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Comment by krapp | Hacker News Reader

>Why try to cross an ocean when everything we could want is across the river?

That "river" is still vast and nothing we want is on the other side.

>1. The idea that Terran life is toxic and must not be allowed on other planets in the solar system.

It's less the idea that Terran life is toxic and more that we're still hoping to find some forms of primitive life elsewhere in the solar system, and don't want those efforts thwarted by cross-contamination. You decided the rest of the solar system is dead, not the scientific community.

>2. The one person who is advancing our space faring abilities by leaps and bounds is routinely vilified and excoriated on HackerNews.

If you really can't comprehend the reason why Elon Musk is villified by people then there's no point in trying to explain it to you.

Suffice to say that owning a rocket company doesn't absolve a person of their sins to everyone, even on Hacker News.

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> nothing we want is on the other side

Wow.

> You decided the rest of the solar system is dead, not the scientific community.

The odds are heavily stacked against other life existing, and get worse with every probe. Of course, nobody can prove there is no other life. And it's not very credible that Terran life will out-compete locally evolved life.

And the idea that preserving some slime mold on Pluto justifies us constraining ourselves to Earth is just sad.

> If you really can't comprehend the reason why Elon Musk is villified by people then there's no point in trying to explain it to you.

I once asked another Musk-hater on HN why? All he could come up with is Musk called a diver a pedo-boy. I pointed out that Musk only did that because the diver went on national TV and told Musk to shove his submarine up his backside.

If you've got a better reason, I'd love to hear it!

Notwithstanding the other myriad of reasons to not like Elon Musk (of which there are many)…

You’re equivocating a childish insult with insisting that a person is a pedophile and hiring a private investigator to prove so and then writing scathing emails to reporters because they refuse to repeat claims uncritically. This is an appalling failing of morality on your part.

I’m frankly not inclined to dive into why I, previously a big fan of Elon Musk, find him personally repugnant because I expect you to apply the same standards to everything he does. That doesn’t take away from SpaceX, but we shouldn’t overlook his failings just because rockets are cool.

> hiring a private investigator

Only after being sued. When you sue someone, they're going to try to defend themselves.

Both of them should have just shrugged it off.

> then writing scathing emails

doesn't make someone evil. The whole incident was childish from both sides, but nobody was actually hurt.

He hired the private investigator before he was sued.

You left out the part where he claimed a person was a pedophile and when asked if it was just an insult basically said “no I really think he’s a pedophile”, and started stating made up bullshit about child brides as fact. He only backtracked when he was sued. That is NOT the same as just throwing insults.

More nuance:

"Mr. Musk made these statements based on reports he received from a private investigator he hired to investigate Mr. Unsworth in preparation for the litigation that Mr. Unsworth had already threatened. Unbeknownst to Mr. Musk, the investigator’s reports were fabricated, and the investigator himself turned out to be a convicted felon who had gone to prison for fraud."

"Mr. Musk’s tweet was the culmination of an argument between two people that was punctuated by insults—not a factual accusation of the crime of pedophilia. The firm also demonstrated that Mr. Unsworth had not suffered any injury."

There's more: https://www.quinnemanuel.com/the-firm/our-notable-victories/...

Childish behavior - sure (on both sides). Anybody hurt - no.

This level of defense seems highly inappropriate when you consider that the the unimpressive billionaire doesn't stoop down to this level, has a functional moon lander, ISRU technology that can manufacture solar panels on the moon and a long term plan for getting rid of SLS while the more impressive billionaire is struggling to get to orbit.

Ironically, thanks to the recent releases of the Epstein files,now we know that Musk is a pedo–boy.

Musk said in 2019 that Epstein was “obviously a creep” and claimed that Epstein “tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined.”

Hmm..

> “Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for,”

Hmm..

> “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?”

Hmm..

> “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”

Hmm..

> The emails between the two moguls come years after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida.

Yup, sounds like a "better reason" to me.

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