Can conflicting opinions be both right ?
New York Times recently reported that John Paulson donated $400 million to endow Harvard Engineering School. Many of us affiliated with science and engineering were rather thrilled about this generous charitable gesture and the promise it holds.
However, the donation also received a critical response from many prominent people that suggested the money could have been better spent on a contribution to the poor.
Who is right?
I heard this old story a while back. A very bright rabbinical student is doing an internship where he is observing a renowned and highly respected old Rabbi as he is lending his wisdom to his community.
Warning: this is an old story with the out of date cultural flavors and traditional roles (tradition is not always a good thing unless it evolves).
A struggling married couple enters the Rabbi’s studio and bitterly complain about each other .
The wife asserts that her husband does not work hard enough, does not provide for his family and does not dedicate enough time to study the Talmud with the boys. As a result they cannot fulfill their mission as a good religious family.
The Rabbi says ” You are right, you are right …”.
Then the husband complains that his wife does not fulfill her traditional roles in taking care of the family and teaching the girls to do the same.As a result they cannot fulfill their mission as a good religious family.
Rabbi repeats: “You are right, you are right …”.
The young bright student is perplexed and timidly asks the Rabbi. “Rabbi, with all due respect, they contradict each other, they can’t be both right”
.. and the Rabbi replies … “You are also right ” !
Fast forward back to modern times and the Paulson charitable donation, and we get a series of tweets from a prominent writer.
“It came down to helping the poor or giving the world’s richest university $400 [million] it doesn’t need. Wise choice John!” Gladwell tweeted.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/defense-of-john-paulson-harvard-donation-2015-6#ixzz3cEnPxY00.
Its a really interesting argument. However, numerous people came to John Paulson’s defense as documented in this piece.
But the opinion I like the most came from one hedge fund manager:
“Still, others felt like Gladwell had a right to his opinion, but Paulson also had the right to donate his money.
“I think that guy, Malcolm Gladwell, actually has an argument from a social standpoint,” acknowledged one hedge fund portfolio manager. “The disparity of wealth in this country is going to be a problem. The middle class is shrinking. It’s harder and harder for people to make it. Gladwell has the right to his opinion, but John Paulson has the right to do what he wants with his money.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/defense-of-john-paulson-harvard-donation-2015-6#ixzz3cEo5pKYB
I guess he is also right.
For the record, there are scientists and engineers everywhere who do worry about people who need it most.
Here are a few examples: engineering fo the developing world, computer science and society and genomic medicine for the poor:
We need to do more for sure!
My daughter who just graduated high school, offered another opinion. “Money is either spent and wasted or used to help cultivate something”.
One thing that is hard to dispute. Allston will finally have one modern coffee shop. Welcome aboard Pete’s and Starbucks. After all, mathematicians, scientists and engineers are just “machines that convert coffee into theorems discoveries and inventions”. So the future looks promising for the new school.
