Elon Musk Biographer: No Evidence Billionaire Has Any Intellectual Achievements
thewrap.com
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Seth Abramson the "Musk biographer" who as far as I can tell has not written an actual biography seems pretty bitter.
(edit: He has some sort of biography but it's not on Amazon etc - you get it free if you subscribe to his substack)
In fact in that video from minute 1-7 you can pretty much see how he beats the likes of Boeing and gets stuff out faster and cheaper than NASA. It's hard to say - ah that's a good idea, that's how he beats the other rocket scientist guys and then argue he's stupid. At least when it comes to rockets. Politics I'm less convinced.
Musk has nothing to do with anything at SpaceX. He has absolutely no skills or education in designing or operating rockets. SpaceX is so successful because of how little involvement Musk has with it.
I can read up on an algorithm and explain it to people, it doesn't mean it's my own intellectual accomplishment to repeat it.
And then there's SpaceX, which is like 70% cheaper than the alternatives, wildly profitable, launched a constellation of thousands of satellites, etc., etc.
Musk likes rockets. He has technical chops. If good technical leadership is so cheap, why is SpaceX so far ahead?
I understand that the man is kind of nuts these days but we underestimate him at our own risk.
"He has technical chops"
Not in rockets he doesn't. Or programming.
" If good technical leadership is so cheap, why is SpaceX so far ahead?"
Because of Gwynne Shotwell
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.
> 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.
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.
He lies all the time. If you honestly believe this you must get scammed a lot.
It's rather sad but they are true-believers, best to just move on before they post another flamebait comment.
It seems there are plenty of legitimate areas he is open for valid criticism.
I know this will be downvoted, but I’m not discouraged by that outcome because it would only reinforce the point that a good faith discussion based on facts and logical persuasion is not welcome in this discussion.
This is beyond reasonable dispute. Whether or not people get mad when you say it out loud is more of a reflection of them than of me.
I'm sure he has hundreds of PhDs, etc working for his various companies.