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by api 3149 days ago
A casino is usually more profitable than a hospital too.

It's probably the central problem of capitalism. Monetary systems draw no distinction between wealth creation and wealth extraction, and the second law of thermodynamics guarantees that the latter will always be much easier. When you design chips, cure diseases, or build rockets you are fighting entropy. When you addict, misinform, and con people entropy is on your side.
3 comments
BayesStreet 3149 days ago
This article made me pretty sad and made me think of this too. I think what an ethical investor needs to do is not deploy capital to any industries that don't add real economic value or wealth or whatever you want to call it. Also, ethical founders should refuse capital from orgs that fund these projects. Basically starve these projects out, but that's sort of idealistic.
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markatkinson 3149 days ago
Unfortunately greed often turns people from ethical to not so ethical pretty quickly. Would be nice if the chaps above could create an AI to help with that!
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intended 3149 days ago
We could go to unethical even faster!

An unethical AI has more degrees of movement. It will always beat an ethical AI.

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markatkinson 3149 days ago
It is interesting how this article had the same affect on a lot of people. I also wasn't too comfortable with their angle or what they are doing.
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AndrewKemendo 3149 days ago
don't add real economic value or wealth or whatever you want to call it.

Literally an impossible thing to measure because it's subjective. If it makes money is adds wealth so by your standard anything goes.

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alexasmyths 3148 days ago
"When you design chips, cure diseases, or build rockets you are fighting entropy."

I've never quite heard 'entropy' used as an argument, and though you might be a little bit correct in some sense of the word ... I don't think it holds true either physically or as an analogy :)

But bon-bons for trying.

That's my favourite 'most HN comment of the day'.

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Houshalter 3149 days ago
Healthcare is a much larger percent of GDP than casinos for what it's worth. But your comment does remind me of http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
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dredmorbius 3148 days ago
And if you add the FIRE industries to that?

Or the addiction-feeding elements of healthcare -- opiates and other-than-therapeutic interventions.

https://www.selectusa.gov/financial-services-industry-united...

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