Re:Excellent Commencement Speech by Bill Gates
by altay on Thursday April 10, 2008 @05:50PM
(#160385)
Whatever his motivations are, the numbers don't lie. The Gates Foundation has the largest endowment in the world, by far, and they've got a pretty aggressive plan to spend it all. Here are some projects they've funded, a number of which seem pretty damn unsexy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_and_Melinda_Gates_Foundati...
And if you want to talk about maximizing social approval rather than benefit, check out the red iPod program. =P
Re:Excellent Commencement Speech by Bill Gates
by Prrometheus on Thursday April 10, 2008 @03:03PM
(#160212)
Doesn't he put money towards fighting malaria? That's a "non-sexy" disease, but one that touches a lot more people than others that grab headlines.
I get the distinct feeling that he is using his money in a way that maximizes social approval, rather than in a way that maximizes benefit. I haven't spent very much time looking into ways to save the world, but I suspect, like in many other fields, the most effective way to do it is not the way that provokes the greatest emotional response.