47 votes

The trouble with Elon Musk

11 comments

  1. Protected
    Link
    So if a multibillionaire chooses to cut ties with you in order to get out of paying to charity a million dollar bet that he himself insisted on making... I'm sorry to say that I think it's the latter.

    If Elon is still the man I knew, I can only conclude that I never really knew him.

    So if a multibillionaire chooses to cut ties with you in order to get out of paying to charity a million dollar bet that he himself insisted on making... I'm sorry to say that I think it's the latter.

    38 votes
  2. heraplem
    Link
    This should make anyone pause whenever someone in similar intellectual circles (some amalgam of Silicon Valley, tech billionaires, the "intellectual dark web", Nate Silver's "river") makes a...

    Elon bet me $1 million dollars (to be given to charity) against a bottle of fancy tequila ($1000) that we wouldn’t see as many as 35,000 cases of Covid in the United States (cases, not deaths).

    This should make anyone pause whenever someone in similar intellectual circles (some amalgam of Silicon Valley, tech billionaires, the "intellectual dark web", Nate Silver's "river") makes a claim.

    They're not as a rule stupid, and they're not always wrong, but they do have an "anti-consensus" bias. That is, on average, whenever the "mainstream" thinks that something is probably true, they're going to overestimate the likelihood of that same thing being false.

    In this case, though, it's such an obviously failed prediction, and backed up by such bad reasoning (e.g., "Covid was not even among the top 100 causes of death in the United States" in March), that you have to wonder exactly what was going on in his head.

    34 votes
  3. [3]
    vord
    Link
    Based on what we've seen when he has the most influence on an engineering design, my guess is that his bachelor's in economics and physics was bought and paid for.

    I would have thought I was debating someone who lacked any understanding of basic scientific and mathematical concepts, like exponential curves

    Based on what we've seen when he has the most influence on an engineering design, my guess is that his bachelor's in economics and physics was bought and paid for.

    26 votes
    1. [2]
      Promonk
      Link Parent
      Loath though I am to speak a positive word of that feminine hygiene appliance of a man, he does possess a certain tenacity and drive, and those are all that're really needed to earn oneself an...

      Loath though I am to speak a positive word of that feminine hygiene appliance of a man, he does possess a certain tenacity and drive, and those are all that're really needed to earn oneself an undergraduate degree.

      5 votes
      1. HeroesJourneyMadness
        Link Parent
        I fully agree, but it sure looks like he made some claims in his first few years that were fraudulent... got caught, then bought a degree from Wharton to try and cover it. Stanford and Harvard...

        I fully agree, but it sure looks like he made some claims in his first few years that were fraudulent... got caught, then bought a degree from Wharton to try and cover it. Stanford and Harvard were having none of it, and litigants were not letting it go.

        https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/

        15 votes
  4. [3]
    llehsadam
    Link
    I think Musk changed. Even if the change is just a new comfort with showing the shitty side he always had, that’s the change. People are cheering him on to do more shit and instead of...

    I think Musk changed. Even if the change is just a new comfort with showing the shitty side he always had, that’s the change. People are cheering him on to do more shit and instead of concentrating on the things he is good at, he buys Twitter, starts being a meme-troll and cheats at playing competitive MMOs. No self-control. He’s in free-fall.

    But at the same time, from a legal standpoint, Trump might be there to catch his fall with a pardon. It’s all so batshit crazy.

    Oh well, at least he sped up the transition to electric cars and made a bad-ass rocket company. And maybe the whole thing will make a good historical movie when I’m retiring in 50 years.

    16 votes
    1. [2]
      DynamoSunshirt
      Link Parent
      I have seen quite a few people dramatically transform into monsters as they grow increasingly addicted to big social media (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, mostly). I can only guess that it's a...

      I have seen quite a few people dramatically transform into monsters as they grow increasingly addicted to big social media (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, mostly). I can only guess that it's a result of algorithmic bubbles, having never gone through the same experience.

      18 votes
      1. HeroesJourneyMadness
        Link Parent
        There was some scuttlebutt about his use of Ketamine a while back. Some folks making claims that his behavior was characteristic of long-term abuse and that he was a known frequent user. All of...

        There was some scuttlebutt about his use of Ketamine a while back. Some folks making claims that his behavior was characteristic of long-term abuse and that he was a known frequent user. All of that's like 3rd-4th-5th hand rumor obviously, but it was definitely written about as some kind of open secret. I hesitate to even write this, but we are talking about someone who deals in misinformation on the reg, so I think turnabout is fair play in this instance.

        15 votes
  5. [2]
    thearrow
    Link
    Great article. Having heard Sam talk vaguely about the breakdown of his relationship with Musk on his podcast, I always wondered what the straw was that broke the camel’s back. If you found this...

    Great article. Having heard Sam talk vaguely about the breakdown of his relationship with Musk on his podcast, I always wondered what the straw was that broke the camel’s back.

    If you found this article interesting, I highly recommend Sam’s other writing and his podcast as well. He’s not without his faults, but he is one of the more measured thinkers in these crazy times.

    8 votes
    1. elcuello
      Link Parent
      I second the recommendation. He's interesting and provocative in the sense that he challenges the black/white thinking that prevails all over the place right now and I appreciate that. He has a...

      I second the recommendation. He's interesting and provocative in the sense that he challenges the black/white thinking that prevails all over the place right now and I appreciate that. He has a way of making you listen even though you might not agree with his stance and that feels rare these days.

      2 votes
  6. boxer_dogs_dance
    Link
    Thanks for this interesting article.

    Thanks for this interesting article.

    16 votes