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I am glad that his funds are not doing well. But Myhrvold is an example of people who can have a lot of qualities we support but then also have a lot of qualiti

I am glad that his funds are not doing well. But Myhrvold is an example of people who can have a lot of qualities we support but then also have a lot of qualities we don't support. People like to categorize people into all good or all bad but a lot of people have both in them.

jacquesm 8y ago
Sure, but it's pretty rare that someone is at both extremes of like and dislike at the same time. Obviously speaking for myself here, everybody calibrates their likes and dislikes in different ways.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I would think Bill Gates is a good example. Super competitive and often destructive businessman and then suddenly turning into a philanthropist. Or Andrew Carnegie and John d. Rockefeller. It's hard to have a conclusive opinion about them because their good and their bad sides both are extreme.
  - PhantomGremlin 8y ago
    Steve Jobs is another example. Many things about him to admire; many things about his behavior to despise. Even Mother Teresa wasn't perfect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Criticism
    - Arnt 8y ago
      I've heard worse than that about her... "Didn't treat" extended to telling parents of mentally handicapped children to stop bothering. A physician at a charity in Kolkata told me: "We'd persuade the parents to include the children in daily life, speak to them, give them sensory input, then Mother Teresa's crew would come and tell the parents to just stop bothering, to just feed them and otherwise leave them in a corner, and when the parents did that, the children would return to vegetating."
  - majos 8y ago
    I think the evidence for Bill Gates as a force for good is strong. Sure Microsoft attained and maintained its dominance in unethical and maybe illegal ways. But I am not aware of much destruction beyond preventing other software companies from similar success. I would much rather all those billions be concentrated with Gates, whose foundation is really doing things, than scattered among a dozen software companies and supporting generic medium-wealthy lifestyles with respectable 5% of income given to charity.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      "I would much rather all those billions be concentrated with Gates, whose foundation is really doing things, than scattered among a dozen software companies and supporting generic medium-wealthy lifestyles with respectable 5% of income given to charity." I'd prefer it the other way. Monoculture is almost never good in the long run and neither is too much power in one hand.
  - greglindahl 8y ago
    Yeah, Robber Barons turning "good" is an established trope. Didn't work that well at the time for Rockefeller and Carnegie, so it shouldn't surprise you much that it isn't working for everyone now.
carapace 8y ago
I got to see the Babbage Difference Engine No.2 at the Computer History Museum before he brought it north to be in his office lobby or whatever, so I have a very warm spot in my heart for this dude. The patent trolling sucks, didn't realize that was him... But honestly and sincerely the man is a true mad other-level genius: "Elephants Have Fabulous Tits" (I'm not even gonna link it. It's real. It will challenge you. ;-P Search for that at yer own risk kids...)

jacquesm 8y ago

Sure, but it's pretty rare that someone is at both extremes of like and dislike at the same time. Obviously speaking for myself here, everybody calibrates their likes and dislikes in different ways.

maxxxxx 8y ago
I would think Bill Gates is a good example. Super competitive and often destructive businessman and then suddenly turning into a philanthropist. Or Andrew Carnegie and John d. Rockefeller. It's hard to have a conclusive opinion about them because their good and their bad sides both are extreme.
- PhantomGremlin 8y ago
  Steve Jobs is another example. Many things about him to admire; many things about his behavior to despise. Even Mother Teresa wasn't perfect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Criticism
  - Arnt 8y ago
    I've heard worse than that about her... "Didn't treat" extended to telling parents of mentally handicapped children to stop bothering. A physician at a charity in Kolkata told me: "We'd persuade the parents to include the children in daily life, speak to them, give them sensory input, then Mother Teresa's crew would come and tell the parents to just stop bothering, to just feed them and otherwise leave them in a corner, and when the parents did that, the children would return to vegetating."
- majos 8y ago
  I think the evidence for Bill Gates as a force for good is strong. Sure Microsoft attained and maintained its dominance in unethical and maybe illegal ways. But I am not aware of much destruction beyond preventing other software companies from similar success. I would much rather all those billions be concentrated with Gates, whose foundation is really doing things, than scattered among a dozen software companies and supporting generic medium-wealthy lifestyles with respectable 5% of income given to charity.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    "I would much rather all those billions be concentrated with Gates, whose foundation is really doing things, than scattered among a dozen software companies and supporting generic medium-wealthy lifestyles with respectable 5% of income given to charity." I'd prefer it the other way. Monoculture is almost never good in the long run and neither is too much power in one hand.
- greglindahl 8y ago
  Yeah, Robber Barons turning "good" is an established trope. Didn't work that well at the time for Rockefeller and Carnegie, so it shouldn't surprise you much that it isn't working for everyone now.

carapace 8y ago

I got to see the Babbage Difference Engine No.2 at the Computer History Museum before he brought it north to be in his office lobby or whatever, so I have a very warm spot in my heart for this dude. The patent trolling sucks, didn't realize that was him... But honestly and sincerely the man is a true mad other-level genius: "Elephants Have Fabulous Tits" (I'm not even gonna link it. It's real. It will challenge you. ;-P Search for that at yer own risk kids...)