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Comment by admissionsguy | Hacker News Reader

Mixed feelings. I suppose it's important to have competition/alternatives to SpaceX, but does it have to be done in such a sluggish manner by one the most unlikable people in the world?

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I hate to break it to you but Musk is just as unlikeable.

Why does it matter who does it though? It’s a great achievement and could lead to great things. I’d much rather people like Bezos were spending money on this than mansions, supercars, and other crap that doesn’t benefit anyone.

Bezos is so rich that he has plenty left to spend on mansions and supercars.

> I hate to break it to you but Musk is just as unlikeable.

Right? I don't get the guy's appeal. Yes, SpaceX and Tesla are doing neat things and I love that. But Musk is literally the last person I want to hear from, or about. Despite all the cool stuff Tesla is doing, he really makes me not want to buy anything from Tesla ever just because he's associated with it. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but I really can't stand the guy.

>> I hate to break it to you but Musk is just as unlikeable.

I had long suspected that he's on the spectrum, and earlier this year he came out and openly talked about his Asperger's diagnosis.

That's not to say that excuses his terrible treatment of other people, but it sure explains it.

Well, that makes some amount of sense. Certainly doesn't excuse it. Perhaps he needs to rethink how he communicates with people, maybe putting someone between himself and how he communicates with the public. "No, Elon, think about what this could possibly do if you said this" type of person.

Either way. He's super polarizing. Some people love him. Some people totally despise him. It's probably clear which side I'm on lol

I had long suspected that he's on the spectrum, and earlier this year he came out and openly talked about his Asperger's diagnosis.

I don't think that confirms he has Asperger's. He said it on SNL as a joke.

>He said it on SNL as a joke

Source?

I don't believe it was a joke? I watched the bit and it certainly didn't come across as one.

I can't find the exact timestamp but at the beginning of this podcast[0] Jason Calacanis talks about his experience joining Musk backstage at SNL, as well as how that Asperger's joke came to be. If I recall correctly, I think its confirmed, or at least strongly implied, Musk does have Asperger's

EDIT: they start talking about it at the 7:00 mark

[0] https://youtu.be/GE0iWGNXKXw?t=420

> I don't get the guy's appeal.

I suspect there's a level of vicariousness for some fans, some shade of "He's a nerd like me - it could have been me if I caught a lucky break. Hell, I can still be something like him if I found/get RSUs in a rocketship SaaS startup and have multiple recurring successes after that". Elon seems to have settled into that "friendly, relatable neighborhood billionaire who memes-and-does-crypto just like you" persona

> I don't get the guy's appeal.

You could be talking about some politicians and I'd feel similarly. I think it says much more about society that these are the folks we hold up on a pedestal than it says about the people themselves.

> such a sluggish manner

Can you elaborate? I'm not sure "sluggish" is an adverb I would use to describe space launches.

Blue Origin is funded by Bezos with much more resources/year than SpaceX, yet has achieved far less over a longer time since founding. "Sluggish" is the adverb I would use to describe its engineering progress.

I don't see this sort of joy-riding as a material competition to what SpaceX is doing.

It's not even clear to me that that is their objective.

These sub-orbital flights are not interesting - scientifically nor engineeringly.

Their objective is to make money through space tourism.

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