Project 10^100

http://www.project10tothe100.com/faq.html

by newsit • 18 years ago

43 25 18 years ago

It would be nice to see YC do a mini round, maybe funding 3 to 5 non-profit with a Humanitarian goal.

a world-changing idea does not need to be not-for-profit. this is one of the biggest misconceptions out there -- an idea that solves a problem for a sub-group of humanity, does not need to run under an NGO/non-profit umbrella.

xccx• 18 years ago

google.org allows and may even encourage for-profit structures.. and microcredit has proven to do some good, while also being profitable..

ph0rque• 18 years ago

Also see http://paulgraham.com/good.html

mixmax• 18 years ago

The incentive for submitting a great idea is sharply diminished by the fact that you don't get to have a say at all in the implementation of it. The project doesn't adhere well to the psychology of altruism.

sspencer• 18 years ago

Yeah, I was thrilled with the $10 million available for funding until I realized that I wouldn't actually get to work on my brilliant idea. Watching someone else realize my dream project would be like some bizarre form of torture.

I'll just do it myself...

ivankirigin• 18 years ago

I'm a busy guy. I have ideas that have nothing to do with what I'm working on. I'd LOVE to just tell someone and let them do the work. Credit would also be nice :)

Allocator2008• 18 years ago

I'm not buying. As Howard Roarke, the protagonist in 'The Fountainhead' says, "The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing."

We don't need more altruism or nobless-oblige. We need more innovation. Google, who all but started the cloud computing model, is a leader in innovation. They should stick with what they are good at, technological innovation, and not have some kind of save the world guilt trip. The world benefits most by a Google that is focused on the one thing they are great at: search and a cloud computing dev environment.

Don't save us, google. Just keep up the good work. That way, by benefiting from your technology, we can save ourselves. :-)

einarvollset3• 18 years ago

Yeeeeess.. Let's have companies focus solely on shareholder value. That's working out so well lately.

JulianMorrison2• 18 years ago

Where is their shareholder value now?

And, are we not left clinging like shipwrecked sailors to those companies who successfully guarded their shareholder value?

ced• 18 years ago

The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.

Where do you see the orgy of self-sacrificing? And how is this presumed orgy making the world "perish"?

This is just nonsense.

nazgulnarsil3• 18 years ago

every lobbyist who spouts "for the good of the children" or other nonsense. self-interest hides behind altruism. If humanity would just grow the fuck up and recognize it for what it is we could stop pussy-footing around the moral issues and come up with solutions that actually work.

lemonysnicket3• 18 years ago

That's like saying to Bill Gates "you're rich, forget about the Gates foundation, just focus on making money for yourself and creating jobs." Warren Buffet, or how bout the Carnegies, Mellons, and Rockefellers.

This has got to be the least coherent analysis I've read on HN in a while. Google is an organization, yes, but one composed of people, and those people are affected by the decisions of invididuals or groups who could incrementally change the world for better or for worse.

You don't think the engineers writing JS to improve that "cloud computing model" (let's use Google Docs as an example) wouldn't benefit either directly or indirectly from some of the ideas that will come out of this project?

How are innovation and this project mutually exclusive? Google is (and has been via Google.org) trying to spearhead innovation outside of its known core competencies (i.e. search, ads, and apps) and does this project not contribute to that?

shimon• 18 years ago

Wow, it's like someone invented a time machine and invited a 14-year-old-me to come and comment on hacker news.

Seriously though, many hackers have loved Ayn Rand's ideas, but the simple biological fact is that we get gratification from helping people and we feel, to some extent, the pain of people whose suffering we see. Our evolved nature is hacked to make us not perfectly selfish.

nazgulnarsil3• 18 years ago

actually, empathy is simply the most effective way of convincing others that you care about their interests. this perceived commonality of interests is what holds society together. but the motivation is ultimately selfish because we only want to band together to increase our own chances for survival and the survival of our offspring.

raghus• 18 years ago

Here's an idea for Google. I don't very much care exactly how they implement it but here's the outline:

1) Let various non-profits like the Red Cross or the Susan Komen Foundation etc. register as 'Recipients' with Google's AdSense program

2) Let website publishers who are (perennially) stuck with sub $100 earnings nominate one of these organizations to receive their AdSense balance- whether it is $0.25 or $99.

Bingo! All that money that Google is sitting on gets put to work immediately for worthy causes. Even if Google pays these orgs only when the total exceeds $100, this would help a ton of people around the world.

lemonysnicket3• 18 years ago

I must say I am surprised at some of the comments that have already been left here. I would think a community like HN would be excited to see a project come out of the woodwork like this...at least I was and heck, I've already submitted an idea and may submit a couple more.

If, as everyone opines on here constantly, ideas have little to no value, but rather it is the execution of those ideas, why not submit ideas that may have some validity, and let Google essentially play matchmaker and help find the organization, people, and talent to execute on that idea?

newsit• 18 years ago

Totally agreed, since I red it I've been thinking about ideas of my own to submit.

If someone is going to spend 10 Million anyway, why not use the chance and think about all the things that you wish were fixed or improved.

Unless you are Superman I doubt it you can fix everything in the world yourself.

tomek• 18 years ago

and somewhere in fine print it says all submitted ideas are automatically owned by google

Ardit20• 18 years ago

It is not selfishness nor altruism. It is their execution.

Anyone would be dumb not to see that Google through this project is trying to milk people for ideas for nothing in return.

We all want to help that is true (well besides the psychopaths and that's like 2% of the population) but if someone else is profiting from my help, the way Google most probably would, is just hurtfully cheating.

Project 10^100

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