3 ms·

I'm just constantly surprised and exhausted at the kind of pessimism and cynicism on display in any Tesla thread. Even people who have no stake in the company o

I'm just constantly surprised and exhausted at the kind of pessimism and cynicism on display in any Tesla thread. Even people who have no stake in the company or its competitors feel compelled to chime in just to say "it won't work!" I don't get it. For better or for worse, Tesla has made the idea of electric cars feasible to the mainstream. Surely, that can't be a bad thing. Why knock down the idea so aggressively?

koonsolo 9y ago
I'm starting my own business myself, and I notice there are fundamentally 2 kinds of people. One are the risk takers. Who know risks are involved, but do it anyway, sometimes against all odds, because the payoff (in any form) is big or huge. The risk is worth it for them. Then you have the conservatives, who just don't want to fail. They take no risk, don't step out of their comfort zone, because they might fall down, they might fail. They want to be like all other people, average and safe. I'm not saying either of them is good or bad. They just have a different take on life. I think conservatives are happier. Problem is that when a conservative sees a risk taker in action, they don't understand it. They see all the possible ways on how this thing can fail. They ask why these risk takers don't see how this can fail. Point is that the risk takers do know how things can fail, but do it anyway (ok, sometimes you do have stupid people who don't know). If it fails, they can proudly say "See I knew it! How stupid was that". Conservatives like to remain in their safe zone, where they know how things go. The risk takers always want to change things. If anyone has another take on this, I would be glad to hear it.
- ryanwaggoner 9y ago
  I tend to agree, although I think this is probably a spectrum, rather than binary. Or maybe a bimodal distribution? I think that people probably tend one way or another, but we all probably display both reactions in different areas of life, at different times, etc. I also think the terms you used probably aren’t ideal, because they imply a political connection that might make people resistant to your premise. It reminds me of the maker vs taker thing. I like to think of it as reasonable vs unreasonable, as in the George Bernard Shaw quote: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
- killaken2000 9y ago
  I totally agree. The naysayers aren't convinced that my designs for an interstellar pogo stick are viable. They just don't get my vision. Sure, there are some specifics to iron out and maybe it won't work but at least I'm trying to change things. Best of luck to you.

koonsolo 9y ago

I'm starting my own business myself, and I notice there are fundamentally 2 kinds of people. One are the risk takers. Who know risks are involved, but do it anyway, sometimes against all odds, because the payoff (in any form) is big or huge. The risk is worth it for them. Then you have the conservatives, who just don't want to fail. They take no risk, don't step out of their comfort zone, because they might fall down, they might fail. They want to be like all other people, average and safe. I'm not saying either of them is good or bad. They just have a different take on life. I think conservatives are happier. Problem is that when a conservative sees a risk taker in action, they don't understand it. They see all the possible ways on how this thing can fail. They ask why these risk takers don't see how this can fail. Point is that the risk takers do know how things can fail, but do it anyway (ok, sometimes you do have stupid people who don't know). If it fails, they can proudly say "See I knew it! How stupid was that". Conservatives like to remain in their safe zone, where they know how things go. The risk takers always want to change things. If anyone has another take on this, I would be glad to hear it.

ryanwaggoner 9y ago
I tend to agree, although I think this is probably a spectrum, rather than binary. Or maybe a bimodal distribution? I think that people probably tend one way or another, but we all probably display both reactions in different areas of life, at different times, etc. I also think the terms you used probably aren’t ideal, because they imply a political connection that might make people resistant to your premise. It reminds me of the maker vs taker thing. I like to think of it as reasonable vs unreasonable, as in the George Bernard Shaw quote: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
killaken2000 9y ago
I totally agree. The naysayers aren't convinced that my designs for an interstellar pogo stick are viable. They just don't get my vision. Sure, there are some specifics to iron out and maybe it won't work but at least I'm trying to change things. Best of luck to you.