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Comment by wincy | Hacker News Reader

I think there are plenty of people that like Elon Musk. They just know to keep their mouth shut in front of the people that act like he’s the Antichrist.

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There are plenty who like him. There are plenty who wave confederate flags. There are plenty who support the mass corruption of the current administration.

You’re technically correct yes.

“Technically correct" means a statement or action follows strict rules or exact facts precisely, even if it ignores the wider meaning or real-world intention.

I think op was also actually-correct. (For better or worse, that is the objective reality; Musk still has lot of fans)

I feel like im losing my mind a bit reading these responses, someone can at once be very hated and very loved, this is not a new thing, one does not invalidate the other.

Of course he has a lot of fans, he has a lot of hate too. That makes him a divisive figure by definition (I’d least hope we can agree on that).

I mean I guess we can disagree but it seems like common sense to me to want someone more neutral to be in charge of super mega important tech.

Maybe I’m the weird one nowadays as I tend to try and vote centrists for the same reason.

> ... someone can at once be very hated and very loved ...

And (like Musk) can even be both (or more) all at once to a given specific individual (loved for the good he's done, and hated for the bad) and even pitied at the same time (for how far he's fallen), and feared (for the damage he can still do).

People here seems so much down the path of interpreting everything with the individualistic narrative. What's the guess under this? That once the puppet placed on the top of the pyramid is wiped out, the pyramid will suddenly evaporate?

What about social structures and ideology that are deeply enshrined within collective unconsciousness?

This is not going to happen because vibing on extreme claims, selling FUD all days, and optimizing mass addiction^w engagement loops is not going to attract more "neutral" people (whatever that means).

This is silly pedantry. Musk can have many fans and be one of the most hated people at the same time. Please touch some grass.

Mao and Che have legions more fans than Elon Musk, while his contributions are net positive (even with all the deadline misses and terrible decisions on various things) and theirs are strongly negative.

Sadly it all changed around the time of “pedo guy”

Note that this is a minority position, most of the world does not live in the West and does not share your view on Mao and Che having a "strongly negative" contribution.

Those are not incompatible. He can still be one of the most hated people on the planet, even if lots of people like him. The same would apply to all of the most hated people in history.

No, they don't keep their mouth shut, they just don't have any relevant arguments. Many people are liked by plenty people and also not hated for doing Hitler salutes and the like. That's the part that matters, not that "somebody likes them", which is true for everyone. Charles Manson had women lining up to marry him, so?

And still others who think he has an difficult personality and set of beliefs, but who greatly respect his achievements.

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