Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[Richard Hakluyt]

I think of him as a sort of tech impresario, great at drumming up interest and finance for interesting lines of technological development. I also think his great wealth has started to turn him mad, maybe I've read to many ancient Greek plays but I would say his future looks grim.

[mongers]

As Tesla sales in Europe and the UK slump, these fender sticker are selling in the US:

"As a small act of protest, Blackburn purchased a bumper sticker that reads, "I bought this before I knew he was crazy.""


 Protests against DOGE have taken place almost weekly, and Tesla showrooms have also been picketed, including locations in Georgetown, Arlington and Owings Mills, Maryland. At one of the demonstrations in Georgetown this month, protesters carried signs that read, "No one voted for the Muskrat" and "Musk Robbing America." A message scrawled in colorful chalk on the sidewalk surrounding the dealership read, "You want a swasticar?"

"

Quoted from a WP article about Tesla.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

I think of him as a sort of tech impresario, great at drumming up interest and finance for interesting lines of technological development. I also think his great wealth has started to turn him mad, maybe I've read to many ancient Greek plays but I would say his future looks grim.

The Greek plays are not without insight, after all.

[DGuller]

I guess my point is that Dguller's question doesn't matter in fine.

Bad thinking habits always matter.  You get used used to falling into groupthink on questions that may not matter, and you will carry over that habit on questions that do matter. 

Even on questions that do not matter, people outside of your echo chamber will see you spout nonsense that makes sense only to the in group, and they'll not be waiting with bated breath to hear what you will have to say on the important stuff that you're saving up all your critical thinking for.

[grumbler]

The genius behind SpaceX doesn't understand the curvature of the Earth?

Wait... what?  Great circle routes appear in the northern hemisphere to curve up, not down, when presented on a flat map.

I suspect that the non-linear flight path depicted is designed to take advantage of the Jet Stream. Winds are an important consideration in flight planning, though that's not obvious to the casual observer.

[grumbler]

Just to be clear my information was entirely based on what I learned about his time at Tesla. I know nothing about what he did at PayPal or SpaceX. My contention is that once he got beyond the road map laid out by the founder of the company, Tesla has failed in its designs. Even if he is not an engineer who does the detail work, those were his projects and initiatives.

Where can I read about this pre-Musk road map that laid out everything Tesla was going to do until sometime fairly recently?

I've never seen anything that would lead me to doubt that Musk made important decisions about the Roadster design, though obviously he wasn't doing CAD and materials work. How important those decisions were is unclear, but since he was in charge of designing and producing the car, they were probably not insignificant.

It's probably worth noting, given some of the side discussions here, that Marc Tarpenning, Tesla's co-founder and first VP for engineering, also had a BA degree, not a BS.

[garbon]

As Tesla sales in Europe and the UK slump, these fender sticker are selling in the US:

"As a small act of protest, Blackburn purchased a bumper sticker that reads, "I bought this before I knew he was crazy.""


 Protests against DOGE have taken place almost weekly, and Tesla showrooms have also been picketed, including locations in Georgetown, Arlington and Owings Mills, Maryland. At one of the demonstrations in Georgetown this month, protesters carried signs that read, "No one voted for the Muskrat" and "Musk Robbing America." A message scrawled in colorful chalk on the sidewalk surrounding the dealership read, "You want a swasticar?"

"

Quoted from a WP article about Tesla.

Yeah I saw that first one when I was in California for Christmas.

And Owings Mills is where I met up with one of our iconic forumites.

[Zoupa]

I guess my point is that Dguller's question doesn't matter in fine.

Bad thinking habits always matter.  You get used used to falling into groupthink on questions that may not matter, and you will carry over that habit on questions that do matter. 

Even on questions that do not matter, people outside of your echo chamber will see you spout nonsense that makes sense only to the in group, and they'll not be waiting with bated breath to hear what you will have to say on the important stuff that you're saving up all your critical thinking for.

Cool. I'm glad you're fighting the good fight against groupthink regarding Elon Musk's qualifications and his influence over his companies. I'm sure there's nothing more important going on in your country right now.

[Zoupa]

This is so Languish btw. You guys will be arguing about what type of rifle the soldier is holding as you're getting led to the execution spot.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

This is so Languish btw. You guys will be arguing about what type of rifle the soldier is holding as you're getting led to the execution spot.

It'll end up as a civil war discussion though.
Not sure which civil war by then

[mongers]

This is so Languish btw. You guys will be arguing about what type of rifle the soldier is holding as you're getting led to the execution spot.

 

[mongers]

As Tesla sales in Europe and the UK slump, these fender sticker are selling in the US:

"As a small act of protest, Blackburn purchased a bumper sticker that reads, "I bought this before I knew he was crazy.""


 Protests against DOGE have taken place almost weekly, and Tesla showrooms have also been picketed, including locations in Georgetown, Arlington and Owings Mills, Maryland. At one of the demonstrations in Georgetown this month, protesters carried signs that read, "No one voted for the Muskrat" and "Musk Robbing America." A message scrawled in colorful chalk on the sidewalk surrounding the dealership read, "You want a swasticar?"

"

Quoted from a WP article about Tesla.

Yeah I saw that first one when I was in California for Christmas.

And Owings Mills is where I met up with one of our iconic forumites.

 

I bet he wasn't driving a Tesla, unless of course it was retrofitted with a manual typewriter input for the screen based controls.

[mongers]

This may be relevant, a BBC radio series about him, updated for 2025 events:

X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

[Valmy]

What gives me pause is the fact that theories debunking Musk themselves make so little sense, just on their own, without one even having to start considering the story of Musk or his bootlickers.

What doesn't make sense about what I just laid forth? It seems to conform with the trajectory of Tesla as a company. It also seems to explain what we have seen since he became a public figure.

If something accounts for the observable data, how can it "make so little sense"? It might not be right, but "make so little sense"?

[Valmy]

Just to be clear my information was entirely based on what I learned about his time at Tesla. I know nothing about what he did at PayPal or SpaceX. My contention is that once he got beyond the road map laid out by the founder of the company, Tesla has failed in its designs. Even if he is not an engineer who does the detail work, those were his projects and initiatives.

Where can I read about this pre-Musk road map that laid out everything Tesla was going to do until sometime fairly recently?

I've never seen anything that would lead me to doubt that Musk made important decisions about the Roadster design, though obviously he wasn't doing CAD and materials work. How important those decisions were is unclear, but since he was in charge of designing and producing the car, they were probably not insignificant.

Ok. I will see what I can do.