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I dont get Myhrvold. He was wealthy beyond all get-out and, judging by his educational background, was probably intellectually curious at one point in his exist

I dont get Myhrvold. He was wealthy beyond all get-out and, judging by his educational background, was probably intellectually curious at one point in his existence. Why would he direct the fall/winter of his life energy into this bullshit?

judk 12y ago
Because he likes money, and likes what money buys, and likes what LOTS of money buys. It's not unusual by any means. Morally bankrupt, but not unusual.
adventured 12y ago
It's entirely plausible - perhaps very likely - Myhrvold believes in what he's doing, believes in patents, believes patents help innovation, and so on. The world is filled with billions of people that believe truly crazy things, plenty of those people are smart and successful.
- shmerl 12y ago
  > Myhrvold believes in what he's doing, believes in patents, believes patents help innovation, and so on. I strongly doubt that. It's more likely that believes in filling his pockets using crooked means.
shmerl 12y ago
Simple. Being a parasite feeds his greed more than doing something useful for society.
TheMagicHorsey 12y ago
I believe its a deep feeling of inadequacy. We are not his peers. He considers Gates and Jobs as his peers. I suspect that despite his achievements he may have felt a bit like a peasant in their presence. He may have wanted to achieve their fame and wealth. He thought IV would be a good vehicle to achieve fame and fortune. I think he may not have understood the deep revulsion of the engineering world towards his methods. He may have initially thought we would consider him a savior working for our benefit ... after all I think he used to believe he was doing it for "inventors". Now he is too far gone probably. He either no longer cares what engineers and the world thinks, or he has deluded himself into thinking that his scamming is good for the world. Either way, he will probably carry this infamy to his grave. Although, I have to say, our country has a way of rehabilitating robber barons who give their wealth away. So his end-game may be to take his enormous wealth and use it to destroy some terrible affliction of mankind. I think it would be a triumph, and perhaps ironic(?) if he took his wealth and used it to reform the patent system. But short of that, he will probably be remembered by those of us in the tech and legal fields as a scammer and a scumbag of epic proportions, who was protected in his thieving by the laws of the USA. In any other time or place, such a man would have been tarred and feathered by a posse of his community for his conspiracies and crimes.

judk 12y ago

Because he likes money, and likes what money buys, and likes what LOTS of money buys. It's not unusual by any means. Morally bankrupt, but not unusual.

adventured 12y ago

It's entirely plausible - perhaps very likely - Myhrvold believes in what he's doing, believes in patents, believes patents help innovation, and so on. The world is filled with billions of people that believe truly crazy things, plenty of those people are smart and successful.

shmerl 12y ago
> Myhrvold believes in what he's doing, believes in patents, believes patents help innovation, and so on. I strongly doubt that. It's more likely that believes in filling his pockets using crooked means.

shmerl 12y ago

Simple. Being a parasite feeds his greed more than doing something useful for society.

TheMagicHorsey 12y ago

I believe its a deep feeling of inadequacy. We are not his peers. He considers Gates and Jobs as his peers. I suspect that despite his achievements he may have felt a bit like a peasant in their presence. He may have wanted to achieve their fame and wealth. He thought IV would be a good vehicle to achieve fame and fortune. I think he may not have understood the deep revulsion of the engineering world towards his methods. He may have initially thought we would consider him a savior working for our benefit ... after all I think he used to believe he was doing it for "inventors". Now he is too far gone probably. He either no longer cares what engineers and the world thinks, or he has deluded himself into thinking that his scamming is good for the world. Either way, he will probably carry this infamy to his grave. Although, I have to say, our country has a way of rehabilitating robber barons who give their wealth away. So his end-game may be to take his enormous wealth and use it to destroy some terrible affliction of mankind. I think it would be a triumph, and perhaps ironic(?) if he took his wealth and used it to reform the patent system. But short of that, he will probably be remembered by those of us in the tech and legal fields as a scammer and a scumbag of epic proportions, who was protected in his thieving by the laws of the USA. In any other time or place, such a man would have been tarred and feathered by a posse of his community for his conspiracies and crimes.