4 ms·

"and they will inevitably have extreme personality traits" – I find that a pretty bold claim and don't believe it to be true. And I'd much rather settle Mars a

"and they will inevitably have extreme personality traits" – I find that a pretty bold claim and don't believe it to be true. And I'd much rather settle Mars a few hundred years later if that in turn means that Mars will be settled by not-so-big-assholes than if it happened sooner.

davej 8y ago
> And I'd much rather settle Mars a few hundred years later if that in turn means that Mars will be settled by not-so-big-assholes than if it happened sooner. I haven't seen a lot of evidence to suggest that Musk is an asshole. He deeply cares about what he is doing but he also seems to care about people. He is sometimes impulsive and perhaps volatile when he's running low on sleep. I have never heard of him subjecting others to something he would not subject onto himself. Even if he is a complete asshole. If he advanced the advent of electric cars and space travel by a hundred years then I'd take it.
- practice9 8y ago
  > He deeply cares about what he is doing but he also seems to care about people. He is sometimes impulsive and perhaps volatile when he's running low on sleep. I think he is just annoyed by bullshit, human stupidity & bureaucracy. I mean who wouldn't... People are too sensitive & overreacting over nothing.
tomhoward 8y ago
It doesn't have to be an argument of belief; real-world examples will suffice. Every person I can think of who was a profoundly influential inventor, scientist or company leader has had some notable personality idiosyncrasies. Think: Nikola Tesla, Edison, Einstein, Newton, Howard Hughes. I'm happy to hear of counter-examples.
- thesz 8y ago
  Here's one: http://www.korolev-s-p.ru/sp11.htm http://www.korolev-s-p.ru/sp11.htm (in Russian) Sergey Korolyov, the "father of cosmonautics", when asked about his biography, directly instructed the writer to write about hundreds and thousands of scientists, engineers and workers that made conquering the space possible. After WWII, no less, to boot. From what I get, he was very humble and humane. And he was influential inventor, scientist and company leader, all at once. Richard Feynmann is one other example. But I believe you will find something in him you would consider idiosyncrasy.
  - varjag 8y ago
    Korolyov was also quite an asshole when he had to be. He worked his engineers hard, he did not mince for words of criticism. The facilities under his supervision widely used prison labor. Feynman now has a rep of womaniser and mysoginist. Hell, people tell about personal flaws of Gandhi and MLK. It's part of the package.
wild_preference 8y ago
Your comment is a good example of a trend that terrifies me. People being so emotionally invested in personalities that they’d rather halt technology progress for hundreds of years than endure some tweets.

davej 8y ago

> And I'd much rather settle Mars a few hundred years later if that in turn means that Mars will be settled by not-so-big-assholes than if it happened sooner. I haven't seen a lot of evidence to suggest that Musk is an asshole. He deeply cares about what he is doing but he also seems to care about people. He is sometimes impulsive and perhaps volatile when he's running low on sleep. I have never heard of him subjecting others to something he would not subject onto himself. Even if he is a complete asshole. If he advanced the advent of electric cars and space travel by a hundred years then I'd take it.

practice9 8y ago
> He deeply cares about what he is doing but he also seems to care about people. He is sometimes impulsive and perhaps volatile when he's running low on sleep. I think he is just annoyed by bullshit, human stupidity & bureaucracy. I mean who wouldn't... People are too sensitive & overreacting over nothing.

tomhoward 8y ago

It doesn't have to be an argument of belief; real-world examples will suffice. Every person I can think of who was a profoundly influential inventor, scientist or company leader has had some notable personality idiosyncrasies. Think: Nikola Tesla, Edison, Einstein, Newton, Howard Hughes. I'm happy to hear of counter-examples.

thesz 8y ago
Here's one: http://www.korolev-s-p.ru/sp11.htm http://www.korolev-s-p.ru/sp11.htm (in Russian) Sergey Korolyov, the "father of cosmonautics", when asked about his biography, directly instructed the writer to write about hundreds and thousands of scientists, engineers and workers that made conquering the space possible. After WWII, no less, to boot. From what I get, he was very humble and humane. And he was influential inventor, scientist and company leader, all at once. Richard Feynmann is one other example. But I believe you will find something in him you would consider idiosyncrasy.
- varjag 8y ago
  Korolyov was also quite an asshole when he had to be. He worked his engineers hard, he did not mince for words of criticism. The facilities under his supervision widely used prison labor. Feynman now has a rep of womaniser and mysoginist. Hell, people tell about personal flaws of Gandhi and MLK. It's part of the package.

wild_preference 8y ago

Your comment is a good example of a trend that terrifies me. People being so emotionally invested in personalities that they’d rather halt technology progress for hundreds of years than endure some tweets.