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. 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.
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".
https://xcancel.com/SethAbramson/status/1892710698683142638
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.
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.
I'm sure he has hundreds of PhDs, etc working for his various companies.