The guy is worth around 50 Billion, he could buy what he wants. I believe that misery is the motivating factor behind pretty much all of what we do. Is he escaping some kind of misery, loneliness or in need of a sense of worth? What are your thoughts?
I believe that these people start off with such burning ambtion that they never know how to stop it. Its different then greed . . . .at first.
maybe he gasp enjoys what he does.
maybe he gasp enjoys what he does.
More then spending his money and travelling the world? Maybe.
what do you see when you’ve seen everything or maybe hes not into traveling
Maybe he’s like robin hood… raping the people of developed nations with crappy operating systems in order to give foreign aid to small countries
if i were rich i would follow my passion. bill gates is obviously doing what he loves.
he has been programing from a very young age and probably, like me, loves to see something be created from his own hard work. he, and other rich folk like him, are in an unique position to be the creators instead of the servants that do just one tiny, little detail in the entire machine. he gets to design and make that machine.
the ambition and desire that gets these people where they are is part of most of their personalities. you can’t just turn that off. they have no reason to. they happen to make a lot of money doing what they would have done without the $$.
i know with my work there is always something else to be done. always new information on the horizon. new things to be discovered. i wish i got paid millions to do these things. even if i did, i’d still be ‘discovering’ and ‘working’ because that’s what powers on my hard drive … so to speak.
I think this is a good question.
Perhaps not necessarily philosophical, but definitely psychological: What are the motivations behind acheiving additional wealth? What are the motivations behind performing well to achieve wealth? What are the motivations behind surviving?
Edited because I’m a dumbfuck
I think Bill Gate’s wealth places him in another category than other wealthy people who may not have more money than they could find ways to spend.
I think Bill Gate’s drive originated as an idea, an ideal. People who have the abilities for such success usually have an anxious need to make it happen (whether the goal is money, status, or some assurance that their difference IS a gift ans responsiblity, not craziness. This is a matter of high intelligence and personal interest. Regular, repetitive tasks are dull for these types, and once they find an area that their mind can lock on, they take the current knowledge and raise it to new heights.
Overtime it’s probably become a kind of obsession. I think it’s a habit at this point.
Some people have a great girlfriend and if the girl leaves them it feels like their reality os falling apart; life with the girl is what their life is, and more time in that world makes a world without that fixation difficult to imagine, even dreadful.
I think Bill Gate’s passion for what he’s doing is similar. That’s what his life is. He can’t do anything else.
well said, matthatter.
i think this reasoning makes more sense than saying he wants more money. it’s not like these rich folks even look at their bank accounts. they know they are worth a lot and have advisors to work out the details to how much they can spend on what they want.
can anyone really say that if they were to become a billionaire that they would work in order to specifically hoard more money?
if so, why? what purpose would it serve?
if not, what reasoning is there to suppose that the currently filthy rich do it for that purpose?
Self-made men (the kind of men who generally keep working after they have amassed huge stores of wealth) are self-made because they are 1) good at what they do 2) really freakin’ dedicated to what they do and 3) lucky.
It’s #2 that keeps 'em working. Their work ethic is definately more than partially responsible for their wealthy condition, so why would it give up then? They didn’t work to get wealthy, they worked for the sake of working and got wealthy along the way.
In Bill Gates case I would say he’s good at marketing, as most business men are 
I would agree with what as been said. I guess if everyone was rich they would all follow their passions, as what else would they do with their time. Some would want to work, others study and others laze around.
As a side not: To be rich, I wouldn’t say you need to need to work hard or be good at what you do. Instead you need to be able to sell what you have done and make others believe that they need it. This is what Bill is good at.
He loves his business and wants it to keep on growing.
The entire “ritch people are suffering inside” myth is pig shit.
Some people like to work, or make money. Some people like to make-love. Some people like to make up lies. Some people like to take their time. Some people like to wonder and ask why. It all depends upon the person. Habbits and arts take time to develop/master. Personal preferance has allot to do with a money-maker’s life style.
I said all people suffer not only rich people, therefore we must do something to escape this. I wouldn’t say a poor person is less happy and vice versa. What ever happiness is
For example he has everyting but still does his passion. If he gave this up, would he feel down? I would say yes, therefore he must work to escape suffering.