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Comment by scotty79 | Hacker News Reader

I believe that if more billionaires shed more light on their thoughts the way Elon does people would conclude that vast majority of them are not geniuses just ruthless idiots that got lucky.

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That's in part true, but also Elon is still quite "special", given not just how he speaks, but how he acts (i.e. the entire Twitter transaction to begin with).

Plus I prefer a quiet, well-mannered idiot, because it restricts the damage.

Back when I believed Elon Musk, I even got inspired in my own work by his words, and this is now lost. I'm no better for it, the world is no better for it. We need some beautiful lies to aspire to. As they say "don't meet your idols". And we meet Elon every day, on Twitter.

One good thing that has come out is the acceleration in acceptance of electric cars, battery tech, and charging network. I also don't think NASA would have outsourced anything without the developments of Space X.

Re NASA that’s factually incorrect. It didn’t occur NASA to fund SpaceX while they were in the middle of it. They had a contract open before that. Electric cars - sure. But we had hybrids and small electrics before this. And I find it questionable if large electrics make sense at all in terms of cost, eco impact and longevity. The propaganda doesn’t match reality. He sure is good at propaganda and empty promises though.

I think most of them have much higher EQ that probably makes them more normal even if it also makes them better at hiding their faults. Trump and Elon are a little different somehow, they really really want continuous affirmation from their biggest fans all the time and will do whatever it takes to get it.

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