Should We Really Be Surprised About Theranos?

[erpowers]

Last edited Tue Aug 2, 2016, 10:34 AM - Edit history (1)

I am not some college elitist, but Elizabeth Holmes was a 19 year old college drop-out who knew nothing about Chemistry or science. The college drop-out part is not the problem for me; the knew nothing about Chemistry or science part is the problem for me. Why would anyone believe a person who has no science training, when they claim their company will revolutionize science?

I think some people are getting a little too eager for college drop-out stories. Yes, Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college, but he knew coding and how the website he was promoting worked. Yes, Steve Jobs dropped out of college, but he understood how to build a computer. Yes, Bill Gates dropped out of college, but as far as I know he understood how to work with computers. Elizabeth Holmes was not the equivalent of the previously listed men. She was attempting to create a company that dealt with a subject on which she did not have a firm grasp.

From the very beginning more people should have asked about her qualifications to run this company. How could a 19 year old with little to no knowledge of the science behind the test she was trying to change actually improve the test? If anyone in the media had asked even a few questions they would have realized Theranos was, at best, mainly smoke and mirrors, at worst, a scam.

[Nay]

1. Maybe because anyone with a compelling narrative can always capture

attention way better than anyone talking sense about science?

As far as I can tell, the "story" you can tell has always had more power than actual truth told plainly as long as the story is told in a compelling way, with all the "heroes' journey" story elements present (dropout makes huge discovery! Wins fight against Big Chem! Builds a company from nothing! Saves the world! Etc., etc.). This is the oldest story arc in the world and fits right in with the American up-from-your-bootstraps narrative, also called the Horatio Alger rags-to-riches.

[TexasProgresive]

2. I looked into Theranos some time back

It looked like a scam to me then and still does- I don't know anything about Elizabeth Holmes.

[mainer]

3. Give her time. She'll one day be the female Donald Trump

Scam artist extraordinaire.