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If this works out for him, it would be cool to see him champion other peoples' life-threatening needs as shamelessly as he's doing his own.

• kyleslattery 15y ago
  Sure, it may be focused on saving him, but that doesn't mean that what he's doing isn't good for other people too. Getting potential donors (especially in an under-represented group) to sign up for the bone marrow registry is a all around good thing, who cares if they're doing it because Amit got them to? They might end up being able to save someone else's life.
  • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
    I'm not sure what part of my comment you're addressing. The only real point I made was that his plight was shameless. I understand if saying that makes people upset, but it doesn't make it less true.
    • michaels0620 15y ago
      And repeating it doesn't make it any more true. In what sense his is plea for help shameless? Should he simply sit back, do nothing, and hope something works out? It's not like he is taking from others for his own benefit. Indeed as others have pointed out, it's likely that his campaign has benefited others, not only himself.
      • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
        I did not say it does not benefit anyone else. I just said it was shameless. shameless: 2. done without shame; without decency or modesty modesty: 1. having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.;
        • iron_ball 15y ago
          In what philosophical framework does modesty or even decency come before preservation of one's own life? This isn't Breaking Bad -- making a website and asking for help is pretty well unimpeachable IMO.
          • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
            He's not morally wrong, I'm saying the nature of what he's doing is shameless. Clearly this is an important issue to him, but he's vastly overestimating his importance to everyone else. If every person with a need had a poster plastered around the city with their name on it, every city would be covered from sidewalk to rooftop. I'm just calling it like I see it.
            • palish 15y ago
              Could we all just agree to disagree and leave it at that...?
              • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
                I still have about 680 karma to burn through.
                • unreal37 15y ago
                  Now only 590...
                  • Garbage 15y ago
                    And now even less than that. (567)
                    • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
                      Now even less than that! (565)
  • sundarurfriend 15y ago
    I guess HN doesn't have much experience dealing with trolls. Copy-pasta replies, repetitiveness, lack of rational argument and the _need_ to be contra-norm all point that way. Please, let's stop feeding this and letting it take up half the comment space on this.
    • 0x12 15y ago
      I fear that he's not actually trolling.
      • sundarurfriend 15y ago
        Yeah, it appeared like trolling only until he replied to your comment above. That seems to be the first thread he's attempted to apply some logic here.
• sector 15y ago
  He is using his name to get signups to the general national marrow donor program registry. It is possible to get tested just for Amit, but the default is that you get tested for a match to anybody who needs it.
• AndrewMoffat 15y ago
  Sad to see my comment being downvoted because people disagree with it. The point that I was making was that he's shameless about his needs. Most people who have needs like his can't create this type of platform and exposure to be heard. And it is shameless. Why do I care about amit gupta, and why are all his promotional materials centered around HIM, and not acute leukemia? People suffer every day who can't be heard like this, is it so wrong to bring up that uncomfortable fact? To the people saying, "well what he's doing is good for others, too!" Yes, I agree. But face it, he never would've done this had he never got acute leukemia. So my original hope remains: "if this works out for him, it would be cool to see him champion other peoples' life-threatening needs." With him seeing the direct benefit of these efforts on his life, it would be cool if he maybe took it a step further and continued it for others.
  • dminor 15y ago
    You keep saying "shameless" as if it's exceptional in some way. Why should he feel shame about trying to not die?
    • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
      shameless: 2. done without shame; without decency or modesty modesty: 1. having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.;
      • jbenz 15y ago
        A) I think modesty no longer becomes a factor when you are desperately trying to save your own life. B) Sure, the design is a little flashy (I think it looks great, by the way), but I don't think he is being terribly immodest. He's not bragging about his accomplishments, he's just trying to get people to sign up as bone marrow donors, and he's using his personal plight as motivation.
        • irondavycole 15y ago
          Designer of the site here. (Thank you for the kind words.) We wanted to do something upbeat and positive, a kind of join-the-movement and do-your-part vibe. If it were a story just about Amit, we might be more dire, but this is a much bigger cause and we wanted to express that.
• Avenger42 15y ago
  I had the same kind of thought after Christopher Reeve became paralyzed after his accident. I would think to myself "was he championing this cause prior to his accident? Then he doesn't deserve that much credit for doing it now, when it will benefit him". Then I realized - it doesn't matter. The fact that someone noticeable shines a light on a cause and makes it more likely to receive some form of advances or help is laudable, if for no other reason than it increases the amount of time that we all think about these things and realize that it can affect any of us. The only time I get frustrated about things like this is when I tell myself "yeah, but no one's helping out with my priority." But my priority is just as "selfish" - a friend of mine has a disease that gets almost no press. Still, why not cheer for those who spend any amount of time helping others? As soon as they cure / find treatments for these diseases, they'll have time to get to my friend's. So... I understand where you're coming from. But I think spending any amount of time denigrating someone for trying to help (even if it helps him- or herself) is counterproductive.
• hyperbovine 15y ago
  Why would somebody be ashamed of trying to save their own life?
• urbanjunkie 15y ago
  Your need to have an opinion on this is actually pretty offensive. The guy wants to live. So stop this rather pathetic passive aggression.
  • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
    We all die, sorry to say. How you conduct yourself in the face of that fact is all that matters. But thanks for your opinion.
    • urbanjunkie 15y ago
      I don't really even know how to respond to that. I suspect you're not really sorry that we die, as you seem to think that when faced with death, the proper response is to accept one's fate. I would understand your attitude if setting up a website meant that kittens had to die, or someone else had to suffer, but seeing as this isn't a zero-sum game, I don't. How do you know that Amit isn't feeling ashamed of needing to publicise this? How do you know it's not his friends that have almost 'forced' him to do this? I honestly don't get why you felt you needed to unzip your flies and piss all over this. Has this triggered some personal memory?
      • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
        > you seem to think that when faced with death, the proper response is to accept one's fate. I think the proper response is to realize that millions of people are also faced with death, that everyone WILL be faced with death, and to temper your actions with modesty and humility. > Has this triggered some personal memory? How did you know...sobs.
• webwright 15y ago
  This isn't any more shameless than a person who breaks their leg in the woods calling out for help. You shouldn't be ashamed to call out for help. If you're curious, I think that's why you're getting downvoted. Shameless, defined: (of a person or their conduct) Characterized by or showing a lack of shame. Shame, defined: A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.
  • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
    shameless: 2. done without shame; without decency or modesty modesty: 1. having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.;
    • webwright 15y ago
      So yeah-- you're ignoring the part of the definition that comes before the semicolon for shameless. And zeroing in on one word in that definition (modesty). I think you're playing semantician, and you're not playing particularly well. I don't think very many people would agree that Amit should feel shame for what he's doing. Question for you: Do you think he should feel shame for what he's done? If you broke your leg alone in the woods, would you cry out for help?
• akmiller 15y ago
  He is using his disease to call on his community (the relatively small community of technologists and entrepreneurs) to sign up to be bone marrow donors knowing very well that there is only a small chance any one of us will be a match for him but that we may very well be a match for someone else. So yes, he is championing other peoples' life-threatening needs!
• 0x12 15y ago
  Hey Andrew, I don't know you and you more than likely don't know me. But still I feel that I have to respond to you because the way you carry yourself here is in my opinion doing a disservice to yourself, to the community and to your employer. If you take up a position that is going to be this un-popular you should at least try to do a better job of explaining your reasons why than you have done in this thread. In principle, you have a point. Before Amit Gupta knew that he had leukemia, he in all likelihood would not have been nearly as motivated to improve the state of the art. But such is human nature. Strangers are statistics, people are tragedies. We can only relate to that which we ourselves have direct knowledge of, and the second best thing next to that is that someone that we know or care for has direct knowledge of. That is what makes things personal. And I think that is where you're missing the beat here. Amit Gupta is personal for a large enough number of people here (who likely aren't even in the right demographic to help him) that you are wrong about this being 'shameless'. It would be shameless if none of us had ever heard about Amit Gupta in the first place. And even though plenty of people here (likely including you, but I can't be sure of that) have never heard of him, lots of people have. We also have a lot in common with Amit Gupta. We're all either working in the IT business, working on start-ups and we're likely all at risk of being blindsided by a disease like this. Which is typically not on your radar when you're a 20 or 30 something working hard on your startups. So, just like it isn't proper to talk bad about people on their funeral it isn't proper to piss on those that have landed a very bad lottery ticket indeed and that are currently - with the help of some dedicated friends - trying to change the odds in their favor. Whether it will work or not is unknowable for now, and even if it does work it will likely be a thing with a very significant impact on the lives of Amit and those near him. If Amit should die you may come to regret your harsh words here quite a bit. In the meantime I hope that a match will come up and that Amit will be allright and that this will raise the awareness of how fragile life is, even when it seems as though you're doing just fine. If one day there will be a website titled andrewmoffatneedsyou.com then I will not hold any of this against you.
  • AndrewMoffat 15y ago
    > Whether it will work or not is unknowable for now, and even if it does work it will likely be a thing with a very significant impact on the lives of Amit and those near him. This alludes to my original comment. I hope he continues promoting this kind of thing if it helps him, but for other people, given that he has such a broad reach and lack of modesty. Is that so wrong to say? I know it is unpopular to say, but is it wrong to hope for? I have no problem with what is being done, just how it is being done. I don't wish Amit dies. I don't even know him. It is a tragedy that he has leukemia. But given the platform and reach he so clearly has, is he grateful and humbled for his ability to seek help on such a massive scale, that many dying people will never have? Doesn't sound like it. He wants life, but it doesn't sound like he has much respect for it. It sounds like he wants to live, but sounds like he only tangentially gives a damn about the cause which will save him (bone marrow transplants). It's very "me me me." As for my community and my employer, don't bring them into it. I'm my own person, with my own opinions, and those are whose opinions I express.
• jwco 15y ago
  I wonder if you excised the word "shamelessly" from this comment, if people would have had a more interesting discussion, i.e. about building a site that enables people (including non-hackers), say in similarly life-threatened positions, to spread word and bring people/marrow/blood/etc. to their aid, and perhaps too, the aid of anyone else in a similar situation. Because I think what you're calling for is interesting: a platform (like Facebook or Tumblr), instead of a single blog.
• mcantor 15y ago
  Perhaps you can link us to all of the wonderful things you are doing for other people commensurate to everything you do for your own benefit, as you seem to have this "modesty and humility" thing figured out.
• jessedhillon 15y ago
  It's both sad and ironic that you think you're being persecuted for calling out someone else's lack of humility. It's because you're being a troll, quite frankly. I know you can't see it, but that's how you're coming across. You claim to have a concern about the greater good and the millions who have leukemia, but from where I stand -- and pretty much everyone else -- you're using that to cover your asinine, judgmental opinion of what Amit's doing. If that was your true concern, there are a thousand ways to express it without injecting your judgment. If you cared about not being judgmental and effectively communicating your concern, you could easily have chosen one of those. Instead, you appear more concerned about calling out Amit for a trivial fault -- the guy is using the resources at his disposal to save his own life!