A lot of reasons my present day jaded self would call out my younger self for being naive there, but it's still just embarrassing how wrong I was and how quickly the tech community fell in line with standard corporate awfulness. Nothing survives shareholders.

Most of us develop a bit of the latter. I have worked for a bunch of questionable companies that kind of go against my values, but deep down I'm a bit of a whore and whether or not I keep to these principles isn't likely to make a huge difference, so I just shut up and cash my paychecks [1].

I would like to think if I became a billionaire, I'd maintain my empathy and would keep my principles because at that point I actually could do something, but I probably wouldn't be able to become a billionaire if I maintained my principles and empathy. Sort of a catch 22, which is why I probably won't be worth any significant amount of money unless there's some kind of Mr Deeds situation and I have a long lost billionaire uncle that I don't know about who dies.

I don't think Tim Cook or Sam Altman are pure sociopaths in any kind of clinical sense. The vast majority of people aren't. I think that they actively taught themselves to value their respective companies instead of fellow humans.

That, and the last two years of layoffs in these tech corporations has shown me that these people are extremely short-sighted.

[1] Well, if I weren't unemployed :)

It's selective breeding; because we became careful about recognizing symptoms, any severe strain would cause the infected to isolate and hence not infect others. Therefore, Omicron was often symptomless, and COVID-19 was no longer deemed as much of a threat.

1. Relying on philanpropy is generally not democratic and should be frowned upon. 2. This entire structure is legacy.

Research needs to be an integrated part of society. Something people go and out from.

Not something a few elite people get to dedicate their lifes to.

This is important to ensure diffusion, especially in highly volatile times like we are in now.

The big question should be: how can we get a 40 something year old industry professional to do research in a couple of. Years between jobs.

There are basically two kinds of donations. You can help those in need and provide services that keep the society running. Or you can support activities that may move the humanity forward.

When the government takes a greater responsibility of the former, private donors become less interested in it. Instead of funding healthcare or education, they may start supporting arts and sciences. This has happened in many European countries, where grants from private foundations are a more important source of research funding than in the US.

With less government support, you have large capable organizations that provide services and rely on donations. Those organizations hire professional fundraisers who try to make donations to their organization an easy, convenient, and attractive option. They also help with getting publicity and prestige, if that's what the donor is after.

Addressing this lack of trust and transparency would go a lot further in healing the country than most other solutions being proposed.