3 ms·

Can anyone point to a list of problems the Gates foundation has solved through program(s) it has funded? Edit: took out some things about Gates and the dual na

by apo 8y ago

Can anyone point to a list of problems the Gates foundation has solved through program(s) it has funded? Edit: took out some things about Gates and the dual nature of his work at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation.

jcomis 8y ago
it's almost like you've never read a single thing about the organization. nearly every annual letter and report details their impact.
- dang 8y ago
  Please follow the site guidelines when posting here. Your comment would be fine with just the second sentence. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- apo 8y ago
  Impact isn't the same thing as solving problems, which is what I'm interested in. Yes, I have read none of the annual reports. I did pop over to the site and found this for 2017: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/Resources-and-Media/Annual-Reports/Annual-Report-2017 https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/Resources-and-Med... Maybe the site's layout is just hiding the actual report, but this just looks like an executive summary, and enumerates no solved problems. Either way, I'd like to get something that would span multiple years of effort and billions spent. It would talk about the specific problems the Gates Foundation has solved through its efforts. Does something like that exist?
lenova 8y ago
Regarding character, three things to consider: a) The impact his wife Melinda had on his worldview; b) That people are nuanced and full of contradictions; c) The person you are at 30 and the person you are at 60 is defined by the accumulation of experiences, not the accumulation of wealth.
Gpetrium 8y ago
I would have to half disagree with your statement on the business side. If we looked at the products and services that Microsoft under Bill Gates have created/promoted throughout its history, we can clearly see a market leader that has helped society advance to what it is today. Even the fights that they lost (e.g. cellphone), have helped shape the economy we live in today and improved the competition. Were there errors and misjudgments in the process? Absolutely, I am not sure we can point to a single individual with power that hasn't had its ups and downs. Bill Gates is an interesting character that should be analyzed in all ways and I encourage everyone to see the good and the bad. Not just pick one aspect and characterize the whole individual.
bargl 8y ago
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373372/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373372/ I think trying to point to something "solved" is not the right approach. The goal of the foundation is to solve through research. While it's impossible to say that his funding of these goals will actually solve them, because the solution may come on a different grant from another source but where a scientist learned something from one of the scientists on a gates funded project. I feel that's a reasonable situation where complexity makes it impossible to directly attribute a solution to Mr. Gate. Instead I'd look at the social impact of someone in the 0.1% looking to the poorest in the world with empathy (whether genuine or not) and how that's changed how we look at philanthropy. Malaria is a bitch. It's one of the worst things about going to many countries out there and Dengue is even worse in many cases. While survivable as an adult, it is no joke, and the idea that solving this should be something we focus on even though people (for practical purposes) can't get malaria in the USA is awesome. Anecdotal evidence inbound => As someone who has prepared for an extended stay in South America, this was 100% the worst thing to focus on. I got Salmonella in Haiti and shit man that was rough. I can't even imagine Malaria. Anyway, back to the point. The fact that he's focusing on this is the important thing. Investigating results of his 50bn dollars would require it's own research with a ton of nuance and assumptions.

by apo 8y ago

jcomis 8y ago

it's almost like you've never read a single thing about the organization. nearly every annual letter and report details their impact.

dang 8y ago
Please follow the site guidelines when posting here. Your comment would be fine with just the second sentence. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
apo 8y ago
Impact isn't the same thing as solving problems, which is what I'm interested in. Yes, I have read none of the annual reports. I did pop over to the site and found this for 2017: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/Resources-and-Media/Annual-Reports/Annual-Report-2017 https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/Resources-and-Med... Maybe the site's layout is just hiding the actual report, but this just looks like an executive summary, and enumerates no solved problems. Either way, I'd like to get something that would span multiple years of effort and billions spent. It would talk about the specific problems the Gates Foundation has solved through its efforts. Does something like that exist?

lenova 8y ago

Regarding character, three things to consider: a) The impact his wife Melinda had on his worldview; b) That people are nuanced and full of contradictions; c) The person you are at 30 and the person you are at 60 is defined by the accumulation of experiences, not the accumulation of wealth.

Gpetrium 8y ago

I would have to half disagree with your statement on the business side. If we looked at the products and services that Microsoft under Bill Gates have created/promoted throughout its history, we can clearly see a market leader that has helped society advance to what it is today. Even the fights that they lost (e.g. cellphone), have helped shape the economy we live in today and improved the competition. Were there errors and misjudgments in the process? Absolutely, I am not sure we can point to a single individual with power that hasn't had its ups and downs. Bill Gates is an interesting character that should be analyzed in all ways and I encourage everyone to see the good and the bad. Not just pick one aspect and characterize the whole individual.

bargl 8y ago

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373372/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373372/ I think trying to point to something "solved" is not the right approach. The goal of the foundation is to solve through research. While it's impossible to say that his funding of these goals will actually solve them, because the solution may come on a different grant from another source but where a scientist learned something from one of the scientists on a gates funded project. I feel that's a reasonable situation where complexity makes it impossible to directly attribute a solution to Mr. Gate. Instead I'd look at the social impact of someone in the 0.1% looking to the poorest in the world with empathy (whether genuine or not) and how that's changed how we look at philanthropy. Malaria is a bitch. It's one of the worst things about going to many countries out there and Dengue is even worse in many cases. While survivable as an adult, it is no joke, and the idea that solving this should be something we focus on even though people (for practical purposes) can't get malaria in the USA is awesome. Anecdotal evidence inbound => As someone who has prepared for an extended stay in South America, this was 100% the worst thing to focus on. I got Salmonella in Haiti and shit man that was rough. I can't even imagine Malaria. Anyway, back to the point. The fact that he's focusing on this is the important thing. Investigating results of his 50bn dollars would require it's own research with a ton of nuance and assumptions.