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Do people derive pleasure from these AMAs? Gates seems to reply with the same platitudes and non-answers to the point where its hard to tell if it’s him or the

Do people derive pleasure from these AMAs? Gates seems to reply with the same platitudes and non-answers to the point where its hard to tell if it’s him or the BMGF publicist.

tills13 8y ago
What an odd complaint to an otherwise enjoyable experience that Bill absolutely did not have to participate in.
belltaco 8y ago
The AMAs are not really relevant for everyone. For a subset, I would say they definitely derive pleasure.
whatislovecraft 8y ago
His answers seem quite concrete to me. He even links further reading after answering questions directly. I don't really see any platitudes or non-answers at all. Maybe it's predictable? But it seems his answers are genuine, to-the-point, and even provides the reader with further reading. Not sure what more you could ask for really. Edit: I mean, look at this answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/eh9ca9p/?context=8&depth=9 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_... Seems solidly real to me.
- mc32 8y ago
  I too think the answers are mostly fine. I think the medium is a problem. Personally, I’d probably prefer submitting questions and then getting answers later at some point (there’s only so much you can answer right of the top of your head like that). How the questions get selected would be a problem. Voting obviously ends up with results like “Boaty McBoat Face”.
- rmrfrmrf 8y ago
  In response to your edit: he said the same thing on The Verge [1] a week or two ago. I think maybe what the OP is getting at is that there's really nothing revealing or exclusive that comes out of these AMAs; it's just another media outlet. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18220756/bill-gates-tax-rate-70-percent-marginal-modern-monetary-theory https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18220756/bill-gates-tax-r...
  - whatislovecraft 8y ago
    I must be missing it, but I don't see the "same thing" at all. On reddit, he is a lot more human, providing a direct answer to the question and revealing personal information and opinions (like the $10BO) that doesn't seem to be written in that Verge article or elsewhere. Seems super valuable and interesting to me to have Reddit AMAs, and I'm just not seeing this "platitudes" thing or "just another media outlet" attitude. Sure, he's on a talking tour or whatever, but he's on reddit answering real questions with real answers not seen elsewhere. Seems interesting enough to me, and not at all like what OP is decrying here for being "platitudes"/"non-answers".
    - rmrfrmrf 8y ago
      ...you listened to a 33 minute interview in 3 minutes?
rmrfrmrf 8y ago
No, it's just another stop on the publicity tour now. They're coordinated with Reddit ahead of time and most don't even bother to answer candidly or even answer questions themselves. Reddit was able to suspend disbelief until ~2014 when the Morgan Freeman AMA really exposed the whole operation.
curiousDog 8y ago
The AMAs I enjoyed the most were by Jerry Seinfeld.
i_cant_speel 8y ago
What non-answers are you referring to? Most of the ones I read were responded with what the askers were wanting to know. They might get repetitive, but that's because people ask the same questions all the time.
- pastor_elm 8y ago
  He didn't really answer the billionaire happiness question.
  - i_cant_speel 8y ago
    What do you mean? He said yes, then gave some reasoning. What more are you looking for?
  - what_ever 8y ago
    He seems to have answered this one - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/eh9a9x2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_... Doesn't feel like a non-answer as well.
    - pastor_elm 8y ago
      it's a non-answer because he doesn't describe the benefits of being a billionaire. Only the benefits of being above middle class. It would have appeared crass of him to say, 'yeah i love living in a $200 million 66,000 sq ft mansion and having the world's biggest foundation named after me. Having a such a legacy produces genuine happiness.' But he played the false modesty card.
      - solveit 8y ago
        I think his point was that a $200 million home doesn't actually buy you all that much more happiness than a $20 million home. Well, apart from the trampoline room that he seems very fond of.
40acres 8y ago
For me, not really. A live text interview is probably the worst medium for this type of content (exhibit A: Kara Swisher & Jack Dorsey). There is also a lot of subtly missed when comparing speech to text, and due to the time delay it gives the interviewee time to apply any relevant PR spin.
creato 8y ago
I skimmed the AMA for a few minutes, and saw him say that: - He thought nuclear weapons, bioterrorism, and climate change were the biggest threats to humanity. - He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. Maybe those are platitudes but it's real enough for me.
- kome 8y ago
  in other words, war is dangerous and he pays too little tax. i think too they are platitudes.
  - jonas21 8y ago
    And yet... how many other billionaires do you see going out and saying that the capital gains tax rate is too low and climate change is the biggest threat to humanity.
    - phkahler 8y ago
      Well his buddy Warren Buffet also says he should pay more taxes. I find his stance refreshing - he's going to pay only what's required while advocating changing the rules so that everyone pays more. Lots of people say "well he's free to pay more if he want's to but he's not". Some call it hypocrisy. Some call it humility.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - rchaud 8y ago
      Buffett has been beating the "higher taxes for rich people" drum at least since the 2008 recession, maybe longer. He won't actually open his wallet to push for these policies mind you. That would be a bridge too far.
      - batmenace 8y ago
tptacek 8y ago
You think the BGMF publicist decided to say Gates watches American Vandal and has a trampoline room in his house?
- bitwize 8y ago
  Well, that explains his Mario-tier jumping skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TCxE0bWQeQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TCxE0bWQeQ He talked about the trampoline on the Ellen Show, so yes, it still counts as a PR-y answer.
- gist 8y ago
  Publicist sure, no. But this has been totally sanitized by Bill when he makes as one example statements like this: [1] > 'The other thing is that I sometimes use a private jet. It does help me do my foundation work but again it is a very privileged thing to have.' He inserts the word 'sometimes' to lessen the impact of 'private jet'. He adds that it helps him do foundation work implying that that should make it ok in normal people's eyes. [2] He doesn't mention that it's actually importantly needed for security purposes he is obviously a target and not flying like the general public. He then acknowledges that it's a privileged thing to have. [1] Remember the movie "An Officer and a Gentlement" when Lou Gosset character fights Richard Gear character? And Gosset character replies (something like) 'oh I see you've had some training!'. Well Bill Gates has had training. [2] Which is should be anyway. Without saying that.
  - metabagel 8y ago
    Gates apparently flied coach until about 1997. I'm not his biggest fan, but I find that interesting about him.
    - gist 8y ago
      I remember that. That is a technique that is often used to impose frugality and get savings [1] out of the rest of the execs by setting an example. If he flies coach well then so do a hundred others. [1] I knew a guy who owned a small company and bought a low end car until he had locked up his union contract. He knew if he was seen with a nice car it was going to cost him a boat load. Likewise in my old school company years ago I never even drove up to the business in my nice car and I went out of my way to hide it's existence. It goes along with staying late and arriving early to set an example.
skywhopper 8y ago
Really? Sure he has some practicd answers to questions he gets hundreds of times a week, and he is careful about what he says. But I wouldn't call them "non-answers", and I don't think he pulls any punches. I feel like his personality comes through, and yes he has opinions that I don't really agree with. Maybe it's not really a worthwhile way to spend time, but it all feels real enough. Do you have some examples of what's so egregious that it doesn't seem like it's really him?
trumped 8y ago
Is that a real question? I guess you couldlook at the upvotes
porpoisely 8y ago
AMAs, like everything on social media, used to be great years ago when it was raw and relatively uncensored. Now it's just an ad platform for people and their PR team to push their products, ideas, etc. It is no longer Ask Me "Anything". It really isn't even "Ask Me". I bet half the comments on these threads are by PR company staff. AMAs went from being one of the great parts of reddit to one of the worst.
cmroanirgo 8y ago
> The goal of the Foundation is that all kids grow up healthy - no matter where they are born. That means getting rid of malaria and many of the other diseases that affect poor countries. There's something about this guy that seems 'off' to me. I should assume it's because he's a tech guy originally and not a politician. Is it just me or do other people see the convoluted logic that links 'lack of money' with disease and therefore unhealthy kids? If so, then all that needs to be done is for Mr Gates to give all his money to those poor countries, ipso facto disease is gone and kids are healthy. I'd love to see him try it this out! A later quote: > However if I had one wish to make a new technology it would be a solution to malnutrition. Almost half the kids in poor countries grow up without their body or brain developing fully so they miss most of their potential. From "How much would it cost to end hunger?" [0], the answer is $160 pp in poverty. Or from Quora [1]: "With say 2.5 billion people short of food, $166 billions per year would "theoretically" eliminate hunger. Just as a comparison, "During FY 2013, the federal government spent $3.45 trillion on a budget or cash basis, down $84 billion or 2.4% vs. FY 2012 ", or about 20 times as much" Now, the US military budget was $637 billion in 2015 [2], which is enough to feed the poor several times over. To me, it sounds like he should turn his Foundation into a lobbying group to end all war (or greatly reduce the military industrial complex) and use that money to reach his goals. Just sayin'. (This is why his words keep seeming 'off' to me) [0] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-hunger/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/how-much-would-it-cos... [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-would-it-cost-to-feed-the-world https://www.quora.com/How-much-would-it-cost-to-feed-the-wor... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_... (Edited)

Do people derive pleasure from these AMAs? Gates seems to reply with the same platitudes and non-answers to the point where its hard to tell if it’s him or the BMGF publicist.

tills13 8y ago

What an odd complaint to an otherwise enjoyable experience that Bill absolutely did not have to participate in.

belltaco 8y ago

The AMAs are not really relevant for everyone. For a subset, I would say they definitely derive pleasure.

whatislovecraft 8y ago

His answers seem quite concrete to me. He even links further reading after answering questions directly. I don't really see any platitudes or non-answers at all. Maybe it's predictable? But it seems his answers are genuine, to-the-point, and even provides the reader with further reading. Not sure what more you could ask for really. Edit: I mean, look at this answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/eh9ca9p/?context=8&depth=9 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_... Seems solidly real to me.

mc32 8y ago
I too think the answers are mostly fine. I think the medium is a problem. Personally, I’d probably prefer submitting questions and then getting answers later at some point (there’s only so much you can answer right of the top of your head like that). How the questions get selected would be a problem. Voting obviously ends up with results like “Boaty McBoat Face”.
rmrfrmrf 8y ago
In response to your edit: he said the same thing on The Verge [1] a week or two ago. I think maybe what the OP is getting at is that there's really nothing revealing or exclusive that comes out of these AMAs; it's just another media outlet. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18220756/bill-gates-tax-rate-70-percent-marginal-modern-monetary-theory https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18220756/bill-gates-tax-r...
- whatislovecraft 8y ago
  I must be missing it, but I don't see the "same thing" at all. On reddit, he is a lot more human, providing a direct answer to the question and revealing personal information and opinions (like the $10BO) that doesn't seem to be written in that Verge article or elsewhere. Seems super valuable and interesting to me to have Reddit AMAs, and I'm just not seeing this "platitudes" thing or "just another media outlet" attitude. Sure, he's on a talking tour or whatever, but he's on reddit answering real questions with real answers not seen elsewhere. Seems interesting enough to me, and not at all like what OP is decrying here for being "platitudes"/"non-answers".
  - rmrfrmrf 8y ago
    ...you listened to a 33 minute interview in 3 minutes?

rmrfrmrf 8y ago

No, it's just another stop on the publicity tour now. They're coordinated with Reddit ahead of time and most don't even bother to answer candidly or even answer questions themselves. Reddit was able to suspend disbelief until ~2014 when the Morgan Freeman AMA really exposed the whole operation.

curiousDog 8y ago

The AMAs I enjoyed the most were by Jerry Seinfeld.

i_cant_speel 8y ago

What non-answers are you referring to? Most of the ones I read were responded with what the askers were wanting to know. They might get repetitive, but that's because people ask the same questions all the time.

pastor_elm 8y ago
He didn't really answer the billionaire happiness question.
- i_cant_speel 8y ago
  What do you mean? He said yes, then gave some reasoning. What more are you looking for?
- what_ever 8y ago
  He seems to have answered this one - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/eh9a9x2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aunv58/im_bill_gates_... Doesn't feel like a non-answer as well.
  - pastor_elm 8y ago
    it's a non-answer because he doesn't describe the benefits of being a billionaire. Only the benefits of being above middle class. It would have appeared crass of him to say, 'yeah i love living in a $200 million 66,000 sq ft mansion and having the world's biggest foundation named after me. Having a such a legacy produces genuine happiness.' But he played the false modesty card.
    - solveit 8y ago
      I think his point was that a $200 million home doesn't actually buy you all that much more happiness than a $20 million home. Well, apart from the trampoline room that he seems very fond of.

40acres 8y ago

For me, not really. A live text interview is probably the worst medium for this type of content (exhibit A: Kara Swisher & Jack Dorsey). There is also a lot of subtly missed when comparing speech to text, and due to the time delay it gives the interviewee time to apply any relevant PR spin.

creato 8y ago

I skimmed the AMA for a few minutes, and saw him say that: - He thought nuclear weapons, bioterrorism, and climate change were the biggest threats to humanity. - He thought paying $10B in capital gains taxes was not enough and he should have paid more. Maybe those are platitudes but it's real enough for me.

kome 8y ago
in other words, war is dangerous and he pays too little tax. i think too they are platitudes.
- jonas21 8y ago
  And yet... how many other billionaires do you see going out and saying that the capital gains tax rate is too low and climate change is the biggest threat to humanity.
  - phkahler 8y ago
    Well his buddy Warren Buffet also says he should pay more taxes. I find his stance refreshing - he's going to pay only what's required while advocating changing the rules so that everyone pays more. Lots of people say "well he's free to pay more if he want's to but he's not". Some call it hypocrisy. Some call it humility.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - rchaud 8y ago
    Buffett has been beating the "higher taxes for rich people" drum at least since the 2008 recession, maybe longer. He won't actually open his wallet to push for these policies mind you. That would be a bridge too far.
    - batmenace 8y ago

tptacek 8y ago

You think the BGMF publicist decided to say Gates watches American Vandal and has a trampoline room in his house?

bitwize 8y ago
Well, that explains his Mario-tier jumping skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TCxE0bWQeQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TCxE0bWQeQ He talked about the trampoline on the Ellen Show, so yes, it still counts as a PR-y answer.
gist 8y ago
Publicist sure, no. But this has been totally sanitized by Bill when he makes as one example statements like this: [1] > 'The other thing is that I sometimes use a private jet. It does help me do my foundation work but again it is a very privileged thing to have.' He inserts the word 'sometimes' to lessen the impact of 'private jet'. He adds that it helps him do foundation work implying that that should make it ok in normal people's eyes. [2] He doesn't mention that it's actually importantly needed for security purposes he is obviously a target and not flying like the general public. He then acknowledges that it's a privileged thing to have. [1] Remember the movie "An Officer and a Gentlement" when Lou Gosset character fights Richard Gear character? And Gosset character replies (something like) 'oh I see you've had some training!'. Well Bill Gates has had training. [2] Which is should be anyway. Without saying that.
- metabagel 8y ago
  Gates apparently flied coach until about 1997. I'm not his biggest fan, but I find that interesting about him.
  - gist 8y ago
    I remember that. That is a technique that is often used to impose frugality and get savings [1] out of the rest of the execs by setting an example. If he flies coach well then so do a hundred others. [1] I knew a guy who owned a small company and bought a low end car until he had locked up his union contract. He knew if he was seen with a nice car it was going to cost him a boat load. Likewise in my old school company years ago I never even drove up to the business in my nice car and I went out of my way to hide it's existence. It goes along with staying late and arriving early to set an example.

skywhopper 8y ago

Really? Sure he has some practicd answers to questions he gets hundreds of times a week, and he is careful about what he says. But I wouldn't call them "non-answers", and I don't think he pulls any punches. I feel like his personality comes through, and yes he has opinions that I don't really agree with. Maybe it's not really a worthwhile way to spend time, but it all feels real enough. Do you have some examples of what's so egregious that it doesn't seem like it's really him?

trumped 8y ago

Is that a real question? I guess you couldlook at the upvotes

porpoisely 8y ago

AMAs, like everything on social media, used to be great years ago when it was raw and relatively uncensored. Now it's just an ad platform for people and their PR team to push their products, ideas, etc. It is no longer Ask Me "Anything". It really isn't even "Ask Me". I bet half the comments on these threads are by PR company staff. AMAs went from being one of the great parts of reddit to one of the worst.

cmroanirgo 8y ago

> The goal of the Foundation is that all kids grow up healthy - no matter where they are born. That means getting rid of malaria and many of the other diseases that affect poor countries. There's something about this guy that seems 'off' to me. I should assume it's because he's a tech guy originally and not a politician. Is it just me or do other people see the convoluted logic that links 'lack of money' with disease and therefore unhealthy kids? If so, then all that needs to be done is for Mr Gates to give all his money to those poor countries, ipso facto disease is gone and kids are healthy. I'd love to see him try it this out! A later quote: > However if I had one wish to make a new technology it would be a solution to malnutrition. Almost half the kids in poor countries grow up without their body or brain developing fully so they miss most of their potential. From "How much would it cost to end hunger?" [0], the answer is $160 pp in poverty. Or from Quora [1]: "With say 2.5 billion people short of food, $166 billions per year would "theoretically" eliminate hunger. Just as a comparison, "During FY 2013, the federal government spent $3.45 trillion on a budget or cash basis, down $84 billion or 2.4% vs. FY 2012 ", or about 20 times as much" Now, the US military budget was $637 billion in 2015 [2], which is enough to feed the poor several times over. To me, it sounds like he should turn his Foundation into a lobbying group to end all war (or greatly reduce the military industrial complex) and use that money to reach his goals. Just sayin'. (This is why his words keep seeming 'off' to me) [0] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-hunger/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/how-much-would-it-cos... [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-would-it-cost-to-feed-the-world https://www.quora.com/How-much-would-it-cost-to-feed-the-wor... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_... (Edited)