4 ms·

It strikes me that many very successful people are incredibly smart and driven but seem to have the emotional maturity, or personal introspection, of a 10 year

It strikes me that many very successful people are incredibly smart and driven but seem to have the emotional maturity, or personal introspection, of a 10 year old. Maybe it's just a necessary combination for this kind of success, but it's also a bit paradoxical. Case in point: buying 5 mansions in Bel Air when you spend all your time at work, literally sleeping under your desk. Another is insisting on burning the candle at both ends by sleeping 4 hours a night, when it has been proven beyond doubt that it's extremely counter-productive to do so, both in terms of mental ability and overall health.

kace91 8y ago
Emotional development and personal growth don't happen automatically with age. Time and effort must be devoted to it - although for most people that is not an issue because the things that allow you to grow are mostly things that we instinctively seek, like interpersonal relationships. It's a well known fact that people who suffer from severe addictions (drugs, etc) get stuck in the emotional stage of development they were at when the issue started. It wouldn't be crazy to assume that the same effect (to a less extreme degree) will occur for people who devote all their time and effort to very specific facets of their lives. There's also the fact that the usual social feedback and consequences that regular folk are subjected to don't necessarily apply to successful people: They might not ever be challenged by their circle of yes men, they don't depend on other people to survive so critics can be safely ignored, etc.
RivieraKid 8y ago
This is also true for many unsuccessful people.
mhermher 8y ago
He doesn't actually spend all his time at the factory. He's mostly in LA. There are people on Twitter who track the flights of his private jet. He's mostly in LA, he'll go to the bay area maybe for a day a week. More rarely to Reno. If he's spending all his time working, it's at SpaceX of anything. But more likely he spends his time at home searching his own name on Twitter. The insane work hours stories are just part of the mythology.
- eduah 8y ago
  I find it interesting you can read this negative article about him and choose to believe the bad things, but dismiss the parts you think some might consider a positive
  - karlmcguire 8y ago
    Probably shorting TSLA...
- leesec 8y ago
  Lol this is crazy. It's verifiable he was sleeping at the Tesla factory for nights on end.
- spectrum1234 8y ago
  Tesla design studio is in LA. Also, remote meetings are a thing.

kace91 8y ago

Emotional development and personal growth don't happen automatically with age. Time and effort must be devoted to it - although for most people that is not an issue because the things that allow you to grow are mostly things that we instinctively seek, like interpersonal relationships. It's a well known fact that people who suffer from severe addictions (drugs, etc) get stuck in the emotional stage of development they were at when the issue started. It wouldn't be crazy to assume that the same effect (to a less extreme degree) will occur for people who devote all their time and effort to very specific facets of their lives. There's also the fact that the usual social feedback and consequences that regular folk are subjected to don't necessarily apply to successful people: They might not ever be challenged by their circle of yes men, they don't depend on other people to survive so critics can be safely ignored, etc.

RivieraKid 8y ago

This is also true for many unsuccessful people.

mhermher 8y ago

He doesn't actually spend all his time at the factory. He's mostly in LA. There are people on Twitter who track the flights of his private jet. He's mostly in LA, he'll go to the bay area maybe for a day a week. More rarely to Reno. If he's spending all his time working, it's at SpaceX of anything. But more likely he spends his time at home searching his own name on Twitter. The insane work hours stories are just part of the mythology.

eduah 8y ago
I find it interesting you can read this negative article about him and choose to believe the bad things, but dismiss the parts you think some might consider a positive
- karlmcguire 8y ago
  Probably shorting TSLA...
leesec 8y ago
Lol this is crazy. It's verifiable he was sleeping at the Tesla factory for nights on end.
spectrum1234 8y ago
Tesla design studio is in LA. Also, remote meetings are a thing.