4 ms·

"For science, James?" "No, for budgetary reasons."

by hbrav 4y ago

CamperBob2 4y ago
I don't know Elon Musk gets out of bed in the morning, having blown $40 billion on Twitter when 1% of that would probably be enough to endow an institution like Arecibo for generations if managed properly. I'm projecting my own preferences on him, of course, but still. He seemed to be more of a genuine space geek than he turned out to be.
- Tarq0n 4y ago
  Musk is exchanging some assets and liabilities for other assets, leaving him with a similar balance sheet afterwards. That's not the same thing as "spending" money the way you and I do it.
  - CamperBob2 4y ago
    You could use the same reasoning to buy lottery tickets. That's basically what he's doing, by buying Twitter at a premium.
- nyc_data_geek1 4y ago
  He's in fact the most irresponsible human on Earth, perhaps in all of human history imo. At this pivotal moment, he is wasting tens of billions of dollars on a vanity acquisition because he is profoundly insecure, rather than taking that capital and using it to address some of the pressing threats life on Earth faces now. If he really gave a shit about "expanding the light of consciousness into the cosmos", he'd be working on ensuring a viable biosphere locally before blowing billions on dopamine clickfarm. As it stands we don't seem likely to have time to establish self-sufficient off-world human presence before we render Earth unable of sustaining much in the way of life or advanced civilization, and as the (second) richest man on Earth, he is uniquely positioned to have a quantitative impact on that outcome. Everyday he wakes up and chooses not to, and people still think he's anything but a mercurial egomaniacal robber-baron, should be considered a coup for his PR staff.
  - CamperBob2 4y ago
    I dunno, that seems a bit over the top. If Musk were inclined to do exactly what you or I would do, he'd never have gotten as far as he has. So the whole question is largely moot. He's done a lot of good, and could do a lot more, but instead chooses otherwise. It's his money... well, some of it is, anyway. I don't harbor him any ill will for spending it as he sees fit. It's just a bummer, is all.
  - tanseydavid 4y ago
    At least he is not trying to build a 100 mile long linear city in the middle of the desert.
    - nyc_data_geek1 4y ago
      cold comfort

"For science, James?" "No, for budgetary reasons."

by hbrav 4y ago

"For science, James?" "No, for budgetary reasons."

I don't know Elon Musk gets out of bed in the morning, having blown $40 billion on Twitter when 1% of that would probably be enough to endow an institution like Arecibo for generations if managed properly. I'm projecting my own preferences on him, of course, but still. He seemed to be more of a genuine space geek than he turned out to be.

Tarq0n 4y ago
Musk is exchanging some assets and liabilities for other assets, leaving him with a similar balance sheet afterwards. That's not the same thing as "spending" money the way you and I do it.
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  You could use the same reasoning to buy lottery tickets. That's basically what he's doing, by buying Twitter at a premium.
nyc_data_geek1 4y ago
He's in fact the most irresponsible human on Earth, perhaps in all of human history imo. At this pivotal moment, he is wasting tens of billions of dollars on a vanity acquisition because he is profoundly insecure, rather than taking that capital and using it to address some of the pressing threats life on Earth faces now. If he really gave a shit about "expanding the light of consciousness into the cosmos", he'd be working on ensuring a viable biosphere locally before blowing billions on dopamine clickfarm. As it stands we don't seem likely to have time to establish self-sufficient off-world human presence before we render Earth unable of sustaining much in the way of life or advanced civilization, and as the (second) richest man on Earth, he is uniquely positioned to have a quantitative impact on that outcome. Everyday he wakes up and chooses not to, and people still think he's anything but a mercurial egomaniacal robber-baron, should be considered a coup for his PR staff.
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  I dunno, that seems a bit over the top. If Musk were inclined to do exactly what you or I would do, he'd never have gotten as far as he has. So the whole question is largely moot. He's done a lot of good, and could do a lot more, but instead chooses otherwise. It's his money... well, some of it is, anyway. I don't harbor him any ill will for spending it as he sees fit. It's just a bummer, is all.
- tanseydavid 4y ago
  At least he is not trying to build a 100 mile long linear city in the middle of the desert.
  - nyc_data_geek1 4y ago
    cold comfort