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If I tell you that I give you a billion dollar to quit your job, and find a solution to this, you will try to do so. Not knowing what to do is something that ha
by sametmax 7y ago
If I tell you that I give you a billion dollar to quit your job, and find a solution to this, you will try to do so. Not knowing what to do is something that happens all the time in life: we try anyway. Stopping at "I don't know what to do" is just the first clue that you can see a cost and not a reward sufficient to dig and try.
I'm not taking a moral stand here. I don't think anybody not doing anything is a bad person. But let's not pretend ignorance and inability. We don't even try. Reading HN is much more comfortable, besides life has many challenges already.
- soulofmischief 7y agoSo you're saying that if you gave me $1B I would drop everything and try to solve this. That's correct. I wouldn't spend 100% of my time on that singular social problem, but yes. But that has nothing to do with reality on account of you having not given me any money, and me not having enough resources to quit my job and fund such initiatives against one of the largest economic powers in the world.
- a1369209993 7y ago[Setting aside the overwhelming likehood that you are lying, mistaken, or other not genuine in your hypothetical offer.] If you offer me (1G$/50yr=) 20 million dollars a year to spend eight hours a day trying to find a solution to this, then sure, I'll take that job and do it to the best of my ability. I don't expect to succeed, but as long as the paychecks clear I'll keep working. If you offer me a billion dollars contingent on finding a solution, I'm going to ignore you, just like I ignore the people offering a million dollars for a solution to P vs NP, or XX million dollars for correctly predicting which six balls they pull out of a basket.