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I really enjoyed that book, too. The main thing I took from it was that if they had put all that effort and dedication into something which directly improved p

I really enjoyed that book, too. The main thing I took from it was that if they had put all that effort and dedication into something which directly improved people's lives, they probably would have made a lot more money. :-)

jacquesm 14y ago
That's why there's more of us and we all get to choose our own path. One person choosing a path that has a non-obvious net effect does not mean that there is none, it could be negative or it could be positive. We just don't know. Take the development of the computer, a good part of it was a bunch of guys attempting to get it to play chess, what direct improvement to people's lives could have come from that? http://www.chessville.com/billwall/EarlyComputerChessPrograms.htm http://www.chessville.com/billwall/EarlyComputerChessProgram... Indirect effects can launch whole industries and make lots of money, possibly not for the people that start it but still, it makes you wonder what's the best way to spend your time.