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I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. I've been following and listenin

I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. I've been following and listening to him for a decade now and I know his personality well. Twitter is where he plays around, but his thoughtful personality comes through face to face in talks and interviews. That's what shows how Elon got to where he is. No other CEO talks with the clarity like he does (ironically in a stuttering fashion). It's not because of a "cult". It's because of his insight into things I had never put that much thought into. He's broken a lot of my own assumptions about how things are supposed to work. He's literally changed how I think as an engineer.

synu 4y ago
Be careful, parasocial relationships like that can lead to unhealthy behaviour. People sometimes go off the deep end and start arguing with everyone on the internet about the target of their desire, and lose all sense of perspective. You see them taking on all comers in threads like these, and it’s a bit disturbing when you notice it’s just the same username over and over. Not saying it’s what you’re doing, but your comment reminded me of people like that.
rchaud 4y ago
So after a decade of "knowing him well" via his Twitter and interviews, what do you think of his recent behavior? Still the clearest communicator?
- mlindner 4y ago
  I think he's been stressed out from a number of factors recently from SpaceX not having been able to make any progress recently because it's been hung up on permitting, from the lack of any consistent other person in his life (he recently did an interview where he said that he finds it difficult to balance the time required between his love of work and love of other people), and from the recent attacks that have been coming at him from the left (Biden of note completely snubbing Tesla and apparently valuing union membership over fixing global warming). All of this together along with him seeing the encroachment of censorship on social media made him want to jump to fixing things by buying Twitter which I now see him as regretting with him not realizing how big the problems Twitter faces are. And yes in his interviews of late he's been a quite clear communicator. Here's a couple within the last month or so that are quite good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvf00NooN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvf00NooN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnxzrX9tNoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnxzrX9tNoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_mgnAFA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_mgnAFA0
  - gamblor956 4y ago
    union membership over fixing global warming Every year, Elon makes over 100 flights using private aircraft, which offsets the emissions savings of over 100k EVs. Most of these flights are for pleasure, not business. "Fixing" global warming is just a marketing ploy for Musk, since he seems to be doing an incredible job of personally trying to make it worse. He doesn't get to freeride on the labor of others on this.
trs8080 4y ago
> I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. I've been following and listening to him for a decade now and I know his personality well. You deny that your admiration for Elon Musk is because of a "cult," but this sounds very cult-like. Have you considered that Elon Musk is not the only person who can make you a better engineer?
- mlindner 4y ago
  Of course he's not the only person who can do that. I was never implying that.
ProfXponent 4y ago
henrikschroder 4y ago
> I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. Seek help. I mean it. This is not healthy. You do not know him, you are infatuated with aspects of his public persona.

synu 4y ago

Be careful, parasocial relationships like that can lead to unhealthy behaviour. People sometimes go off the deep end and start arguing with everyone on the internet about the target of their desire, and lose all sense of perspective. You see them taking on all comers in threads like these, and it’s a bit disturbing when you notice it’s just the same username over and over. Not saying it’s what you’re doing, but your comment reminded me of people like that.

rchaud 4y ago

So after a decade of "knowing him well" via his Twitter and interviews, what do you think of his recent behavior? Still the clearest communicator?

mlindner 4y ago
I think he's been stressed out from a number of factors recently from SpaceX not having been able to make any progress recently because it's been hung up on permitting, from the lack of any consistent other person in his life (he recently did an interview where he said that he finds it difficult to balance the time required between his love of work and love of other people), and from the recent attacks that have been coming at him from the left (Biden of note completely snubbing Tesla and apparently valuing union membership over fixing global warming). All of this together along with him seeing the encroachment of censorship on social media made him want to jump to fixing things by buying Twitter which I now see him as regretting with him not realizing how big the problems Twitter faces are. And yes in his interviews of late he's been a quite clear communicator. Here's a couple within the last month or so that are quite good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvf00NooN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvf00NooN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnxzrX9tNoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnxzrX9tNoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_mgnAFA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_mgnAFA0
- gamblor956 4y ago
  union membership over fixing global warming Every year, Elon makes over 100 flights using private aircraft, which offsets the emissions savings of over 100k EVs. Most of these flights are for pleasure, not business. "Fixing" global warming is just a marketing ploy for Musk, since he seems to be doing an incredible job of personally trying to make it worse. He doesn't get to freeride on the labor of others on this.

trs8080 4y ago

> I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. I've been following and listening to him for a decade now and I know his personality well. You deny that your admiration for Elon Musk is because of a "cult," but this sounds very cult-like. Have you considered that Elon Musk is not the only person who can make you a better engineer?

mlindner 4y ago
Of course he's not the only person who can do that. I was never implying that.

ProfXponent 4y ago

henrikschroder 4y ago

> I call him with a first name basis because he's probably the person I know best outside my very best friends and my own family. Seek help. I mean it. This is not healthy. You do not know him, you are infatuated with aspects of his public persona.