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And in the replies to this tweet he insists[1] "Elon is a smart guy" in spite of all the evidence to the contrary [1] https://twitter.com/paulg/status/16045574

And in the replies to this tweet he insists[1] "Elon is a smart guy" in spite of all the evidence to the contrary [1] https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1604557444247539712 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1604557444247539712

pclmulqdq 4y ago
He can't alienate a big potential investor to future funds.
- philjohn 4y ago
  That relies on Elon still having a lot of funds to invest, not a foregone conclusion at this rate.
- sdiacom 4y ago
  I think that, by leaving Twitter alone, he already has. If we've learned something about Elon so far, from previous episodes of the cursed news cycle we all inhabit, is that he's vindictive and petty to an irrational extent (calling rescue officers who don't agree with him pedophiles, banning journalists who report on the jet account, ...)
- mjmsmith 4y ago
  TikTok isn't on the list of banned social media links.
wpietri 4y ago
I am not an Elon fan, but I agree Musk is a smart guy. I just don't think smartness on its own is very valuable. Indeed, it can be very dangerous when it lets you think that you know better than everybody else despite them having way more experience in their fields. A classic example is the XKCD cartoon "Physicists": https://xkcd.com/793/ https://xkcd.com/793/ I've met some incredibly smart narcissists, and you know what they use their smarts for? The same sort of continuous ego inflation that less smart narcissists do. Their smartness just makes things worse, because they're less likely to have the sort of comeuppance that leads to a moment of clarity.
KMag 4y ago
Elon could both be smart and making huge mistakes. It happens all the time.
- shanebellone 4y ago
  Elon's behavior, opinions, and points of view suggest otherwise. His only notable quality is his wealth.
- throwntoday 4y ago
  I think they are laying the groundwork to allow creators to monetize their tweets and additional content. As it stands a lot of creators are monetizing their content off platform (patreon, substack, youtube, onlyfans, etc.) and the goal is to lock them and their content into twitter. I think it's a good idea as content is king, but they should have rolled this out after they had established an ability to monetize. Once people leave the platform it will be tough to get them back unless they offer a very lucrative comission split with creators.
  - cyberphobe 4y ago
    Yeah it's probably that, not that everyone is fleeing Elon's $44 billion dying platform and he's is trying to stop it in whatever way he can.
    - throwntoday 4y ago
      Do you even use twitter? Activity is the same as it's ever been. I think many people are overstating how many people are "fleeing" because of their personal disdain for Musk. If they were actually concerned with people fleeing why would they do something which is more likely to make creators leave?
      - cyberphobe 4y ago
        > If they were actually concerned with people fleeing why would they do something which is more likely to make creators leave? you're asking this in a sub-thread about if Elon is smart or not? I thought the answer was obvious.
jacquesm 4y ago
He's smart. He's also the last person on the planet that should be in charge of a social media platform. Smart + deficient in the ethics department is a recipe for disaster.
class4behavior 4y ago
Intelligence is neither a binary nor a one-dimentional concept. Within certain contexts Musk is certainly a smart entrepreneur but I would not call him that without a lot of such qualifiers.
Mikeb85 4y ago
Elon is undoubtedly smart. It also seems like maybe he's on a mental health episode or just got so rich he decided he's done with building companies and just wants to be an asshole out of spite. Who knows? But he's accomplished plenty of things that suggest he's not an idiot.
- rc_mob 4y ago
  - ren_engineer 4y ago
    do morons get accepted into Stanford's STEM PhD programs? You can hate Musk for his personality and maybe say he has mental health issues but to say he's stupid seems strange
    - gre 4y ago
      Money can get you into any university program. I did a google search, he left after two days. This is not impressive.
    - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
      If this is to be believed [1], what you describe: > do morons get accepted into Stanford's STEM PhD programs is a lie perpetuated by Musk and co. [1] contains links to court documents. According to the court documents, not only does he not have a physics or other technical degree, he obtained a bachelor in Econ in 1997, not a physics degree in 1995. The scan of the diploma does not specify department, has no year date, and is a bachelor of arts. [1] https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1593307541932474368 https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/159330754193247436...
      - vikramkr 4y ago
        The diploma is a bachelor of arts, so that's definitely not the business degree and is probably for physics. Penn, like most liberal arts schools, offers a bachelor's in arts for stem fields. IIRC he did an uncoordinated dual degree and his wharton degree would have been a bachelor of science in economics (its not really an econ major, its a business major, the real econ major is a bachelor of arts), while his college of arts and science degree was a bachelor of arts in physics.

pclmulqdq 4y ago

He can't alienate a big potential investor to future funds.

philjohn 4y ago
That relies on Elon still having a lot of funds to invest, not a foregone conclusion at this rate.
sdiacom 4y ago
I think that, by leaving Twitter alone, he already has. If we've learned something about Elon so far, from previous episodes of the cursed news cycle we all inhabit, is that he's vindictive and petty to an irrational extent (calling rescue officers who don't agree with him pedophiles, banning journalists who report on the jet account, ...)
mjmsmith 4y ago
TikTok isn't on the list of banned social media links.

wpietri 4y ago

I am not an Elon fan, but I agree Musk is a smart guy. I just don't think smartness on its own is very valuable. Indeed, it can be very dangerous when it lets you think that you know better than everybody else despite them having way more experience in their fields. A classic example is the XKCD cartoon "Physicists": https://xkcd.com/793/ https://xkcd.com/793/ I've met some incredibly smart narcissists, and you know what they use their smarts for? The same sort of continuous ego inflation that less smart narcissists do. Their smartness just makes things worse, because they're less likely to have the sort of comeuppance that leads to a moment of clarity.

KMag 4y ago

Elon could both be smart and making huge mistakes. It happens all the time.

shanebellone 4y ago
Elon's behavior, opinions, and points of view suggest otherwise. His only notable quality is his wealth.
throwntoday 4y ago
I think they are laying the groundwork to allow creators to monetize their tweets and additional content. As it stands a lot of creators are monetizing their content off platform (patreon, substack, youtube, onlyfans, etc.) and the goal is to lock them and their content into twitter. I think it's a good idea as content is king, but they should have rolled this out after they had established an ability to monetize. Once people leave the platform it will be tough to get them back unless they offer a very lucrative comission split with creators.
- cyberphobe 4y ago
  Yeah it's probably that, not that everyone is fleeing Elon's $44 billion dying platform and he's is trying to stop it in whatever way he can.
  - throwntoday 4y ago
    Do you even use twitter? Activity is the same as it's ever been. I think many people are overstating how many people are "fleeing" because of their personal disdain for Musk. If they were actually concerned with people fleeing why would they do something which is more likely to make creators leave?
    - cyberphobe 4y ago
      > If they were actually concerned with people fleeing why would they do something which is more likely to make creators leave? you're asking this in a sub-thread about if Elon is smart or not? I thought the answer was obvious.

jacquesm 4y ago

He's smart. He's also the last person on the planet that should be in charge of a social media platform. Smart + deficient in the ethics department is a recipe for disaster.

class4behavior 4y ago

Intelligence is neither a binary nor a one-dimentional concept. Within certain contexts Musk is certainly a smart entrepreneur but I would not call him that without a lot of such qualifiers.

Mikeb85 4y ago

Elon is undoubtedly smart. It also seems like maybe he's on a mental health episode or just got so rich he decided he's done with building companies and just wants to be an asshole out of spite. Who knows? But he's accomplished plenty of things that suggest he's not an idiot.

rc_mob 4y ago
- ren_engineer 4y ago
  do morons get accepted into Stanford's STEM PhD programs? You can hate Musk for his personality and maybe say he has mental health issues but to say he's stupid seems strange
  - gre 4y ago
    Money can get you into any university program. I did a google search, he left after two days. This is not impressive.
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    If this is to be believed [1], what you describe: > do morons get accepted into Stanford's STEM PhD programs is a lie perpetuated by Musk and co. [1] contains links to court documents. According to the court documents, not only does he not have a physics or other technical degree, he obtained a bachelor in Econ in 1997, not a physics degree in 1995. The scan of the diploma does not specify department, has no year date, and is a bachelor of arts. [1] https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1593307541932474368 https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/159330754193247436...
    - vikramkr 4y ago
      The diploma is a bachelor of arts, so that's definitely not the business degree and is probably for physics. Penn, like most liberal arts schools, offers a bachelor's in arts for stem fields. IIRC he did an uncoordinated dual degree and his wharton degree would have been a bachelor of science in economics (its not really an econ major, its a business major, the real econ major is a bachelor of arts), while his college of arts and science degree was a bachelor of arts in physics.