

Nathan Myhrvold: The Wealthy Should Fund Innovation - inaworldofideas
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428984/nathan-myhrvold-the-wealthy-should-fund/

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mnemonicsloth
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a patent troll in possession of
an enormous fortune must find a pretext by which he might be judged something
other than a parasite.

There is a serious argument to be made that very wealthy individuals are the
only ones who can fund certain projects. But no one as wealthy as Myhrvold can
make that argument seriously. So here are two links. I'm pretty sure that
neither author has ever called for a pay-per-click internet:

[http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/07/the...](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/07/the-
history-and-future-of-private-space-exploration.html)

[http://www.overcomingbias.com/2012/01/we-need-the-very-
rich....](http://www.overcomingbias.com/2012/01/we-need-the-very-rich.html)

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ryanmolden
I don't know why I ever read anything by this man anymore, it just infuriates
me. I honestly don't know if anything he can do could ever offset the carnage
wrought by Intellectual Ventures.

>If 20 of us were to try to solve energy problems—with carbon capture and
storage, or perhaps some other crazy idea—maybe one or two of us would
actually succeed. If nobody tries, we'll all certainly fail.

I love the hubris, if him or say 20 of his wealthy friends don't solve the
problem, I mean who could? Because history shows all advancement is done only
by extremely wealthy folks.

>Unfortunately, no such technology can completely replace fossil fuels, which
provide base-load power all day and night, regardless of whether the wind is
blowing or the sun is shining. There is no carbon-free base-load power source
except nuclear energy.

I admit to knowing nothing of this area, but is energy storage just useless? I
always hear the 'what about off-cycle demand' used as a cudgel against things
like wind/solar/hydro/etc.. power. Is it really impossible / terribly
inefficient to store energy for later use? If so is there no chance of
advancement there and thus the only hope is something like nuclear? Honest
question.

>There are few technologies more daunting to inventors (and investors) than
nuclear power.

I agree investors are more likely to say fund, cat-sharing-social-coupon-web
3.0 venture over say 'long lead new power breakthrough', but something tells
me with the sheer buckets of money that would accompany such a discovery that
some people are definitely working on it. Whether those people are
VC/billionaires or government, something tells me if Myhrvold died tomorrow
(please god) that all research in alternative energy wouldn't grind to a halt
never to be pursued again.

>Like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, I was once a little boy who played with model
rockets and aspired to learn nuclear physics.

And then go on to troll the world? One of these folks is not like the others.

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nitrogen
Myrhvold should put his money where his mouth is, and fund innovation by
shutting down IV and its shell companies.

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batgaijin
Well obviously you don't understand how patents are linked to competition and
efficiency.

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pi18n
What the hell does Myhrvold know about funding innovation? Dragging innovation
back with lawsuits, sure, but funding?

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tzs
TerraPower.

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askimto
Bezos and Musk deliver.

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phil
Or sue to maintain control of it. You know, either way.

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001sky
_The Wealthy Should Fund Innovation_

And how does one get wealthy...Patent troll!

WTF. This theory needs some dogfooding.

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ojbyrne
While I agree with the sentiment, I don't think your argument is fair. He got
wealthy via Microsoft. He did get wealthier as a patent troll.

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jamesladd
they do

