<story><title>The 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Explanatory Reporting</title><url>https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-quanta-magazine-new-york-ny-notably-natalie-wolchover</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mjreacher</author><text>His foundation, the Simons Foundation, funds among a few other things, arXiv. I have wondered why other tech related billionaires do not sponsor more items in the scientific sphere like Simons does, because unlike funding a building at some rich university your money could actually be used for something useful and if something good comes out of it, having your name attached to it could mean a lot more than the name of some silly building (on top of the actual scientific progress it leads to).</text></item><item><author>melling</author><text>Publication founded by mathematician Jim Simons who started a hedge fund that consistently beat the markets and made billions.&lt;p&gt;The entire story:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;073521798X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lots of interesting information on the internet about him too:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Jim_Simons_(mathematician)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Jim_Simons_(mathematician)&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DoughnutHole</author><text>Because billionaires are more often than egomaniacs and having your name be remembered is more important than the actual value of your charitable donations.&lt;p&gt;We grew up in a world dotted with buildings and universities with the names of robber-barons like Carnegie, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. Having your name carved into the stone of the building of a major institution means immortality (well, as long as the institution remains important) - directly sponsoring science might do more real good but it&amp;#x27;s not as good at sanitising your image or for being remembered long term, which are the real goals of most billionaires&amp;#x27; philanthropy.&lt;p&gt;People don&amp;#x27;t remember John D. Rockefeller for the money he pumped into eradicating hookworm, probably the single greatest thing he did for the world in his life - ending generations of sapped energy and cognitive impairment in the American South. People remember him because his name is on the buildings and colleges he funded.</text></comment>
<story><title>The 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Explanatory Reporting</title><url>https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-quanta-magazine-new-york-ny-notably-natalie-wolchover</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mjreacher</author><text>His foundation, the Simons Foundation, funds among a few other things, arXiv. I have wondered why other tech related billionaires do not sponsor more items in the scientific sphere like Simons does, because unlike funding a building at some rich university your money could actually be used for something useful and if something good comes out of it, having your name attached to it could mean a lot more than the name of some silly building (on top of the actual scientific progress it leads to).</text></item><item><author>melling</author><text>Publication founded by mathematician Jim Simons who started a hedge fund that consistently beat the markets and made billions.&lt;p&gt;The entire story:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;073521798X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lots of interesting information on the internet about him too:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Jim_Simons_(mathematician)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Jim_Simons_(mathematician)&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Maro</author><text>What&amp;#x27;s wrong with paying for academic buildings to be built (and having your name on it)? The point is that students can go to the building and receive lectures, or run labs, or read books in the library. Who cares whose name is on the building... These buildings will stand for a long time anyway, soon nobody will know who that person was anyway (other than by the name of the building).</text></comment>