He went from having student debt to the richest man on the planet, transforming two industries, cars and rockets, on the way. That's not so easy to do. At least I haven't managed it yet.
Seth Abramson the "Musk biographer" who as far as I can tell has not written an actual biography seems pretty bitter.
(edit: He has some sort of biography but it's not on Amazon etc - you get it free if you subscribe to his substack)
In fact in that video from minute 1-7 you can pretty much see how he beats the likes of Boeing and gets stuff out faster and cheaper than NASA. It's hard to say - ah that's a good idea, that's how he beats the other rocket scientist guys and then argue he's stupid. At least when it comes to rockets. Politics I'm less convinced.
" see how he beats the likes of Boeing and gets stuff out faster and cheaper than NASA. "
Musk has nothing to do with anything at SpaceX. He has absolutely no skills or education in designing or operating rockets. SpaceX is so successful because of how little involvement Musk has with it.
Bezos has a rocket company. Branson used to. There's a smattering of financially troubled small-scale launch providers.
And then there's SpaceX, which is like 70% cheaper than the alternatives, wildly profitable, launched a constellation of thousands of satellites, etc., etc.
Musk likes rockets. He has technical chops. If good technical leadership is so cheap, why is SpaceX so far ahead?
I understand that the man is kind of nuts these days but we underestimate him at our own risk.
In the Attention Economy, that social media platforms create, he knows how to capture Attention. The question is not Elon but about why we tolerate these platforms that prop up people like Elon or what the alternatives are.
Michael Goldharber pointed out at the dawn of the Internet => info explodes but Attention does not + ppl have a limited capacity to pay attention but unlimited capacity to receive attention.
The truth is Everyone needs a bit of Attention (it is a source of self esteem), that's why sites like HN work because people feel they are seen or heard even if its one upvote.
But then there are Elon and Trump types who are born with a need to be loved and respected by everyone. Plant them in the social media environment, where attention capture is rewarded, and is the main source of profit for the platforms, and we get the abnormal fruits we sow.
The probability there would be a musk i.e. someone born to money that doesn't lose it all, has one success, then believes they're not a statistical certainty, is very high.
It's not that he's stupid but that he's not really that smart.
But nor are most people. Hence his unknowing fan club.
I often hear progressives stating this line about Elon being born into money, but as far as I can tell it isn't actually true.
He was a poor university student like everyone else, had student debt like everyone else, and his business success seems to have come from rolling profits from his previous venture into his next one, and this domino starts from very modest beginnings with Zip2.
> Haha, Elon is dumb, he should be fired!
> Trump smells, to the dungeon with him!
> All republicans have a lot of dandruff, they must be traitors!
> Scientists discovered that right leaning people fart more than nice people.
He is smart, and progressives in general lose credibility by claiming otherwise, but short tempered.
Also, this headline is misleading. This wasn't said by Walter Isaacson who actually wrote the biography on Musk. It's a random dude, who seems to have a personal vendetta against Musk, compiling a bunch of his tirades into something he optimisically calls a "biography".
Any attempt to engage with scarab92 has been a waste of time. That person truly believes what they say to a fault, there's no amount of evidence of Elon's lies that phases them.
It's rather sad but they are true-believers, best to just move on before they post another flamebait comment.
The difference I guess is how much you care about the facts. The man is very intelligent (or at least he was before he started doing tons of ketamine).
This is beyond reasonable dispute. Whether or not people get mad when you say it out loud is more of a reflection of them than of me.
My point is that if you want to convince other people, you should try to argue from a place of intellectual honesty instead of gaslighting or willful blindness. Valid arguments could be made for “I don’t like what he is doing” or “he is dangerous” but just stating that he is not intelligent as the starting point for your argument doesn’t pass the smell test, so it clouds the rest of your argument. For me at least.
It seems there are plenty of legitimate areas he is open for valid criticism.
I know this will be downvoted, but I’m not discouraged by that outcome because it would only reinforce the point that a good faith discussion based on facts and logical persuasion is not welcome in this discussion.
He is smart. His achievements appear to be in seizing opportunity and attracting various other smart people. Unlike Trump, he hasn't destroyed too much wealth along the way.
Seth Abramson the "Musk biographer" who as far as I can tell has not written an actual biography seems pretty bitter.
(edit: He has some sort of biography but it's not on Amazon etc - you get it free if you subscribe to his substack)
In fact in that video from minute 1-7 you can pretty much see how he beats the likes of Boeing and gets stuff out faster and cheaper than NASA. It's hard to say - ah that's a good idea, that's how he beats the other rocket scientist guys and then argue he's stupid. At least when it comes to rockets. Politics I'm less convinced.
Musk has nothing to do with anything at SpaceX. He has absolutely no skills or education in designing or operating rockets. SpaceX is so successful because of how little involvement Musk has with it.
I can read up on an algorithm and explain it to people, it doesn't mean it's my own intellectual accomplishment to repeat it.
And then there's SpaceX, which is like 70% cheaper than the alternatives, wildly profitable, launched a constellation of thousands of satellites, etc., etc.
Musk likes rockets. He has technical chops. If good technical leadership is so cheap, why is SpaceX so far ahead?
I understand that the man is kind of nuts these days but we underestimate him at our own risk.
"He has technical chops"
Not in rockets he doesn't. Or programming.
" If good technical leadership is so cheap, why is SpaceX so far ahead?"
Because of Gwynne Shotwell
In the Attention Economy, that social media platforms create, he knows how to capture Attention. The question is not Elon but about why we tolerate these platforms that prop up people like Elon or what the alternatives are.
Michael Goldharber pointed out at the dawn of the Internet => info explodes but Attention does not + ppl have a limited capacity to pay attention but unlimited capacity to receive attention.
The truth is Everyone needs a bit of Attention (it is a source of self esteem), that's why sites like HN work because people feel they are seen or heard even if its one upvote.
But then there are Elon and Trump types who are born with a need to be loved and respected by everyone. Plant them in the social media environment, where attention capture is rewarded, and is the main source of profit for the platforms, and we get the abnormal fruits we sow.
https://xcancel.com/SethAbramson/status/1892710698683142638
The probability there would be a musk i.e. someone born to money that doesn't lose it all, has one success, then believes they're not a statistical certainty, is very high.
It's not that he's stupid but that he's not really that smart.
But nor are most people. Hence his unknowing fan club.
He was a poor university student like everyone else, had student debt like everyone else, and his business success seems to have come from rolling profits from his previous venture into his next one, and this domino starts from very modest beginnings with Zip2.
Also, this headline is misleading. This wasn't said by Walter Isaacson who actually wrote the biography on Musk. It's a random dude, who seems to have a personal vendetta against Musk, compiling a bunch of his tirades into something he optimisically calls a "biography".
2. Musk rarely lies, he's honest to a fault.
He lies all the time. If you honestly believe this you must get scammed a lot.
It's rather sad but they are true-believers, best to just move on before they post another flamebait comment.
This is beyond reasonable dispute. Whether or not people get mad when you say it out loud is more of a reflection of them than of me.
It seems there are plenty of legitimate areas he is open for valid criticism.
I know this will be downvoted, but I’m not discouraged by that outcome because it would only reinforce the point that a good faith discussion based on facts and logical persuasion is not welcome in this discussion.
I'm sure he has hundreds of PhDs, etc working for his various companies.