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Comment by twostorytower

5 hours ago

Really awesome that he was able to do this and give back, but none of this would have been possible without his unfathomable wealth and access.

That's not a "but". Because he developed wealth and access, this is possible for one person when before it wasn't possible for anyone. This is how societies developed everything from refined sugar to rockets, as they passed various thresholds where individuals could afford to try things out.

And all of a sudden, I was bestowed with the greed to acquire more money than I can spend in a single lifetime. If I get cancer, I'd rather be rich and be able to do stuff like that, rather than die quietly.

According to some online sources his total wealth is under $3B. Hardly ‘unfathomable wealth’ IMO. Sure, billionaire territory but nowhere near the ultra-wealthy.

This is an excellent use of his wealth and skills. Much better than Steve Jobs' response.

I remember reading a similar article about a (cancer?) patient who used 3D printing for his personalized cure.

There are grad students babying organoids right now. Saturday morning. If you can work a pipette you can do this.

Feeling inspired?

  • It’s more like I hope more bad things happen to rich and powerful people so they start doing something against it. As long as it happens to ordinary people most of then hardly care.

    Reminds me of the GOP who was against stem cell treatments until Reagan got Alzheimer‘s

> ...but none of this would have been possible without his unfathomable wealth and access.

?

What's that supposed to mean? Is that bad?

You can do the same thing as he did, what's stopping you?