5 ms·

Let's start with examining OP's premise. What evidence is there of a meltdown other than him saying some stuff that is extremely contrary to the worldview of s

Let's start with examining OP's premise. What evidence is there of a meltdown other than him saying some stuff that is extremely contrary to the worldview of some people? Is it because he's posting a bit more than usual? Why not label that more akin to "persuasion technique" rather than calling it a meltdown? PS: I admire some things and detest some things about Musk, but probably different things than the Zeitgeist on HN.

082349872349872 4y ago
> What evidence is there of a meltdown I don't typically follow Musk, but agreeing to buy a company for a price that was based on a sophomoric weed joke instead of listening to his accountants, and then attempting to welsh (sorry, Cymru!) instead of listening to his lawyers, finally to consummate the transaction just before the court would've ordered it? That's not exactly unmolten, and took place months ago.
- williamstein 4y ago
  The price was a reference to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, not marijuana. (source: interviews with Musk himself)
boringg 4y ago
Point taken though I'm not sure on alternatives to describe his erratic behavior. I don't think "persuasion technique" works - that sounds akin to spinning bullying and I don't believe that accurately represents whats going on. The reason I went with meltdown is that it does feel that there is a tangible change in his presence being more aggrieved than in the past.
- logicalmonster 4y ago
  > spinning bullying Who is he bullying? If you're talking about his Fauci comments, well, I'd have 2 responses. 1) We usually say that "punching down" is the wrong thing to do and a characteristic of bullying. And despite Musk being among the world's richest and most influential men, isn't it still reasonably debatable if he's been more powerful than Fauci? Musk just makes some products and does some weird humor online. Fauci had basically had many peoples' life/death, the global economy, the world health apparatus, the media, and peoples' livelihoods wrapped around his fingers. Who is punching down here? I'm not sure it's clearcut. 2) Regardless if you like/dislike Fauci, isn't disparaging the conduct of government officials by citizens always fair game?
  - boringg 4y ago
    Wasn't referring to Fauci - was trying to show what the language you offered sounded like to me. And to be fair he has a bully pulpit similar to POTUS - he can force a large group of his followers upon someone who disagrees with him.
    - logicalmonster 4y ago
      > he can force a large group of his followers Just a small point; if you want to make that argument, force is a very imprecise word to use to describe his actions.
      - boringg 4y ago
        Fair enough be can focus attention. Cant fix that edit unfortunately.
  - mullingitover 4y ago
    > And despite Musk being among the world's richest and most influential men, isn't it still reasonably debatable if he's been more powerful than Fauci? Fauci is an 81 year old retiree now, he wields absolutely no statutory power and he certainly never had any wealth to wield. Musk isn't punching down, he's engaging in stochastic terrorism by jumping in front of a mob of deluded conspiracy theorists and throwing them red meat.
  - threatofrain 4y ago
    A stronger example would be Elon Musk accusing an emergency rescue worker of pedophilia during a deadly rescue attempt -- as backlash for insulting Elon's high-tech submarine solution. Elon would then go on to elaborate on why he thought the rescue worker was a pedophile. I wouldn't really call this "bullying" though. Being repeatedly accused of pedophilia by a top-tier celebrity is very dangerous.
sanderjd 4y ago
The meltdown has nothing to do with the content of the views he's expressing, it is that he is spending so much time focused on running and expressing political views on a social media site. If he has gotten Tesla and SpaceX to the point where they could be handed off to others and no longer require his attention at all, a better next step would have been to start another awesome new thing (fusion?). There are already plenty of people on all sides focused on posting about cultural grievances. It's sad to have lost a talented person to that negative-sum rabbit hole.
- boringg 4y ago
  I think you articulated what I was trying to express more succinctly but was trying to understand why.

082349872349872 4y ago

> What evidence is there of a meltdown I don't typically follow Musk, but agreeing to buy a company for a price that was based on a sophomoric weed joke instead of listening to his accountants, and then attempting to welsh (sorry, Cymru!) instead of listening to his lawyers, finally to consummate the transaction just before the court would've ordered it? That's not exactly unmolten, and took place months ago.

williamstein 4y ago
The price was a reference to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, not marijuana. (source: interviews with Musk himself)

boringg 4y ago

Point taken though I'm not sure on alternatives to describe his erratic behavior. I don't think "persuasion technique" works - that sounds akin to spinning bullying and I don't believe that accurately represents whats going on. The reason I went with meltdown is that it does feel that there is a tangible change in his presence being more aggrieved than in the past.

logicalmonster 4y ago
> spinning bullying Who is he bullying? If you're talking about his Fauci comments, well, I'd have 2 responses. 1) We usually say that "punching down" is the wrong thing to do and a characteristic of bullying. And despite Musk being among the world's richest and most influential men, isn't it still reasonably debatable if he's been more powerful than Fauci? Musk just makes some products and does some weird humor online. Fauci had basically had many peoples' life/death, the global economy, the world health apparatus, the media, and peoples' livelihoods wrapped around his fingers. Who is punching down here? I'm not sure it's clearcut. 2) Regardless if you like/dislike Fauci, isn't disparaging the conduct of government officials by citizens always fair game?
- boringg 4y ago
  Wasn't referring to Fauci - was trying to show what the language you offered sounded like to me. And to be fair he has a bully pulpit similar to POTUS - he can force a large group of his followers upon someone who disagrees with him.
  - logicalmonster 4y ago
    > he can force a large group of his followers Just a small point; if you want to make that argument, force is a very imprecise word to use to describe his actions.
    - boringg 4y ago
      Fair enough be can focus attention. Cant fix that edit unfortunately.
- mullingitover 4y ago
  > And despite Musk being among the world's richest and most influential men, isn't it still reasonably debatable if he's been more powerful than Fauci? Fauci is an 81 year old retiree now, he wields absolutely no statutory power and he certainly never had any wealth to wield. Musk isn't punching down, he's engaging in stochastic terrorism by jumping in front of a mob of deluded conspiracy theorists and throwing them red meat.
- threatofrain 4y ago
  A stronger example would be Elon Musk accusing an emergency rescue worker of pedophilia during a deadly rescue attempt -- as backlash for insulting Elon's high-tech submarine solution. Elon would then go on to elaborate on why he thought the rescue worker was a pedophile. I wouldn't really call this "bullying" though. Being repeatedly accused of pedophilia by a top-tier celebrity is very dangerous.

sanderjd 4y ago

The meltdown has nothing to do with the content of the views he's expressing, it is that he is spending so much time focused on running and expressing political views on a social media site. If he has gotten Tesla and SpaceX to the point where they could be handed off to others and no longer require his attention at all, a better next step would have been to start another awesome new thing (fusion?). There are already plenty of people on all sides focused on posting about cultural grievances. It's sad to have lost a talented person to that negative-sum rabbit hole.

boringg 4y ago
I think you articulated what I was trying to express more succinctly but was trying to understand why.