Hamming Questions

Posted byNeil ThanedarPosted inEssaysTags:, ,

My World’s Biggest Problems project is inspired by one of my favorite quotes:

— Richard Hamming, You and Your Research (via Paul Graham)

I paraphrase this idea into two questions:

  1. “What are the world’s biggest problems?”
  2. “Which ones are you solving?

Why don’t more people spend their time solving the hardest problems?

  1. It’s hard!
    • Fighting for The Good Future requires massive amounts of time, energy, and creativity.
  2. It’s scary!
  3. It’s expensive!
    • Most people are too busy solving their money problem to think about anything else.

My personal mission is to convince more people to solve The World’s Biggest Problems.

This idea is a work-in-progress. If you’d like to riff on it, hit me up @neilthanedar on Twitter.

Published by Neil Thanedar

Neil Thanedar is an entrepreneur, investor, scientist, altruist, and author. He is the founder & GP of Utopic, a pre-seed biotech VC fund investing in the future of science. He is also the founder & chairman of Air to All, a 501(c)3 nonprofit medical device startup, and Labdoor, a consumer watchdog with $7M+ in funding and 20M+ users. He previously co-founded Avomeen Analytical Services, a product development and testing lab acquired for $30M+ in 2016. He has also served as Executive Director of The Detroit Partnership and Senior Advisor to his father Shri Thanedar in his campaigns for Governor, State Representative, and US Congress in Michigan.