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> What tech people like Paul Graham and others were hoping was for Elon to apply his scientific first principles type of thinking that he demonstrated previousl
by bmitc 4y ago
> What tech people like Paul Graham and others were hoping was for Elon to apply his scientific first principles type of thinking that he demonstrated previously at SpaceX+Tesla to Twitter.
I wish one could take a step back and just see how ridiculous of a statement this is. There is nothing about Musk’s history and management style that is even remotely close to what could be called “scientific first principles type of thinking”. Musk’s management style is a bull in a china closet, he manages via personal vendettas, and he follows the marketing and hype first, delivery second product development cycle. See full self-driving, Cybertruck, Tesla robot, Tesla tunnel, and whatever else he’s promised over the years but never delivered on.
Edit: striking out comment about the Cybertruck’s airflow until I can find the article I read to back it up.
- c22 4y agoMy pet theory is that the cybertuck is just an excuse to start prototyping a future martian ground transport, in which case atmospheric drag may be less of a concern.
- bmitc 4y agoThat’s an incredibly generous take. Why not just develop the thing instead of playing this “oh, we didn’t fail, we were just doing this other thing all along” game.
- c22 4y agoI thought hn was all about the generous take.
- LarryMullins 4y agoMy pet theory is that Elon Musk's talk about colonizing Mars is a recruiting ploy, allowing him to hire top tier rocket scientists relatively cheap because they believe in the mission.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 4y agoWhat do you figure is the real motivation for SpaceX if not Mars? I think it’s a much worse business than Tesla if you don’t care about the SpaceX mission. Seems to be barely viable financially, while Tesla has healthy margins. Musk has used his Tesla wealth to support SpaceX, which makes him seem more like a believer to me.
- tsimionescu 4y agoSpaceX probably has a more or less guaranteed future as part of the military-industrial complex, and I think it's very likely that's Musk's actual vision - inroads into becoming the next Lockheed-Martin. Remember that one of the very first Tesla investors, Mike Griffin, since way before a rocket engine had even fired, later became Trump's Undersecretary of R&D, and had previously been a high-ranking scientist of the Star Wars satellite missile defense program (and head of NASA).
- LarryMullins 4y agoCommercial launch provider. And particularly cornering the market for DoD launches, probably because he thinks that leverage will make him politically untouchable. > Seems to be barely viable financially They're betting big on reusable rockets, and so far it seems to be paying off. If they succeed in getting a fully reusable rocket flying several times a week, as they claim they can, the no other launch provider will be able to compete.
- rvnx 4y agoYou mean the Paul Graham that was banned today from Twitter for "violating Twitter rules" ? https://twitter.com/nearcyan/status/1604598879973883905 https://twitter.com/nearcyan/status/1604598879973883905
- bmitc 4y agoWhat does Paul Graham have to do with my comment?
- rvnx 4y agoSeemed like you were comparing Elon Musk and Paul Graham's ways of thinking. I was going in your direction by saying that Paul Graham and Elon Musk have very different personas; to the point that Graham got banned because he wasn't happy with Elon's choices.
- bmitc 4y agoNo, I was commenting on Elon supposedly having a scientific principles first thinking. I guess people assume Paul Graham does, too? I haven’t seen that either, and have been underwhelmed with basically anything I see coming from the VC corners.
- rvnx 4y agoOh, right. I understood something else. Need more sleep :)
- wilg 4y ago
- AnimalMuppet 4y agoDisagree with the GP as much as you want. Don't say it like that, at least not here.
- wilg 4y ago
- bmitc 4y agoNo, I did not. I read it recently when searching for turbulence, not even searching for the Cybertruck. I’ll try and find the article again. The article you posted doesn’t say anything though and refers to a Reddit post that isn’t even linked, that I could find.
- wilg 4y agoI appreciate that. I don't think looking at the truck is sufficient to conclude that it is an inefficient airflow design. Especially because many parts of the design appear to be there to improve airflow compared to a normal truck – like the tonneau cover. Also, all of Tesla's other cars have quite good coefficients of drag.
- trashtester 4y agoTrump did an interview recently where he openly admitted that the airodynamics of the Cybertruck was not very good, even if it's better than most trucks. (Trucks are generally not designed with aerodynamics as the highest priority.) My understanding is that the design is a mix of aesthetics and to keep production costs down.
- wpietri 4y ago> There is nothing about Musk’s history and management style that is even remotely close to what could be called “scientific first principles type of thinking”. Agreed. But the interesting question for me is: what are people seeing that they would mistake for that?
- bmitc 4y agoI have no idea other than cult of personality. People really seem to take people like Musk and Trump at face value, as if their comments, philosophies, beliefs, positions, etc. are thoughtful things they stand behind and something more than what they really are: mouthpieces to shape what they want at a particular moment or to just blatantly confuse people. It’s a tactic out of Russia’s political playbook. I highly recommend Adam Curtis’ Hypernormalization.
- themitigating 4y agoWeak people seek someone to follow. Trump, Musk, Thatcher. All they have to do is tell them what they want to hear and throngs of unwashed masses, filled with their insecurities and fear, will worship at their feet. "All you have to do is support me and I'll make everything allright" - any of the above
- seanhunter 4y agoI am often reminded of the brilliant line from “The second Coming” by WB Yeats.[1] “The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity” Normal people are often full of doubt, their comments are often guarded by caveats etc. Dictators, populists, narcissists, confidence tricksters speak in absolutes. Their messages are very appealing because they seem so clear and straightforward. They can seem brilliant because of this certainty and sometimes can achieve a lot because they aren’t held back by the kinds of reservations and scruples that most people suffer from. [1] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-comi...
- pajko 4y agoMoney
- sgjohnson 4y agoThe hyperloop is the most egregious example imho