4 ms·

Maybe Bill Gates was never truly "evil". Maybe he just did what he had to do to amass the wealth that is required to do truly great things like stamping out Ma

by tfb 15y ago

Maybe Bill Gates was never truly "evil". Maybe he just did what he had to do to amass the wealth that is required to do truly great things like stamping out Malaria and AIDS. Who is to say he wasn't planning his philanthropy all along? I certainly am. It's one of the main driving factors behind the business goals I work towards every day. I think Bill Gates has always been kind of misunderstood.

redthrowaway 15y ago
That's entirely possible, but it was never the impression that I got at the time. True, I could be grossly misjudging his motivations in the 90s, but I don't think so. I think he was driven to be successful for its own sake. I'm certainly glad that he's turned to philanthropy, but I think applying his current actions as the motivation for his actions 15 years ago smacks of revisionism.
philwelch 15y ago
Or maybe his current philanthropy is his way of assuaging the guilt over his prior evil, and not a planned "the ends justify the means" rationalization for his evil from the outset.
sateesh 15y ago
Does that mean that as long ends are noble you are not worried about the means ?
oldstrangers 15y ago
I think Bill Gates is generally misunderstood because we don't fully appreciate just how intelligent he is. He's not routinely creating or providing answers (in the way that a scientist like Einstein was constantly offering up new ideas), so it's hard to really measure. He's inherently private, which only hinders our understanding of him even more. But I think historically, we will look back on him as having some of the most influential and profound ideas (and decisions) of the 21st century. No one person has done as much for humanity as Bill Gates has, perhaps in the history of the world. The only comparisons are perhaps to someone like Jonas Salk.
- mixmastamyk 15y ago
  > No one person has done as much for humanity as Bill Gates Ok, now its clear you're in love or delusional. What has he done but spend money? I haven't heard of a single breakthrough from that money, btw. Not that I'm really expecting any, these things take time. Your placement of a ruthless business person (now giving away to charity) above einsteins and saints feels creepy frankly.
jonhendry 15y ago
I suspect Gates' business methods were relied on because the product was so mediocre. If your product is mediocre, then you can't really depend on it to sell itself, can you? So you have to use whatever leverage you can get to get it adopted and to keep out competition.

by tfb 15y ago

redthrowaway 15y ago

That's entirely possible, but it was never the impression that I got at the time. True, I could be grossly misjudging his motivations in the 90s, but I don't think so. I think he was driven to be successful for its own sake. I'm certainly glad that he's turned to philanthropy, but I think applying his current actions as the motivation for his actions 15 years ago smacks of revisionism.

philwelch 15y ago

Or maybe his current philanthropy is his way of assuaging the guilt over his prior evil, and not a planned "the ends justify the means" rationalization for his evil from the outset.

sateesh 15y ago

Does that mean that as long ends are noble you are not worried about the means ?

oldstrangers 15y ago

I think Bill Gates is generally misunderstood because we don't fully appreciate just how intelligent he is. He's not routinely creating or providing answers (in the way that a scientist like Einstein was constantly offering up new ideas), so it's hard to really measure. He's inherently private, which only hinders our understanding of him even more. But I think historically, we will look back on him as having some of the most influential and profound ideas (and decisions) of the 21st century. No one person has done as much for humanity as Bill Gates has, perhaps in the history of the world. The only comparisons are perhaps to someone like Jonas Salk.

mixmastamyk 15y ago
> No one person has done as much for humanity as Bill Gates Ok, now its clear you're in love or delusional. What has he done but spend money? I haven't heard of a single breakthrough from that money, btw. Not that I'm really expecting any, these things take time. Your placement of a ruthless business person (now giving away to charity) above einsteins and saints feels creepy frankly.

jonhendry 15y ago

I suspect Gates' business methods were relied on because the product was so mediocre. If your product is mediocre, then you can't really depend on it to sell itself, can you? So you have to use whatever leverage you can get to get it adopted and to keep out competition.