6 ms·

Not that this is a good defense, but I think "genuinely scared for his or his child's safety" is a real possibility. Especially if he (rightly or wrongly, no co

Not that this is a good defense, but I think "genuinely scared for his or his child's safety" is a real possibility. Especially if he (rightly or wrongly, no comment there) thinks someone threatened his child... well, protecting your children is one of the more powerful instincts humans have, one of the handful powerful enough to outweigh an ego like Elon's. Plus he has to be at least a little frazzled by Twitter having no credible plan for being financially solvent after scaring off all the advertisers, so I'm guessing he's not doing cold, rational threat assessments of anything. Maybe that interaction of fear and irrationality does start overlapping with petulance too, I don't know. I think people should take into account that something deep inside Elon knows he's in deep shit, and is probably contributing to him taking rash actions and generally lashing out. He was never a wise man, but I still suspect we're seeing him at a low ebb of rationality. Again, no sort of defense: this is a problem entirely of his own making.

GoodJokes 4y ago
jeremyjh 4y ago
It seems more likely the story about his kid is just another lie to try win the moment. The LAPD statement is careful not to state that no crime has been reported or under investigation, but to leave that interpretation open. They are “aware of the tweet.”
- andrewflnr 4y ago
  Definitely a solid possibility. Also a possibility he's just drinking his own koolaid, fully "believing" whatever is convenient. But honestly, the dude has probably been getting death threats for years already, in which case he already had reasons to be a little afraid. It's easy for me to imagine that fear cropping up here as being just one of the more prominent ways he's coming unglued under stress.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Wouldn't be the first time, either. https://in.mashable.com/culture/42675/internet-slams-elon-musk-for-lying-about-his-childs-death-ex-wife-justine-drops-truth-bombs https://in.mashable.com/culture/42675/internet-slams-elon-mu... > Musk tweeted, "My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame." > Soon, Elon's ex-wife Justine Musk revealed the real story and stated that it wasn't the techie but she was holding the child. She wrote, "A SIDS-related incident that put him on life support. He was declared brain-dead. And not that it matters to anyone except me, because it is one of the most sacred and defining moments of my life, but I was the one who was holding him." If Musk wants to turn over a new leaf and decide free speech is secondary to protecting children, he should consider banning the accounts that have whipped up bomb threats against childrens' hospitals of late.
  - kjksf 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      I'm not, the child's mother is. Fabricating a story about his child to win points seems directly relevant here.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - philosopher1234 4y ago
      [flagged]
    - jjulius 4y ago
      [flagged]
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 4y ago
  > The LAPD statement is careful not to state that no crime has been reported "LAPD's Threat Management Unit (TMU) is aware of the situation and tweet by Elon Musk and is in contact with his representatives and security team. No crime reports have been filed yet." (emphasis mine) https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1603558240377151488 https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1603558240377151488
thefourthchime 4y ago
I like how he’s all of a sudden someone who pretends to spend any time with his countless children from countless wives. A family man isn’t a brand he’s been going for up until now.
- andrewflnr 4y ago
  Well, no, primal fear alone doesn't make you a good father, quite possibly the opposite if that's all you have.
- kjksf 4y ago
  And how exactly do you know how much time Musk spends with his family? This torrent of baseless confabulations about him is truly disgusting.
  - giantrobot 4y ago
  - woooooo 4y ago
    Statistics. He has apparently 10 kids with however many women while being a workaholic and a tweetaholic. How much time could he possibly spend with them?
eqmvii 4y ago
Yeah, well, if you believe in free speech, this is one of many (many, many) obstacles you will have to confront in holding up that ideal!
paulcole 4y ago
- kevingadd 4y ago
  Yes, he's previously complained that marxism turned his child transgender > In a new interview with Financial Times, the Tesla CEO, 51, said he believes his daughter — who legally changed her last name in June from Musk to Wilson — no longer wants to be associated with him because of the supposed takeover of elite schools and universities by neo-Marxists. > "It's full-on communism . . . and a general sentiment that if you're rich, you're evil," said Musk, who is a dad of 10. "It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can't win them all." > Musk's comments come six months after Vivian filed a petition to legally change her name and gender.
gcr 4y ago
Remember Elon joking about pronouns earlier? It's hard for me to read that as anything other than spiting his transgender daughter. Between that and his "can't win em all " statement, I don't think Elon cares all that much for his kids. But I certainly agree that he's going through a crapton of stress right now, and that can't be helping. I hope he finds a feeling of safety, but I also hope that his daughter also finds the peace she needs...
notacoward 4y ago
> I think "genuinely scared for his or his child's safety" is a real possibility. I think he's scared for his own safety. In fact he has basically said as much. As rich as he is, he still owes a lot of money and favors to a lot of people. Some of them are quite powerful and ruthless. They're likely displeased at how he's pissing away the value of an asset in which they have an interest. Just because he's paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get him. If I had the kinds of friends or enemies that he has, and particularly if I had been busy converting the first into the second, I'd be worried too.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  That's as good of an explanation as I've seen so far. The only problem is that nothing that he has done so far would reduce that exposure, in fact plenty of his actions increased it.
  - andrewflnr 4y ago
    Right, that would be the "rash actions and lashing out" part. Decisions made in fear are pretty well known for making things worse, not better, even directly with respect to the reason for said fear.
    - notacoward 4y ago
      That is approximately what I was getting at, so thank you. The guy's obviously operating in a fog of fear. This is probably exacerbated (if not caused by) his notoriously bad sleep habits, and/or whatever chemical help he uses to sleep at all. What's amazing is that so many people don't seem to recognize. I guess they just never lived in environments where you learn to recognize the signs. When you're in a persistent fear state, rational decisions become almost impossible and actions directly contrary to one's own interest become commonplace. It's like the skier who's trying to avoid a rock, but keeps staring at it and naturally starts turning toward it instead. Sometimes it's better to look away, even literally, toward the path you should take instead. Unfortunately for us all, Musk so far seems unable to do that.
- 4y ago
albertopv 4y ago
He cares so much about his children that one have gone a long way to have nothing to do with him [1]. His personal life is a mess, really a mess [2]. Like many billioners entrepreneurs I think he is just an absent father who only cares about him self. [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musks-daughter-granted-name-gender-change-rcna34984 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musks-daughter-gra... [2] https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/ https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-mus...
- andrewflnr 4y ago
  For better or worse, that has very little to do with the kind of emotions I'm talking about. They seem (to me anyway) to start just north of the so-called lizard brain.
  - albertopv 4y ago
    I think that Musk is lying again and using his children as an excuse, he just doesn't want to be followed next time he goes to current mistress.
    - LegitShady 4y ago
      I think you're lying. checkmate.
      - albertopv 4y ago
        Mine is an opinion, truthful doesn't apply.
        LegitShady 4y ago
        my opinion is you're lying, so right truthful doesn't apply. since we just get to follow your example and make everything potential bad faith, we can't trust you to tell the truth about anything. In my opinion, you're lying.
the_optimist 4y ago
This is indistinguishable from psychotherapy nonsense, palm-reading, soothsaying, entrail evaluation. There is zero factual basis for this “assessment,” and if you believe there is and buy into this, then you are only fooling yourself.

GoodJokes 4y ago

jeremyjh 4y ago

It seems more likely the story about his kid is just another lie to try win the moment. The LAPD statement is careful not to state that no crime has been reported or under investigation, but to leave that interpretation open. They are “aware of the tweet.”

andrewflnr 4y ago
Definitely a solid possibility. Also a possibility he's just drinking his own koolaid, fully "believing" whatever is convenient. But honestly, the dude has probably been getting death threats for years already, in which case he already had reasons to be a little afraid. It's easy for me to imagine that fear cropping up here as being just one of the more prominent ways he's coming unglued under stress.
ceejayoz 4y ago
Wouldn't be the first time, either. https://in.mashable.com/culture/42675/internet-slams-elon-musk-for-lying-about-his-childs-death-ex-wife-justine-drops-truth-bombs https://in.mashable.com/culture/42675/internet-slams-elon-mu... > Musk tweeted, "My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame." > Soon, Elon's ex-wife Justine Musk revealed the real story and stated that it wasn't the techie but she was holding the child. She wrote, "A SIDS-related incident that put him on life support. He was declared brain-dead. And not that it matters to anyone except me, because it is one of the most sacred and defining moments of my life, but I was the one who was holding him." If Musk wants to turn over a new leaf and decide free speech is secondary to protecting children, he should consider banning the accounts that have whipped up bomb threats against childrens' hospitals of late.
- kjksf 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    I'm not, the child's mother is. Fabricating a story about his child to win points seems directly relevant here.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - philosopher1234 4y ago
    [flagged]
  - jjulius 4y ago
    [flagged]
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 4y ago
> The LAPD statement is careful not to state that no crime has been reported "LAPD's Threat Management Unit (TMU) is aware of the situation and tweet by Elon Musk and is in contact with his representatives and security team. No crime reports have been filed yet." (emphasis mine) https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1603558240377151488 https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1603558240377151488

thefourthchime 4y ago

I like how he’s all of a sudden someone who pretends to spend any time with his countless children from countless wives. A family man isn’t a brand he’s been going for up until now.

andrewflnr 4y ago
Well, no, primal fear alone doesn't make you a good father, quite possibly the opposite if that's all you have.
kjksf 4y ago
And how exactly do you know how much time Musk spends with his family? This torrent of baseless confabulations about him is truly disgusting.
- giantrobot 4y ago
- woooooo 4y ago
  Statistics. He has apparently 10 kids with however many women while being a workaholic and a tweetaholic. How much time could he possibly spend with them?

eqmvii 4y ago

Yeah, well, if you believe in free speech, this is one of many (many, many) obstacles you will have to confront in holding up that ideal!

paulcole 4y ago

kevingadd 4y ago
Yes, he's previously complained that marxism turned his child transgender > In a new interview with Financial Times, the Tesla CEO, 51, said he believes his daughter — who legally changed her last name in June from Musk to Wilson — no longer wants to be associated with him because of the supposed takeover of elite schools and universities by neo-Marxists. > "It's full-on communism . . . and a general sentiment that if you're rich, you're evil," said Musk, who is a dad of 10. "It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can't win them all." > Musk's comments come six months after Vivian filed a petition to legally change her name and gender.

gcr 4y ago

Remember Elon joking about pronouns earlier? It's hard for me to read that as anything other than spiting his transgender daughter. Between that and his "can't win em all " statement, I don't think Elon cares all that much for his kids. But I certainly agree that he's going through a crapton of stress right now, and that can't be helping. I hope he finds a feeling of safety, but I also hope that his daughter also finds the peace she needs...

notacoward 4y ago

> I think "genuinely scared for his or his child's safety" is a real possibility. I think he's scared for his own safety. In fact he has basically said as much. As rich as he is, he still owes a lot of money and favors to a lot of people. Some of them are quite powerful and ruthless. They're likely displeased at how he's pissing away the value of an asset in which they have an interest. Just because he's paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get him. If I had the kinds of friends or enemies that he has, and particularly if I had been busy converting the first into the second, I'd be worried too.

jacquesm 4y ago
That's as good of an explanation as I've seen so far. The only problem is that nothing that he has done so far would reduce that exposure, in fact plenty of his actions increased it.
- andrewflnr 4y ago
  Right, that would be the "rash actions and lashing out" part. Decisions made in fear are pretty well known for making things worse, not better, even directly with respect to the reason for said fear.
  - notacoward 4y ago
    That is approximately what I was getting at, so thank you. The guy's obviously operating in a fog of fear. This is probably exacerbated (if not caused by) his notoriously bad sleep habits, and/or whatever chemical help he uses to sleep at all. What's amazing is that so many people don't seem to recognize. I guess they just never lived in environments where you learn to recognize the signs. When you're in a persistent fear state, rational decisions become almost impossible and actions directly contrary to one's own interest become commonplace. It's like the skier who's trying to avoid a rock, but keeps staring at it and naturally starts turning toward it instead. Sometimes it's better to look away, even literally, toward the path you should take instead. Unfortunately for us all, Musk so far seems unable to do that.
4y ago

albertopv 4y ago

He cares so much about his children that one have gone a long way to have nothing to do with him [1]. His personal life is a mess, really a mess [2]. Like many billioners entrepreneurs I think he is just an absent father who only cares about him self. [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musks-daughter-granted-name-gender-change-rcna34984 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elon-musks-daughter-gra... [2] https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/ https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-mus...

andrewflnr 4y ago
For better or worse, that has very little to do with the kind of emotions I'm talking about. They seem (to me anyway) to start just north of the so-called lizard brain.
- albertopv 4y ago
  I think that Musk is lying again and using his children as an excuse, he just doesn't want to be followed next time he goes to current mistress.
  - LegitShady 4y ago
    I think you're lying. checkmate.
    - albertopv 4y ago
      Mine is an opinion, truthful doesn't apply.
      - LegitShady 4y ago
        my opinion is you're lying, so right truthful doesn't apply. since we just get to follow your example and make everything potential bad faith, we can't trust you to tell the truth about anything. In my opinion, you're lying.

the_optimist 4y ago

This is indistinguishable from psychotherapy nonsense, palm-reading, soothsaying, entrail evaluation. There is zero factual basis for this “assessment,” and if you believe there is and buy into this, then you are only fooling yourself.