4 ms·

I find that while Musk appears to be more than competent on a number of things, his opinions and stances on many subjects are, to me, downright dumb.

by Funes- 7y ago

threeseed 7y ago
Not dumb. Selfish. So much of what he does can be seen as driven by pure self interest despite his altruistic, saver of humanity persona. He is personally set to receive tens of billions in compensation if Tesla hits its targets. Which no matter who the person is has a significant influencing effect.
- dandelany 7y ago
  This. I used to be a big fan, but this fact has become transparently obvious in the past few years and makes it really hard to like the guy. Now I'm just waiting for his big announcement that he's putting together a crack team to develop a COVID-19 cure/vaccine, at which he'll throw a few million dollars and achieve nothing other than to stoke his ego and reputation. I hope I'm wrong.
  - odshoifsdhfs 7y ago
    And then call someone a pedo when experts they point out his ideas won't work.
sershe 7y ago
If I'm playing chess with a guy who is known for making good decisions in (i.e. winning) many chess games, and he makes a move that looks dumb, the prudent conclusion is not that the move is dumb, is that I'm dumb and I need to figure out what the motivation was.
- exclusiv 7y ago
  This is way more nuanced than chess though. You can be smart for shareholders and still be dumb. The further he goes into the robotic visionary the more unlikable he, and Tesla, becomes. That can wreck a company that is so reliant upon a loyal following that bought the cool factor and brand. It can easily vaporize. And we have a major event that is not good for Tesla's demographics. A lot of people had no business buying Tesla's during more confident times. Competition has increased. Cool factor dwindling with so many on the road. These pressures will test them without the right leadership. Cheap money will certainly help though.
- Funes- 7y ago
  Very flawed analogy. You're talking about qualitatively-different decisions in the same "game". I wasn't, since I was critizising him based on his decisions regarding public health (handling covid-19, to be precise); I explicitly acknowledged his seemingly outstanding competence with regards to other matters (what you would refer to as "chess" in your analogy). If he made a decision that appears to be wrong or stupid regarding Tesla cars or SpaceX, I'd be more cautious to call him out. But my comment wasn't even close to be about that. I hope you can understand what I'm saying here.
  - sershe 7y ago
    I don't think it is, though. You can subdivide life infinitely and claim different domains and how one can be smart in soda business but dumb in candy business, but I don't think that's justified. He made a decision about how a factory should operate given the environment; I think, as his many other decisions about business before, this one is solid.
    - Funes- 7y ago
      Alright, Elon.

I find that while Musk appears to be more than competent on a number of things, his opinions and stances on many subjects are, to me, downright dumb.

by Funes- 7y ago

I find that while Musk appears to be more than competent on a number of things, his opinions and stances on many subjects are, to me, downright dumb.

threeseed 7y ago

Not dumb. Selfish. So much of what he does can be seen as driven by pure self interest despite his altruistic, saver of humanity persona. He is personally set to receive tens of billions in compensation if Tesla hits its targets. Which no matter who the person is has a significant influencing effect.

dandelany 7y ago
This. I used to be a big fan, but this fact has become transparently obvious in the past few years and makes it really hard to like the guy. Now I'm just waiting for his big announcement that he's putting together a crack team to develop a COVID-19 cure/vaccine, at which he'll throw a few million dollars and achieve nothing other than to stoke his ego and reputation. I hope I'm wrong.
- odshoifsdhfs 7y ago
  And then call someone a pedo when experts they point out his ideas won't work.

sershe 7y ago

If I'm playing chess with a guy who is known for making good decisions in (i.e. winning) many chess games, and he makes a move that looks dumb, the prudent conclusion is not that the move is dumb, is that I'm dumb and I need to figure out what the motivation was.

exclusiv 7y ago
This is way more nuanced than chess though. You can be smart for shareholders and still be dumb. The further he goes into the robotic visionary the more unlikable he, and Tesla, becomes. That can wreck a company that is so reliant upon a loyal following that bought the cool factor and brand. It can easily vaporize. And we have a major event that is not good for Tesla's demographics. A lot of people had no business buying Tesla's during more confident times. Competition has increased. Cool factor dwindling with so many on the road. These pressures will test them without the right leadership. Cheap money will certainly help though.
Funes- 7y ago
Very flawed analogy. You're talking about qualitatively-different decisions in the same "game". I wasn't, since I was critizising him based on his decisions regarding public health (handling covid-19, to be precise); I explicitly acknowledged his seemingly outstanding competence with regards to other matters (what you would refer to as "chess" in your analogy). If he made a decision that appears to be wrong or stupid regarding Tesla cars or SpaceX, I'd be more cautious to call him out. But my comment wasn't even close to be about that. I hope you can understand what I'm saying here.
- sershe 7y ago
  I don't think it is, though. You can subdivide life infinitely and claim different domains and how one can be smart in soda business but dumb in candy business, but I don't think that's justified. He made a decision about how a factory should operate given the environment; I think, as his many other decisions about business before, this one is solid.
  - Funes- 7y ago
    Alright, Elon.