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Ask YC: Why aren't you thinking more about water?

9 points by LPTS ↗ HN
I'm feeling some anger and some optimism today, and so I'm going to vent. I want to talk candidly about water. I hope I offend some people who aren't thinking.

Do any of you geeks give a shit about the water problem? Seriously. You know, the billion people who's life is a day to day struggle to find potable water. I was thinking what an xkcd style comparison of "time the self styled smartest and most ambitious young people in America waste each day checking twitter and circle jerking on blogs" and "time the smartest and most ambitious young people think about the 1 billion people with a water problem each day" would look like. This graph would illustrate an efficiency problem on Spaceship Earth.

It seems obvious to me that if the water problem is going to get solved over the next few years, entrepreneurs will have to be the ones to get it done. In order for entrepreneurs to solve it, they have to be thinking on it. Are you thinking about it enough that your unconscious mind is working on it while you are doing dishes? Probably not.

Most entrepreneurs seem to be dumb-shit smart kids who read Ayn Rand at the right (wrong?) time during puberty and confuse her ego-inflating narcissistic bullshit about selfishness with reality because of the confluence of hormonal effects on cognition in teens, social isolation, misdirected anger at mediocre school institutions, and large doses of the industrial chemicals that turn mountain dew yellow. I'm not talking to this group, the greedy robots blindly running a cosmically suicidal program flashed into your brain by reading Ayn Rand during a time of imprint vulnerability. We already know you're inhuman fucks who only want to have money because there are other people that don't have it.

I'm talking to the few people who realize life on earth doesn't have to be a zero sum game.

There are a lot of (few?) entrepreneurs who both aren't dumb shit smart kid Rand robots, and who nonetheless aren't thinking of water a little each day. I'm asking them: Why not think about water a tiny bit more? Just have it a little more in your head? Spend five minutes you would of spent clicking through pics on hotornot each day to read or think a tiny bit about water?

Why aren't you thinking more about water? If I'm wrong, and entrepreneurs aren't the ones to solve it, who will? How can people help with time, with money? What can you do to help or help other people help? Why not spend 5 minutes a day thinking about it on the off chance you might serendipitously find a way to contribute something cross disciplinary or be more likely to give $$$ if you do get big?

Or do you just completely not give a fuck, since you don't have to either see their faces as they struggle to decide if a third day of dehydration is better or worse then drinking contaminated water that might make them sick, or listen to their little kid cry for days in a row until being shipped off to an abusive orphanage when the parent dies from the choice a week ago?

Paul Graham, do you encourage your entrepreneurs to think on the water problem, or your successes to contribute to it with some of their financial rewards?

16 comments

[ 5.6 ms ] story [ 58.3 ms ] thread
VinzO
Even if the problem you point at is important, showing no respect for the audience you try reach won't help you to convince people.
wheels
Unless you're a stand-up comic, starting most any discourse with a stream of insults aimed at your audience as somewhat less than effective.

One of the books Paul puts on his must-read list for entrepreneurs is How to Win Friends and Influence People. I'd venture that the original poster would benefit from tracking down a copy.

swombat
Flagged for irrelevance.
swombat
Oh yeah, and to the author, go fuck yourself you condescending prick.
jhancock
I agree that the OP is poorly formed. I am assuming he means well and is frustrated.

I have to mod you down on this though as your reaction is not helpful any more than his OP. If I could down mod the OP I would.

swombat
You do what you want, of course. I used these very direct words to ensure they get through clearly without any possible misinterpretation. OP clearly needs some feedback as to his communication technique (or lack thereof). I believe in self-improvement through immediate, clear and accurate feedback.
jhancock
;). I think I understand your intentions. I'm just voting to keep the language civil.
axod
This is hacker news. Not save the world.

"It seems obvious to me that if the water problem is going to get solved over the next few years, entrepreneurs will have to be the ones to get it done."

That's just absolutely ridiculous. Do you write for The Onion as well?

numair
Here's the thing. Problems that can be solved via software are problems for which we can sit in our bedroom/office/deck on the beach and work out a solution. In fact, with the advent of virtualized servers, we can plan, create, implement and scale these solutions without leaving our chair. Physical problems, such as the water problem, are not so easily solved - you have to deal with people and physical goods and regulations and politics. This means it costs a lot, both in money and in effort - and, as a result, it also means there is an order of magnitude more risk associated with it. Of course, the guy who goes out and solves these problems receives [or should receive] outsized rewards for going where few men dare to go (either monetarily, or in terms of social significance), so there's still a group of people focused on such problems. Maybe not as many as are focused on this tech-Internet stuff, but again - there's simply not the same sort of automated, virtualized systems available to make toying around with such tasks easier.

Also, we haven't even begun to discuss the high level of social skill needed in order to successfully execute an on-the-ground, real-world, third-world venture; I'm personally not sure I would put awkward geeks in charge of such a thing. (And yes, I'm making a gross generalization, but it's 4:00am, so cut me some slack!)

newsit
What an useless rant! It would have been better if you told us about all the great things you did about the water, the hunger, the pollution, the world peace etc. I usually ignore critique from people who are not a personal example of what they are preaching. So would you please tell us how you put your money/brain/lifestyle where your mouth is or else just SHUT UP! Oh and by the way entrepreneurs are people who try to create a profitable business. It might save the world or it might produce toilet paper, but if it's not making money, they can't be called entrepreneurs. So if you want them to solve any problem you consider important, don't ask them to give away money, tell them how to make more money by solving it.
jhancock
I have to agree that a rant like this isn't too constructive to this group. I do understand the "water problem" as you call it is enormous and multifaceted. There are people and groups that care about it and are doing things.

If your frustration in posting "here" is that HN seems to be focused on Web 2.0 stuff that has little direct effect on "real problems", well, you are somewhat correct. HN, just because it has lots of smart people willing to take entrepreneurial risks doesn't mean those people come here to figure out how to use their "charity time" to great effect.

I really think that the best place to find people passionate about the water problem is with groups already organized on it. Believe me, you _will_ find some very smart and courageous people in those groups. Don't get discouraged because HN may not be the best outlet for you to plug into.

BTW, I have thought about various aspects of clean water issues. And if I were to do something, I would not invent my own cool thing (I'm a software developer for God's sake ;)). I would plug into something someone else is already doing.

axod
"Or do you just completely not give a fuck"

Not while I'm reading about hacking, no.

zcrar70
Ayn Rand doesn't advocate the ceaseless pursuit of money (though she doesn't condemn it either), even though a lot of people seem to thing that she stands for cupidity and profiteering. I don't agree with a lot of what Ayn Rand has to say, but I think your comment is a misrepresentation of what she's thinking (as I understand it anyways), which is that progress is achieved through individual ('selfish') endeavour.
rksprst
There are a ton of problems like this and some a lot more serious than "the water problem". I could say the same thing to you about the "human slaves" problem, do you just not care? Why don't you do something about it instead of wasting your time making this thread here.

For things like this it's pointless to go out and convince people to help solve these "problems". The kind of individuals that would work on these problems are already doing so, and those that aren't already won't work on them even if you ask them. Kinda funny how free will works like that.

Now if you really want to make a difference, think before you post. Go to some chemical engineering entrepreneurial conference and make a speech there instead. Programmers aren't going to be able to solve the "water problem" no matter how much you want them to.

leohorie
I read an article about a study on behavior and how people are more likely to follow a revolution than actually start one (in the sense of not just talk about it, but do something about it).

Maybe you should lead by example and show what you've done yourself so that others can copy your efforts. Viral points for being clever, altruistic points for going way out of your way.

yummyfajitas
I'll ignore the insults, and actually address the question: why am I not working on the water problem?

First, the "water problem" is solved. It is well known how to produce and deliver clean water. Proof: 5 billion people on earth DO have clean water.

So, if the water problem is solved, why doesn't everyone have clean water? There is a politics and corruption problem. If I were to attempt to deliver clean water to, e.g., Darfur, the Janjaweed (1) would try to kill me. In Nigeria, they would eat my dollars.

I'd love to help. But I'm an physicist, not a cop. I don't know how to police corruption in Zimbabwe, or make it socially unacceptable to take bribes. So instead, I focus on problems where I actually can come up with a solution.

(1) For those unfamiliar with the situation, Janjaweed are basically an Arab version of the Nazi's. No, Godwin's law doesn't apply here.