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You’d expect the richest people on the planet to keep a low profile and hide in the shadows (either to save the world or to scheme up their latest nefarious deeds, depending on your point of view). However, some embrace transparency and humility. One of those people is business magnate, philanthropist, and the target of many tinfoil hat conspiracy theories, Bill Gates.

A controversial figure, Gates recently hosted his 10th ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Reddit, and candidly answered everyone’s questions. The queries ranged from things to do with the pandemic and Jeffrey Epstein to his views on business, innovation, and charity. We’ve collected the most interesting questions and answers to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down, have a read, and let us know what you think of Gates and what you would ask him, in the comment section.

Oh, and when you’re done with this post, you should definitely check out Bored Panda’s earlier article about Nicolas Cage’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit.

Celebrity expert Mike Sington, from Los Angeles, told Bored Panda why Gates has become the target of conspiracies, why well-known and wealthy individuals get targeted by theories, and why doing AMAs can actually backfire.

Image credits: thisisbillgates

Image credits: BillGates

Image credits: thisisbillgates

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kcanded
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly what I was wondering about. Bitcoin all seems like 'pie in the sky' to me.

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"Bill Gates is the target of many conspiracy theories, especially in regards to the pandemic, because he’s a high-profile individual who has been speaking out a lot about the pandemic from the beginning," celeb expert Mike explained to Bored Panda.

"He’s positioned himself, intentionally or not, as an expert on COVID, probably more so than any famous person who is not a scientist. Attaching a conspiracy theory to him is an easy way to get traction for it," he said why some people see him as a target.

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RedCorvette
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Say what you will about his personal life, but his philanthropic endeavors are top notch.

"People trust rich and famous people because the assumption is they must know something to become rich and famous, this makes them a natural target of conspiracy theories," Mike shared with us why those with power and prestige can become the victims of conspiracy theory peddlers everywhere.

However, doing 'Ask Me Anything' sessions might not help with a high-profile person's transparency and reputation as much as you'd think. Mike believes there's too much potential for the situation to backfire.

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RedCorvette
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, I like that he doesn’t pick and choose what questions to answer. Even this.

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"It’s dangerous territory for a famous person to do an AMA, because it’s too easy to lose control of your image and the narrative you want to present. In most cases, I don’t think they improve a celebrity’s reputation. Too often AMA’s backfire and make a celebrity look foolish," he warned.

The fact that this was Gates’ 10th Reddit AMA shows that he’s not afraid of tackling hard-hitting questions. It’s pretty easy for folks to paint him as ‘the devil’ considering his vast wealth and influence on a global scale, but the co-founder of Microsoft seems like a scapegoat for people’s frustrations with those in power.

Though nobody should be naive to think that however openly Gates answers people’s questions will convince hardcore skeptics that he isn’t secretly trying to depopulate the world and/or control the world. Another conspiracy surrounding the hundred-billionaire includes that he’s supposedly trying to microchip the world via Covid-19 vaccines to track them (5G functionality included free of charge).

Though, depending on the conspiracy nut, the 5G network allegedly spreads Covid… which gets confusing because some other tinfoil hat wearers don’t believe that Covid exists at all.

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Julia Nolan
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A high estate tax always strikes me as the most progressive thing a country could institute.

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cat?
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“why would i want to know where people are?” bill gates doesn’t give a s**t about what you’re doing, deflate your ego and get the vaccine <3

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Persephone
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gaining an understanding of malnutrition has a lot to do with famine, pollution, drought, climate change, deforestation, inappropriate water usage, etc... They're putting research into finding long term solutions, like environmental management and sustainable farming practices. They aren't just trying to end malnutrition in the short term, they're trying to target the underlying factors to provide better lives in the long term. It truly is a very complicated thing, as everything is connected. Feeding someone short term may be a pat on the back for some, but making their lives better for the long term, is life changing for generations.

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Gates told the BBC during an interview that some people hassle him in public. “Only recently as I've been out in public some people yell at me that I'm tracking them, and that's an awful thing,” he said.

“I still maintain a sense of humor about it, but to the degree that crazy theories cause people not to want to get vaccinated or wear masks, it is making the toll of the pandemic even worse.”

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, told USA Today that “in a world in which nothing happens by chance, those with wealth are assumed to have the power to engage in and cover up malign activities. As a result, Bill Gates is an inevitable subject of conspiracy theories.”

In other words, he’s the ‘perfect villain’ because he has ties to Big Tech, important politicians, and he has clout in the medical world.

"Gates in some ways acts as a 'perfect villain' in contemporary society, as he appears in so many different contexts—and could be cast as a villain in each of those contexts," explains Timothy Tangherlini, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Ali H M Salehuddin
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That chair jump he did back then was impressive. Many people, myself included, can't do it even during my prime years.

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RedMarbles
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And there you have it - the truth is boring. The people must be entertained. The charlatans have sure figured that one out.

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"There are many parallels between COVID conspiracies around Bill Gates and theories about witches in the past. Both emerge in contexts of uncertainty as people confront inexplicable misfortune,” Manvir Singh, research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, France, told USA Today.

“Both attribute that misfortune to powerful, malicious figures who work through invisible means. Both demonize those powerful figures, which entails making them morally heinous (e.g., child kidnapping or cannibalism), making them existentially threatening, and enhancing perceptions of their power and influence.”

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Fiery Llama
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the article he linked: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/What-you-can-do-to-fight-climate-change

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Conspiracy theorists tend to see the world in a very black-or-white way. Often, they don’t see nuances, grey areas, and they opt for a more simplistic version of reality when in fact life’s far more complex.

Joseph M. Pierre, a professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explained to Bored Panda that the people who tend to believe in conspiracy theories are the very ones who see it in a way where good and evil constantly struggle.

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Kookamunga
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a Droid owner from the get-go who never owned an iphone, this gives me the warm fuzzies.

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Craig Reynolds
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Think of vaccines like sunscreen! Without it, your odds of getting sunburn and eventual skin cancer are much higher. The more sunscreen you wear the less likely you are to get a sunburn, and if you do, it won't be nearly as bad. Of course, sunburn and skin cancer are not transmissible so you only help protect yourself. Vaccines on the other hand allow you to help protect yourself and others.

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Steven
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1 year ago

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I would like the Foundation to devote as much time, attention, and resources directly in the USA as it does globally!

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“People who believe in conspiracy theories are also often attracted to the Manichean narratives that conspiracy theories offer, involving battles of good and evil pitting against each other in an almost apocalyptic fashion,” he told us.

Meanwhile, Steven Wooding, a member of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, told Bored Panda that the world is a far more complex place than many think at first glance. That’s the key to figuring out whether any theories or news you read online might be fake (or dramatized).

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RedMarbles
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a man who cares about humankind. It's so sad to see all the vitriol and insanity out there that is directed at him.

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"I think that while reading the news every day, we should never forget that the world is a complicated place. The events that occur are usually the result of multiple processes rather than a single cause," he said.

"If a theory explaining an aspect of reality has monocausal tendencies (or even shamelessly presents itself as monocausal), it is highly likely to be wrong. We should develop a habit of thinking about this every time we hear a theory supposed to explain some 'hidden truth' to us. Then, if you think to yourself, 'Wow, that sounds pretty monocausal!'—it's a sign you should do your research,” Steven said.

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RedMarbles
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Respect for his admission of bias, although I think it's likely he doesn't allow his biases to affect his critical thinking skills, at least not by comparison to most people.

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kcanded
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hooray for good teams! And hooray for bosses who don't claim all the credit.

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"The world is complicated: many processes are going on that we don't have time to follow, don't have the knowledge to explore, don't have an awareness of their existence. Conspiracy theories are usually simple: in their worldview, one cause determines everything (the world is ruled by lizard people, etc.)," he pointed out why some find conspiracies attractive. It’s their simplicity that’s so mesmerizing.

"They present (at least at first) a clear and lucid vision of the world—often based on Manichean [good vs. evil] opposition. They give the false impression of thoroughly understanding and explaining the world in a simple way,” he said.

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Cassie
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

With today's technologies, growing indoors is very cost effective. LED grow lights use much less power than previous options to produce exactly the spectrum plants need. Vertical aeroponic grow systems for small to medium crops use water efficiently, significantly reducing the water needed. Even hydroponic systems use less water than traditional farming. Also, when you control the climate, plants that are sensitive to seasonal changes can keep producing longer. For example, in much of north America, tomato plants die in the winter and you plant a new on in the spring or plant a sucker saved from the previous plant and kept indoors, but tomatoes grown in climates that are ideal for the plant continue to produce for more than just one year. Planting tomatoes in a controlled environment in climates with a short growing season increases the yield per plant.

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Stannous Flouride
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The early Covid vaccines required careful refrigeration and this limited their distribution. When I expressed my concern over getting a booster when most of the world hadn't gotten their first shot, this was pointed out to me.

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jimmy pop
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plenty of developing nations have the capacity to produce the vaccines themselves. But they do not have the money to pay for the patents to start production. Big pharmaceutical corporations prevented any kind of temporary stop to their patent payments for their profit.

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censor
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

correction. the oxford vaccine was stopped in SA due to the fact that there was a miniscule case load of bloodclots in germany which brought it to a halt everywhere except india. Pathetic. the case load was LOWER than natural case load during pregnancy, so actually pregnancy is a greater risk of clots than the oxford. super annoying.

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censor
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

also because of the sense of entitlement encouraged in individualist cultures

"Studies prove that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are much more likely to believe in another. In this sense, I think that every conspiracy theory is wrong. They differ only in scale, but they are all part of the same mechanism."

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Russ Kincade
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1 year ago

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Funny that no one asked him "Do you ever regret using unethical business practices to monopolize the desktop with inferior products?"

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