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I’ve been following Musk on Twitter for a few months and I haven’t seen anything worth condemning. His tweets often seem like thoughts off the top of his head,

I’ve been following Musk on Twitter for a few months and I haven’t seen anything worth condemning. His tweets often seem like thoughts off the top of his head, ie not written by a PR employee. It feels like the issue people have is with his tone. Perhaps people aren’t used to seeing public figures who doesn’t meticulously manage their image. Almost everyone is beholden to an employer, a committee, or an oversight board of some kind so we all have to censor our public thoughts to a huge extent. I think some people are upset that Elon doesn’t have to, and they’re upset that he’s “above the law”. Woke culture truly is the new church.

jltsiren 4y ago
It's often impossible to separate the content of the message from the tone. Back when I was a student, there was a professor emeritus of communications who liked to say things like "communication usually fails, except by accident". The idea was that if you intend to say something but many people interpret it otherwise, that was you failure to communicate. Musk is certainly smart enough to realize that his tone changes the meaning of what he says, but he keeps doing it anyway. That makes him a kind of a troll. The thing with trolls is that people often don't like them. They may barely tolerate trolls they agree with and actively hate ones they disagree with. Musk reminds me of another person: a former communist (of the minority faction who supported the USSR) who later made a 180-degree turn and became a successful investment banker. He is one of the richest people in Finland who didn't inherit their fortune, and he is probably also one of the most hated people in the country. And he genuinely enjoys trolling. Often when business leaders or right-wing ideologists have something that needs saying but can't be said aloud, they let him say it.
- anitil 4y ago
  > "communication usually fails, except by accident" I feel like I don't understand this. Is the idea that you need to try very hard to communicate well?
- bcbrown 4y ago
  > Back when I was a student, there was a professor emeritus of communications who liked to say things like "communication usually fails, except by accident". Are you talking about Osmo A. Wiio? https://jkorpela.fi/wiio.html https://jkorpela.fi/wiio.html
  - jltsiren 4y ago
    That's him. His "laws" probably arose from his frustrations when he was in the parliament, and he didn't intend anyone to take them too seriously. Today, as far as I understand, people who are trying to be serious communications professionals approach the same issues from a constructive angle. They try to minimize the chances for misunderstanding, which leads to those bland and thoroughly vetted corporate communications.
cyanydeez 4y ago
Yeah, the old church is demolishing democracy at any cost.
klyrs 4y ago
Among other things, SpaceX is named in a lawsuit for Musk's shady behavior surrounding DogeCoin. One point in the letter seems irrefutable to me: as a de-facto spokesperson for SpaceX, he's causing problems for the company. Also, he openly relishes being an asshole, which sends a pretty weird message to a company with a "No Assholes" policy (whatever that means). Folks on HN lauded the CoinBase stance that people should check their politics at the door; Musk is doing the exact opposite of that.
- credit_guy 4y ago
  > he's causing problems for the company How exactly? People can't focus on their work on engine design, or combustion simulation, or reentry trajectory because Musk is involved in some Twitter fights? Or maybe because Musk fails to be a role model? Are they kids, or grownups?
  - mc32 4y ago
    Those people are probably not having much of a problem. The complainants are likely elsewhere in the company.
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    I'd imagine that a lot of people wouldn't feel good about the workplace sexual harassment. It's kind of a downer if your employer enables your boss to do bad things to your colleagues.
  - klyrs 4y ago
    > How exactly? You missed the first sentence of my comment, then? > Or maybe because Musk fails to be a role model? Are they kids, or grownups? He's a petulant manchild, now that you mention it, a horrible role model for the company, its leadership on down. Is he fit to be a CEO, if he can't act like one?
    - s1artibartfast 4y ago
      Doge coin is a big problem for musk's employees? Does his Doge meming on Twitter harm them somehow?
joseph8th 4y ago
So much projection. Who's "making it political" when he's using the term as a bludgeon? He's a knock-off Donald Trump JUNIOR. Why anyone credits anything he says will forever escape me.
matthewdgreen 4y ago
When I started reading this comment I thought "this has the potential to be an interesting take on why people dislike Musk, but I suspect it's to go off the rails and become another tribal rant about 'woke' culture" and I was not disappointed.
dubswithus 4y ago
Why would anyone care about his opinions on Elden Ring? He should do what every other CEO is doing and keep the focus on growth at his companies. Musk called Bill Gates fat because he shorted Tesla stock. Is that a pleasant surprise? A breath of fresh air? Finally, someone is speaking their mind! Musk doesn’t have to be woke. All he has to do is be professional and that will clean up his image.
- mgiannopoulos 4y ago
  He posted a meme about Gates being fat because Gates asked him for money to “support the environment” while shorting Tesla stock. One can argue which action is more insulting than the other. For sure one shouldn’t mention one while omitting the other.
  - dubswithus 4y ago
    There is no argument to have. Calling someone fat and asking someone to help with climate change are nothing alike.
    - mgiannopoulos 4y ago
      You again omit the stock shorting part.
bergenty 4y ago
A church based on tangibles. I’ll take it.
sMarsIntruder 4y ago
> Woke culture truly is the new church. Amen.
- LightG 4y ago
  Did you get a horse with that?
  - sMarsIntruder 4y ago
    No miracles so far.

jltsiren 4y ago

It's often impossible to separate the content of the message from the tone. Back when I was a student, there was a professor emeritus of communications who liked to say things like "communication usually fails, except by accident". The idea was that if you intend to say something but many people interpret it otherwise, that was you failure to communicate. Musk is certainly smart enough to realize that his tone changes the meaning of what he says, but he keeps doing it anyway. That makes him a kind of a troll. The thing with trolls is that people often don't like them. They may barely tolerate trolls they agree with and actively hate ones they disagree with. Musk reminds me of another person: a former communist (of the minority faction who supported the USSR) who later made a 180-degree turn and became a successful investment banker. He is one of the richest people in Finland who didn't inherit their fortune, and he is probably also one of the most hated people in the country. And he genuinely enjoys trolling. Often when business leaders or right-wing ideologists have something that needs saying but can't be said aloud, they let him say it.

anitil 4y ago
> "communication usually fails, except by accident" I feel like I don't understand this. Is the idea that you need to try very hard to communicate well?
bcbrown 4y ago
> Back when I was a student, there was a professor emeritus of communications who liked to say things like "communication usually fails, except by accident". Are you talking about Osmo A. Wiio? https://jkorpela.fi/wiio.html https://jkorpela.fi/wiio.html
- jltsiren 4y ago
  That's him. His "laws" probably arose from his frustrations when he was in the parliament, and he didn't intend anyone to take them too seriously. Today, as far as I understand, people who are trying to be serious communications professionals approach the same issues from a constructive angle. They try to minimize the chances for misunderstanding, which leads to those bland and thoroughly vetted corporate communications.

cyanydeez 4y ago

Yeah, the old church is demolishing democracy at any cost.

klyrs 4y ago

Among other things, SpaceX is named in a lawsuit for Musk's shady behavior surrounding DogeCoin. One point in the letter seems irrefutable to me: as a de-facto spokesperson for SpaceX, he's causing problems for the company. Also, he openly relishes being an asshole, which sends a pretty weird message to a company with a "No Assholes" policy (whatever that means). Folks on HN lauded the CoinBase stance that people should check their politics at the door; Musk is doing the exact opposite of that.

credit_guy 4y ago
> he's causing problems for the company How exactly? People can't focus on their work on engine design, or combustion simulation, or reentry trajectory because Musk is involved in some Twitter fights? Or maybe because Musk fails to be a role model? Are they kids, or grownups?
- mc32 4y ago
  Those people are probably not having much of a problem. The complainants are likely elsewhere in the company.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  I'd imagine that a lot of people wouldn't feel good about the workplace sexual harassment. It's kind of a downer if your employer enables your boss to do bad things to your colleagues.
- klyrs 4y ago
  > How exactly? You missed the first sentence of my comment, then? > Or maybe because Musk fails to be a role model? Are they kids, or grownups? He's a petulant manchild, now that you mention it, a horrible role model for the company, its leadership on down. Is he fit to be a CEO, if he can't act like one?
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    Doge coin is a big problem for musk's employees? Does his Doge meming on Twitter harm them somehow?

joseph8th 4y ago

So much projection. Who's "making it political" when he's using the term as a bludgeon? He's a knock-off Donald Trump JUNIOR. Why anyone credits anything he says will forever escape me.

matthewdgreen 4y ago

When I started reading this comment I thought "this has the potential to be an interesting take on why people dislike Musk, but I suspect it's to go off the rails and become another tribal rant about 'woke' culture" and I was not disappointed.

dubswithus 4y ago

Why would anyone care about his opinions on Elden Ring? He should do what every other CEO is doing and keep the focus on growth at his companies. Musk called Bill Gates fat because he shorted Tesla stock. Is that a pleasant surprise? A breath of fresh air? Finally, someone is speaking their mind! Musk doesn’t have to be woke. All he has to do is be professional and that will clean up his image.

mgiannopoulos 4y ago
He posted a meme about Gates being fat because Gates asked him for money to “support the environment” while shorting Tesla stock. One can argue which action is more insulting than the other. For sure one shouldn’t mention one while omitting the other.
- dubswithus 4y ago
  There is no argument to have. Calling someone fat and asking someone to help with climate change are nothing alike.
  - mgiannopoulos 4y ago
    You again omit the stock shorting part.

bergenty 4y ago

A church based on tangibles. I’ll take it.

sMarsIntruder 4y ago

> Woke culture truly is the new church. Amen.

LightG 4y ago
Did you get a horse with that?
- sMarsIntruder 4y ago
  No miracles so far.