[sp33k3rph433k]

Innovation and problem-solving are two very, very different things. You can have the former without the latter but generally not the latter without the former.

"Problems" to solve IMO come down to basic human necessities:

- How do we get more people food for a lower cost? - How do we get more people shelter for a lower cost? - How do we make more people less sick for a lower cost?

Everything past that is basically a "luxury", AKA innovation for the sake of entertainment/discovery/challenge/socialization. Also, people tend to pay for entertainment/luxuries, whereas providing access to necessities for a lower cost doesn't have as high of a profit margin. Ergo, less reason to innovate.

[salt-thrower]

In other words, relying purely on profit motives for beneficial innovation is a dead end.

[xboxnolifes]

That's the exact opposite conclusion. All of the innovations happened for the profitable things. The conclusion is that we need to make solving problems, that we want to be solved, profitable.

[salt-thrower]

And how do "we" change the profitability equation? If it were more profitable to do more social good, then more companies would be doing more social good. It seems like we agree on that.

Why, then, isn't it profitable to do right now, and what solutions exist to make it so?