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Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

(www.ycombinator.com)
1106 points sama | 9 comments | 15 Sep 16 18:05 UTC | HN request time: 0.512s | source | bottom
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djcooley ◴[15 Sep 16 21:09 UTC] No.12509856[source]▶
I have all the respect in the world for what Mr. Musk has accomplished, but it has come at an amazing cost to the people around him.

He is worshiped from afar but reviled by many the closer you get to his inner circle. Go read "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future."

The question I always ask myself with the people who move mountains is what cost did that progress come at? What would someone's spouse, kids, friends, etc. say about the person?

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1. _RPM ◴[15 Sep 16 21:18 UTC] No.12509898[source]▶
People that worship another person generally aren't well informed. For example, people look at Elon Musk like he's a pop culture icon -- I see people talking about him on my news feed all the time, yet these people aren't even technical. It's just a way for someone to identify to some type of group. Oh look what Elon's doing, he's so great. My reaction is, why are you sharing press articles about this person? Does it make you feel better about yourself?
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2. justinpombrio ◴[15 Sep 16 21:32 UTC] No.12509988[source]▶
Would you prefer that our celebrities were less accomplished, or just that we didn't have celebrities at all?
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3. _RPM ◴[15 Sep 16 21:39 UTC] No.12510043[source]▶
I have no preference, and frankly, I'm in no position to know what's best for anyone else besides myself.
4. ceejayoz ◴[15 Sep 16 21:43 UTC] No.12510073[source]▶
Does it make you feel better about yourself to shit on someone who's excited about electric cars and space travel even if they're not particularly technical?
5. MPSimmons ◴[15 Sep 16 23:46 UTC] No.12510809[source]▶
Are you accusing Elon Musk of being the thinking man's Kim Kardashian?
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6. jimbokun ◴[15 Sep 16 23:56 UTC] No.12510879[source]▶
People talk about Elon because he has interesting ideas, does interesting things, and inspires a lot of other people. If many young people (or even old people), watch this interview, it seriously has the potential to make the world a slightly better place, if at least some of them try to put his ideas into practice.
7. luckydata ◴[16 Sep 16 00:02 UTC] No.12510918[source]▶
People share in an effort to communicate to the world something about themselves. The feel better part will come from their friends and family knowing about what makes them tick and strangers the might be able to recognize a kindred spirit and in turn extend their network of people they enjoy hanging out with.

let me know if you need me to break down other basic human instincts for you :-)

8. guftagu ◴[16 Sep 16 04:32 UTC] No.12511841[source]▶
Comment gold! I'm going to steal that one
9. AstralStorm ◴[16 Sep 16 07:14 UTC] No.12512408[source]▶
There were a few like him before, but none as successful or as rich. Previously, we had: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, that president of GM. And more.

Compared to them, Musk is taking a much harder, potentially more important cause.