dragonwriter »

dekhn wrote: post #202
jrockway wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's making fun of the buzzwords, not the message itself. Frankly, if you think "catalyzing paradigms" is a good way to say something, I'd recommend taking an English literature class.

Err... catalyzing a paradigm change makes perfect sense to me. I think Thomas Kuhn might have used that in his book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions". A lit class isn't going to make any comment on a phrase like that, or management speak in general. Management speak is just a jargon.

> Management speak is just a jargon.

Its mostly not. Jargon is specialized use of terms used to facilitate clear communication of ideas within a specific community/domain. Management speak -- at least the form that is often mocked -- is just using flowery language to conceal the absence of substance, and is pretty much the opposite of jargon.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#247

Post by [deleted] »

FD3SA wrote: post #9

Absolutely brilliant. Finally, Aubrey De Grey's unapologetically straightforward logic [1] regarding aging has gained traction with the crowd who has the means to tackle this grand challenge. I am sincerely proud of Page and Brin for their vision and commitment. This is one of those rare times that powerful people make bold choices that catalyze a shift in the world's thought paradigm. Aging will now be seen for what…

[deleted]

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#248

Post by natrius »

needacig wrote: post #235
natrius wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things are available to the vast majority of the planet. Clean water, for example, is available to seven of every eight humans[1]. In the places those things aren't available, you'll usually find a corrupt government getting in the way. As you said, these aren't expensive problems to solve, so there's no intrinsic reason they should be limited to the elite. [1] http://thewaterproject.org/water_stats.php

Some more context: 61% lack Internet access [1] 35% lack basic sanitation (e.g., toilets) [4] 26% don't have plumbing (e.g., water they can get from pipes in their house or yard) [2] 23% don't have electricity [2] 14% lack access to clean water [2] 14% lack access to health care [2] 13% suffer from chronic undernourishment [5] 11% can't read [3] 14% is about one billion people. Maybe you look at that and think, hey,…

"Can you give an example of an intrinsic reason something would be limited to the elite?"

Scarcity.

Sanitation and plumbing are cheap and easy if a government isn't corrupt. We're not waiting on advances in technology to make those things easy to provide to the world, so it seems tangential to anything Google could do.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#249

Post by cookingrobot »

astrodust wrote: post #112
bowlofpetunias wrote: post #96

Most of the world suffers from the health problem of never even reaching a ripe old age, and much of the rest from the problem of not being able to afford it, and increasingly so. This is not about making the world a better place. This about allowing the elite that can afford it to live forever.

Plus the one thing Google doesn't have access to at the moment is your medical records. I guess this fixes that.

Calico is a different company, so if some day you decide to give them access to your medical records, that won't automatically give access to google.

Re: Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being

#250

Post by vacri »

needacig wrote: post #235
natrius wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things are available to the vast majority of the planet. Clean water, for example, is available to seven of every eight humans[1]. In the places those things aren't available, you'll usually find a corrupt government getting in the way. As you said, these aren't expensive problems to solve, so there's no intrinsic reason they should be limited to the elite. [1] http://thewaterproject.org/water_stats.php

Some more context: 61% lack Internet access [1] 35% lack basic sanitation (e.g., toilets) [4] 26% don't have plumbing (e.g., water they can get from pipes in their house or yard) [2] 23% don't have electricity [2] 14% lack access to clean water [2] 14% lack access to health care [2] 13% suffer from chronic undernourishment [5] 11% can't read [3] 14% is about one billion people. Maybe you look at that and think, hey,…

Keep in mind when discussing internet access that effectively for the general public, the internet has only been with us for 20 years. And that was just the birth of its public mindshare - significant penetration would still take quite a few years yet in developed countries.

It also doesn't really fit in with the rest of the stats you're presenting - people can and do live quite luxurious lives without using the internet, but not so for the other items.

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