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A Beautiful Mind and Broken Body For Silicon Valley

Posted by Soulskill on from the making-lemonade dept.

pacopico writes "About 30 years ago, a young Marine and math savant named Ramona Pierson was out for a run when she got hit by a drunk driver and had her body shattered. As Businessweek reports, Pierson ended up in coma for 18 months, came out blind and emaciated and was sent to live in an old folks home. Her remarkable story takes off from there to include bike racing through Russia, a PhD in neuroscience, a stint fixing Seattle's public schools, and now Declara, a social network run by Pierson and funded by billioniare Peter Thiel, who put the original money into Facebook. One of the more original start-up tales to have ever come out of Silicon Valley or really anywhere."

39 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Another social network by hsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just what the world needs!

    1. Re:Another social network by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, the world *does* need this. It's called knowledge management. It's the one thing we suck at right now, at an increasing scale. The "social" part isn't about people reposting stupid stories but about individuals with specific pieces of specialist knowledge forming specific links and lines of communication. I'd assume that it's not the only part of the equation; NLP and IR techniques working on unstructured texts are most likely a huge part of it, too.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Another social network by LeoDeSol · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This article is not about "Another social network" and I don't think Declara has much to do with why this deserves to be on Slashdot. This article is about a incredible person whose life and accomplishments should certainly be of interest to any respectable Nerd. Ramona sounds like a incredible and inspirational person. Can't wait for the movie!

    3. Re:Another social network by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, kinda reminds me of the Rudy Rudiger story. The high point of the guy's life was getting to play a few downs for Notre Dame. The epilogue is that he becomes a... wait for it... motivational speaker.

      Let's face it though. We're all gonna die. At least these people have noteworthy high points. I can't really say the same yet.

    4. Re:Another social network by Qzukk · · Score: 2

      I'd assume Natural Language Processing given the context of "unstructured texts". Not sure what IR is though but I bet if I put it into google... yep, google thinks it means "Information Retrieval".

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    5. Re:Another social network by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      Neither, natural language processing.

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    6. Re:Another social network by hsmith · · Score: 1

      And this person is creating more silicon valley garbage.

    7. Re:Another social network by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but this kind of story is entirely unsuitable for a movie. No one would take it seriously. Hollywood had a hard enough time with "Apollo 13"; one early reviewer said it was "typical Hollywood bullshit" and that the astronauts would never have survived.

      Fact is stranger than fiction.

    8. Re:Another social network by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 1

      Just what the world needs!

      The ones we have are shit. If someone wants to make a better one, I'm for it.

  2. Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    So...what does "Declara" do that thousands of other social network gizmos don't do? Who's it targeting and why should we (geeks or IT folks) care?

    1. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly.

      I'm handicapped and I'm kind of pissed that someone would use a terrible accident/recovery as marketing leverage.

      Look, I'm happy someone was able to get their life together and do Great Things, but those great things should not be defined by the ordeals overcome to produce them, rather the greatness they already must possess.

    2. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by steelfood · · Score: 2

      It sounds like LinkedIn on steroids. It pretty much does the linking for you.

      Actually, based on my understanding, it's not for you. Or me. Or most people here. It's really for HR types, and recruiters, and managers, and such looking to solve their problem of finding the right person for the right job. The manager defines the job needed doing, and the system finds the people that would be the best fit for it.

      It's something along those lines anyway.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    3. Re: Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because when you are handicapped and you do something great it's not the great thing they talk about it's the being handicapped part.

      It's patronizing

    4. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by citizenr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      so how is your second ph.d coming along?

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    5. Re: Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by chipschap · · Score: 1

      "Because when you are handicapped and you do something great it's not the great thing they talk about it's the being handicapped part. It's patronizing"

      You have a point and I can't myself speak to that aspect. However, the rest of us can learn something from these stories, which is that you can overcome the odds and saying "I can't" is just an excuse. This woman would have had all kinds of excuses but she doesn't think that way. Like I said, something big to learn from that.

    6. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by nospam007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A female marine, 30 years ago?

      Some _weeks_ ago, August 16th, this year, the document "Assignment of Women in Combat Units" was released, stating that finally they will allow women to take the training, _next_ year.

      Perhaps she was a marine biologist, like George Costanza?

    7. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by Dahamma · · Score: 2

      but those great things should not be defined by the ordeals overcome to produce them, rather the greatness they already must possess.

      I think winning a silver medal in the masters cycling world championships, getting a PhD in Neurosciences from Stanford, and founding several successful startups have pretty much proved she has done exceptional things regardless of any additional challenges she had to overcome.

      And please cite examples of where she is *using* an accident for marketing leverage (and some journalist wanting to interview her does not qualify) before making those stupid accusations...

    8. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by Dahamma · · Score: 2

      Are you fucking kidding me? Just because women have not been in infantry does not mean they have not been in the marines, or in combat zones. I have met a few female marines who were stationed in Afghanistan and/or Iraq as medics, helicopter mechanics, etc - and there are others who are pilots, doctors, drivers, comm operators, what have you. Besides, they already said in TFA she was an analyst/programmer. Doesn't mean she didn't go through basic training, and in fact TFA also says she was nominated for "fittest on base".

      I'm pretty sure most female marines could kick your ass inside of 10 seconds (one who served with my coworker is actually a top MMA fighter, so it would probably be more like 5 seconds in her case).

    9. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Not that there is much point replying to AC, but yes, there was a source (link) in the post. Please go ahead and claim she is not a "real" marine. And someone claiming female marines are useless/weak/not real marines and me replying that they are in fact often pretty badass is not an ad hominem argument, it's just: 1) a fact, and 2) a deliberate insult not even approaching his bullshit point. Can't really have an ad hominem argument when the OP is so stupid it's not even a debate.

    10. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      I'm handicapped and I'm kind of pissed that someone would use a terrible accident/recovery as marketing leverage.

      You think people shouldn't turn disadvantages into advantages? Honestly: what the fuck?

    11. Re:Sorry, this is SlashDot. Save the fluff. by citizenr · · Score: 1

      no, you are a coward with no education and you didnt read the article

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
  3. Hey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A one in a million feel good story!

    That's great!

    What about the other 999,999 whose lives are shattered and get buried in medical bills - no, the settlements from lawsuits (if you win) come nowhere CLOSE to paying all the medical bills. Don't forget kids, these are LIFETIME problems; requiring LIFETIME medical care and many times live in caretakers. A shitty couple of million dollars doesn't cut it. Medical care is extremely expensive!

    These feel good stories are nice and everything but they leave unrealistic expectations in others who've experienced the same thing and give the impression to the general public that "it's no big deal".

    The media - ALL the media - is incompetent.

    1. Re:Hey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And yet b/c of the exceptional nature of the story you're more inclined to read it - b/c who wants to read about 999,999 depressing stories?

    2. Re:Hey! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Wow, how did you see that story and think it's about the healthcare system? You almost sound upset that she managed to survive.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:Hey! by jon3k · · Score: 1

      The fact that this is +5 on slashdot really drives home the fact for me that the real slashdot died years ago. So long and thanks for all the shoes.

  4. Sounds like a TV Movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hopefully it won't star Russell Crowe as Ramona.

  5. "A stint fixing Seattle's public schools"? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    I hope she did a better job with her other pursuits...

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  6. Interesting story by Coeurderoy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm not sure how I really feel about the Declara product, and there are a lot of things that makes me nervous (like anything that is even loosely related to the bill and melinda gate fundation).

    But I can't understand the negativity in the comments, I find the story very interesting and inspiring, in one way I guess Ms Pierson was lucky that she had a veteran's insurance plan, probably if she had had just a little bit more money she would have tried to keep here liberty and would not have joined the marines, and would probably have been unable to fight her way into relative health. (she joined more than 10 years before the "don't ask don't tell" policy, so she had to totally hide here sexuality).
    But apparently the most important part of her recovery was her will to live, and here capacity to use her brain constructivelly even when severely incapacitated.
    So maybe declara will be an useful tool, or not, but the path to recovery is definitivelly remarkable, and tends to show that it is worthwhile for the society as a whole to "invest" into makeing people get better...

    And to be honest she and her girlfriend are kind of hot, and about my age, a pity I've got no chance ;-) (wrong gender and wrong continent among other weaknesses ...)

  7. I am curious by ugen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ms Pierson graduated from USFCA in 2003 (http://www.usfca.edu/uploadedFiles/Destinations/Office_and_Services/Alumni/PNW_Alumni_Invite.pdf). Her Linkedin profile says so as well. However, her Linkedin profile does not list any PhD in neuroscience from Stanford University or Palo Alto University, nor can I find any reference to such PhD on either university's site or in citations (in particular, here are all the graduates with PhD in neuroscience from Stanford: http://nsp2.stanford.edu/alumni/)

    There are a few other facts in the story that I find inconsistent but we'll leave these on the writer's conscience - it's a feel-good story of overcoming adversity, and there is a natural inclination to emphasize certain things.

    Just saying...

    1. Re:I am curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm curious too. It would seem that she managed to develop a PhD in neuroscience without publishing anything that shows up on Google Scholar (except one 2010 patent?). Wouldn't be the first person who didn't publish during their PhD, but no publications visible at all?

      Elsewhere she is described as beginning 'as a neuroscientist at the Palo Alto Brain Center', which only Pierson seems to ever refer to in those terms, presumably meaning the VAPAHCS Palo Alto Brain Injury Center. Searching for the Brain Injury Center and Pierson doesn't return anything relevant, though. Perhaps people are confusing her with Ronald Pierson, M.S., who has published about brain injury in veterans.

    2. Re:I am curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Also-curious AC again: Just noticed that on http://depts.washington.edu/k12admin/danforth/students/dan_16.html it is explained that she has "AA General Ed. BA Psychology/Sociology" and "MA Education (All but dissertation for PhD in Clinical Psychology)". In other words, she had not submitted her dissertation by 2003-4.

  8. Re:trollin' by Nadaka · · Score: 1

    Pretty sure she gets her girlfriend to make the sandwiches, like any proper techie.

  9. Re:Thanks for your comments, Ramona. by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    See, now *that* is an ad hominem. If you are homophobic and slightly deranged, at least (since it really didn't make much sense anyway...)

  10. Running near the road by MrKaos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sorry all, but I have a need to vent my spleen about people who insist on habitually running near roads, it's fucking stupid.

    First up, you are breathing heavily the toxic fumes output by cars. You are doing your excercise next to moving vehicle which even when travelling at 60 kph (40mph) is roughly the same as falling from a four storey building. Everytime you run near a road you are placing your trust in some random stranger where you don't know if they are competant, drunk, sick, distracted, fatigued or just plain make a mistake whilst you are wearing headphones and placing your life in someone elses hands. Is it really worth it?

    I witnessed the height of this stupidity whilst driving home from the gym at night I saw a man, running for exercise, dress all in black in the pouring rain through roadworks where all the street lights were not working - wearing fucking headphones. This is not exercise, this is idiocracy. Zero for sensibility!

    Now don't get me wrong, running is a great exercise and builds an iron will, but for fuck sake joggers, there are perfectly good parks, trails, beaches and even bicycle lanes you can use to run on where there is none of the above dangers from cars. Sure, you may wish to take yourself out of the genepool by tramatising someone just trying to get home but FOR FUCK SAKE please, please, please if you are going for a run have some fucking situational awareness.

    rant concluded.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    1. Re:Running near the road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This rant was brought to you by the ultimate entitled member of US society - the motorist.

    2. Re:Running near the road by MrKaos · · Score: 2

      This rant was brought to you by the ultimate entitled member of US society - the motorist.

      And from a ex-jogger who wanted to avoid being featured in a story just like this one. It's not just about road safety, it's about safe jogging practices.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    3. Re:Running near the road by darnkitten · · Score: 1

      Yeah, well--ain't no "parks, trails, beaches and even bicycle lanes" in my town. Actually there is a "park" which is about the size of a largish back yard. The places to run are along the highway or other similar roads without bike lanes or sidewalks, or going 2-4 miles out of town to the forest service roads with the added hazards of rattlesnake, cougar, moose and, this past month, grizzly.

      I guess you take your life in your hands regardless; but in my town, you have a 0.5% chance of dying in a vehicle annually, about half that of having a serious horse-related injury, and about a 15-20% chance of injuring yourself on rough terrain or on ice; but, despite the idiots, teens and drunks (not mutually exclusive categories) behind the wheel, no pedestrian's been hit by a motor vehicle in the last ten years.

    4. Re:Running near the road by ncc74656 · · Score: 1

      Now don't get me wrong, running is a great exercise and builds an iron will, but for fuck sake joggers, there are perfectly good parks, trails, beaches and even bicycle lanes you can use to run on where there is none of the above dangers from cars...

      ...except where there aren't, and then what's a runner supposed to do? Stay on the treadmill?

      Your comment about situational awareness applies equally (if not more so) to the dumbasses behind the wheel who can't quit staring at their phones long enough to avoid clipping a runner or bicyclist. Newsflash: roads (most of them, anyway) aren't for the exclusive use of motor vehicles.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  11. Re:trollin' by cellocgw · · Score: 1

    Pretty sure she gets her girlfriend to make the sandwiches, like any proper techie.

    Yeah, but does she need to preface her request with "sudo" ?

    --
    https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw