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Ask HN: Would you rather be famous or rich if you couldn't have both?

1 points by amichail 2y ago

Famous here means famous for some sort of achievement in your area of interest.

deleted 2y ago
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PaulHoule 2y ago
Some people would consider real privilege to be having power in the background but not a lot of visibility that could get you in trouble and constrain your action.
k310 2y ago
I have neither. Fame and wealth are supposed to be means to happiness. People treat them as ends. Achievements don't end with retirement. Some ideas have a "right time", and I look forward to fostering them, even if someone else gets the limelight.
JohnFen 2y ago
Those are my only choices and I have to be one of them? If "famous" means known and respected amongst my peers, then famous. If "famous" means being known by the general population, then rich.
darthrupert 2y ago
Rich. Why would I want to be famous?
- amichail 2y ago
  Wouldn't you want lots of people to know about and use your achievement?
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  - JohnFen 2y ago
    It's very nice to have a positive impact on the world and see people benefit from your achievement, but that's a different thing from being famous for it.
shrimp_emoji 2y ago
Fame is ego and expectations. Rich is quiet freedom. You'd be a fool to pick the first one.
fullshark 2y ago
Being famous seems horrible
Yawrehto 2y ago
What does 'rich' mean here? $1 million? $10 million? $100,000? $1 billion? How 'famous' am I? Household name? Famous among people who like [area of interest]? This is a sliding scale based on how much money vs how famous/how widely famous I'd be. That said I'd say if you chose a random (reasonable) amount of money and a random (reasonable) amount of fame, on average I'd choose money more often, probably always if the sums were large enough to make meaningful differences in the financial viability of good but not-well-known nonprofits, or expand the ability of nonprofits that are on ok financial footing but could be doing more stuff. Or maybe just buy up swaths of the Amazon (if developers can buy it why can't random Pittsburghers?).
Jugurtha 2y ago
There are some people who prune their business to prevent it from growing past the point of becoming a dot on the radar. There are places where you have to do this to a certain extent because if you get hot enough, all sorts of predators see you.

1 points by amichail 2y ago

Famous here means famous for some sort of achievement in your area of interest.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

PaulHoule 2y ago

Some people would consider real privilege to be having power in the background but not a lot of visibility that could get you in trouble and constrain your action.

k310 2y ago

I have neither. Fame and wealth are supposed to be means to happiness. People treat them as ends. Achievements don't end with retirement. Some ideas have a "right time", and I look forward to fostering them, even if someone else gets the limelight.

JohnFen 2y ago

Those are my only choices and I have to be one of them? If "famous" means known and respected amongst my peers, then famous. If "famous" means being known by the general population, then rich.

darthrupert 2y ago

Rich. Why would I want to be famous?

amichail 2y ago
Wouldn't you want lots of people to know about and use your achievement?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- JohnFen 2y ago
  It's very nice to have a positive impact on the world and see people benefit from your achievement, but that's a different thing from being famous for it.

shrimp_emoji 2y ago

Fame is ego and expectations. Rich is quiet freedom. You'd be a fool to pick the first one.

fullshark 2y ago

Being famous seems horrible

Yawrehto 2y ago

What does 'rich' mean here? $1 million? $10 million? $100,000? $1 billion? How 'famous' am I? Household name? Famous among people who like [area of interest]? This is a sliding scale based on how much money vs how famous/how widely famous I'd be. That said I'd say if you chose a random (reasonable) amount of money and a random (reasonable) amount of fame, on average I'd choose money more often, probably always if the sums were large enough to make meaningful differences in the financial viability of good but not-well-known nonprofits, or expand the ability of nonprofits that are on ok financial footing but could be doing more stuff. Or maybe just buy up swaths of the Amazon (if developers can buy it why can't random Pittsburghers?).

Jugurtha 2y ago

There are some people who prune their business to prevent it from growing past the point of becoming a dot on the radar. There are places where you have to do this to a certain extent because if you get hot enough, all sorts of predators see you.