6 ms·

What are they interested in nowadays, then?

nostromo 10y ago
Presumably the other parts of Alphabet: longevity, health, AI, etc.
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
Larry seems to be of the megalomaniacal persuasion, his interviews focus on wanting to run cities, airports, etc. Somewhere on the side of "it would be making the world better if it wasn't a dystopian vision". There's the whole curing death thing too somewhere in there. Sergey seems more interested in the Google X toys, as he always has.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  There's this weird pattern that happens to geeky types when they become rich and powerful. They suddenly buy into the whole command-economy top-down philosophy when their success and wealth only exists because of the largely decentralized nature of technological markets and tech's low regulatory environment. All of sudden they think they can mastermind everything to perfection. The 20th century had a horrific experiment with centrally planned masterminding that cost humanity 94m lives. This should give every central planner some pause. Pie in the sky rich guy stuff like immortality (Page, Kurzweil) and central-planning stuff like robot run cities, AI controlled airports, etc are just mindless futurism that either will never happen or will be too impractical or unethical to ever properly attempt. Heck, Page can't even deliver a thermostat that doesn't regularly fuck up in spectacular ways. He wants this cowboy engineering to run cities and fly planes? Meanwhile, Google has competely missed the boat on some real futurist stuff that is actually panning out like VR or private spaceflight. The only person I can think of who didn't fall into this bizarre pattern is Gates, who just funds a foundation that hands out grants to various organizations, mostly non-profit and NGO, who might get things done. I think this is by far the wiser approach and the one that has the potential for the most change. Live long enough to see yourself become the villain seems to be in effect here. Most super successful people don't have a second act. They peak and either disappear or just become weirdos who have spent too much time around yes men and in echo chambers.
  - sievebrain 10y ago
    I'm not sure why you think ai controlled airports or robot cities need to involve central planning. Airports are to some extent already run by robots and that's pure private sector: https://youtu.be/n2Wy_tduq5k?t=53s https://youtu.be/n2Wy_tduq5k?t=53s
    - EGreg 10y ago
      Private companies and venues can be centrally planned too.
  - csallen 10y ago
    I assume that by the "horrific experiment with centrally planned masterminding that cost humanity 94m lives" you mean communism. If so, that's a drastic oversimplification and (imo) incorrect assessment of what actually led to those deaths.
    - alphapapa 10y ago
      Of course, communism wasn't the problem there. We can do it right this time, we're smarter than they were.
    - jrochkind1 10y ago
      A horrific experiment in central planning has killed lots of people, so has a horrific experiment in letting rich people run things (you know, capitalism). Now we can get the best of both killing capacities at once!
      - csallen 10y ago
        Lots of people have been killed at all stages of history. We're currently living in probably the least violent times ever.
  - alphapapa 10y ago
    > The only person I can think of who didn't fall into this bizarre pattern is Gates, who just funds a foundation that hands out grants to various organizations, mostly non-profit and NGO, who might get things done. I think you make some insightful points about the "weird pattern", but I don't think Gates is a good counter example. He, his wife, and his foundations seem as top-down/central-planning as anyone else, he just isn't as outspoken about it.

Presumably the other parts of Alphabet: longevity, health, AI, etc.

Larry seems to be of the megalomaniacal persuasion, his interviews focus on wanting to run cities, airports, etc. Somewhere on the side of "it would be making the world better if it wasn't a dystopian vision". There's the whole curing death thing too somewhere in there. Sergey seems more interested in the Google X toys, as he always has.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
There's this weird pattern that happens to geeky types when they become rich and powerful. They suddenly buy into the whole command-economy top-down philosophy when their success and wealth only exists because of the largely decentralized nature of technological markets and tech's low regulatory environment. All of sudden they think they can mastermind everything to perfection. The 20th century had a horrific experiment with centrally planned masterminding that cost humanity 94m lives. This should give every central planner some pause. Pie in the sky rich guy stuff like immortality (Page, Kurzweil) and central-planning stuff like robot run cities, AI controlled airports, etc are just mindless futurism that either will never happen or will be too impractical or unethical to ever properly attempt. Heck, Page can't even deliver a thermostat that doesn't regularly fuck up in spectacular ways. He wants this cowboy engineering to run cities and fly planes? Meanwhile, Google has competely missed the boat on some real futurist stuff that is actually panning out like VR or private spaceflight. The only person I can think of who didn't fall into this bizarre pattern is Gates, who just funds a foundation that hands out grants to various organizations, mostly non-profit and NGO, who might get things done. I think this is by far the wiser approach and the one that has the potential for the most change. Live long enough to see yourself become the villain seems to be in effect here. Most super successful people don't have a second act. They peak and either disappear or just become weirdos who have spent too much time around yes men and in echo chambers.
- sievebrain 10y ago
  I'm not sure why you think ai controlled airports or robot cities need to involve central planning. Airports are to some extent already run by robots and that's pure private sector: https://youtu.be/n2Wy_tduq5k?t=53s https://youtu.be/n2Wy_tduq5k?t=53s
  - EGreg 10y ago
    Private companies and venues can be centrally planned too.
- csallen 10y ago
  I assume that by the "horrific experiment with centrally planned masterminding that cost humanity 94m lives" you mean communism. If so, that's a drastic oversimplification and (imo) incorrect assessment of what actually led to those deaths.
  - alphapapa 10y ago
    Of course, communism wasn't the problem there. We can do it right this time, we're smarter than they were.
  - jrochkind1 10y ago
    A horrific experiment in central planning has killed lots of people, so has a horrific experiment in letting rich people run things (you know, capitalism). Now we can get the best of both killing capacities at once!
    - csallen 10y ago
      Lots of people have been killed at all stages of history. We're currently living in probably the least violent times ever.
- alphapapa 10y ago
  > The only person I can think of who didn't fall into this bizarre pattern is Gates, who just funds a foundation that hands out grants to various organizations, mostly non-profit and NGO, who might get things done. I think you make some insightful points about the "weird pattern", but I don't think Gates is a good counter example. He, his wife, and his foundations seem as top-down/central-planning as anyone else, he just isn't as outspoken about it.