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> Right. All that guy cares about is money, so he can sleaze off at his yacht, surround himself with supermodels and be photographed with world leaders. Elon d

by ctvo 4y ago

> Right. All that guy cares about is money, so he can sleaze off at his yacht, surround himself with supermodels and be photographed with world leaders. Elon dated Amber Heard. It was revealed in a trial that he donated 1 million USD on her behalf to charities of her choice, we presume to impress her during their courtship. > It’s not like Elon needs more money to afford a bigger house or something. The the things he wants are things that, as of now, no amount of money can buy. He wanted Twitter, which had a very specific price tag (44 billion USD), and his wealth allowed him to purchase it. There are plenty of examples where additional wealth has benefited Elon.

leobg 4y ago
Sure. But it's not like he wants it for personal consumption. You gotta ask what is "reason why" is. What is he after? And I'd say it's something like a better nervous system for the human species as such. I'd say it's a world in which ideas can compete with one another based on merit. And that, again, is something money cannot buy today. Just like an electric car with 500 horsepower and 400 miles of range wasn't something you could buy back in 2008.
- ctvo 4y ago
  (I edited my post before your reply -- apologies, thought I was quick enough to make another point) > Sure. But it's not like he wants it for personal consumption. You gotta ask what is "reason why" is. What is he after? And I'd say it's something like a better nervous system for the human species as such. My reading is he wanted Twitter because it's an influential, chronically under performing platform that he enjoys using. It'll give him incredible power to shape narratives and impact how many get information. Respectfully: Elon is not a saint, and taking him at face value has never been worthwhile.
  - leobg 4y ago
    Yeah, I saw the Amber Heard thing. Though I read it was 500k. But this is a single instance. He's not throwing money around to get his way. Saw that elonjet guy on Twitter? Elon asked him to take down the bot. The guy wanted 50k. Elon didn't do it. If he wanted to throw his weight around and get his way, he could have. And with the Amber Heard thing, we really don't know anything, do we? Not in the trial. And certainly not why Elon did step in with his money. It's easy to speculate that he wanted to buy her affection. And perhaps it's true. He sometimes does foolish things, and he might be especially vulnerable to foolishness when it comes to relationships. But then again, we know nothing. I don't see Elon as a saint, at all. I just think many people are quite bad at interpreting Elon's actions - and, because of that, terrible at predicting what he will or won't do. For instance, I think Elon is not interested at all about "shaping narratives". I would argue that that's a foreign concept to him. He believes, I think, that in order to change the public's opinion on something, you have to provide "precedents and superlatives". And that's what he's doing: Tesla, SpaceX, Boring, Neuralink... I really think he does believe in free speech. He sees that principle at work in his companies. He has done so many things that, when interpreted based on the assumption that he's motivated by increasing his wealth just for the sake of it, appear terribly foolish, and even reckless. Yet they immediately start making a lot of sense once you refine your mental model of what is really driving him.

by ctvo 4y ago

leobg 4y ago

Sure. But it's not like he wants it for personal consumption. You gotta ask what is "reason why" is. What is he after? And I'd say it's something like a better nervous system for the human species as such. I'd say it's a world in which ideas can compete with one another based on merit. And that, again, is something money cannot buy today. Just like an electric car with 500 horsepower and 400 miles of range wasn't something you could buy back in 2008.

ctvo 4y ago
(I edited my post before your reply -- apologies, thought I was quick enough to make another point) > Sure. But it's not like he wants it for personal consumption. You gotta ask what is "reason why" is. What is he after? And I'd say it's something like a better nervous system for the human species as such. My reading is he wanted Twitter because it's an influential, chronically under performing platform that he enjoys using. It'll give him incredible power to shape narratives and impact how many get information. Respectfully: Elon is not a saint, and taking him at face value has never been worthwhile.
- leobg 4y ago
  Yeah, I saw the Amber Heard thing. Though I read it was 500k. But this is a single instance. He's not throwing money around to get his way. Saw that elonjet guy on Twitter? Elon asked him to take down the bot. The guy wanted 50k. Elon didn't do it. If he wanted to throw his weight around and get his way, he could have. And with the Amber Heard thing, we really don't know anything, do we? Not in the trial. And certainly not why Elon did step in with his money. It's easy to speculate that he wanted to buy her affection. And perhaps it's true. He sometimes does foolish things, and he might be especially vulnerable to foolishness when it comes to relationships. But then again, we know nothing. I don't see Elon as a saint, at all. I just think many people are quite bad at interpreting Elon's actions - and, because of that, terrible at predicting what he will or won't do. For instance, I think Elon is not interested at all about "shaping narratives". I would argue that that's a foreign concept to him. He believes, I think, that in order to change the public's opinion on something, you have to provide "precedents and superlatives". And that's what he's doing: Tesla, SpaceX, Boring, Neuralink... I really think he does believe in free speech. He sees that principle at work in his companies. He has done so many things that, when interpreted based on the assumption that he's motivated by increasing his wealth just for the sake of it, appear terribly foolish, and even reckless. Yet they immediately start making a lot of sense once you refine your mental model of what is really driving him.