4 ms·

Even after everything I've seen before I still find Musk's casual cruelty shocking. Halli didn't say he was a good employee deserving of staying, he just asked

Even after everything I've seen before I still find Musk's casual cruelty shocking. Halli didn't say he was a good employee deserving of staying, he just asked if he was fired and politely answered Musk's questions. For no apparent reason Musk treats him like he's a joke and not a real person. And that continues even after Musk understands he is disabled.

phs318u 4y ago
I’ve said this before about Rupert Murdoch, and I’ll say it about Elon Musk - he’s a ruthless arsehole. This is not to say they aren’t highly intelligent, but that intelligence is not at all influenced by any kind of empathy whatsoever. They can, if required, perform a perfectly serviceable simulacrum of a reasonable person, for short periods of time, but they fact they believe they are the smartest people in any room, coupled with the fact they don’t believe they are subject to the rules (moral, ethical or even legal) that the rest of us are, means any such simulacrum will be short lived and they revel in revealing themselves, caring not one iota how they are perceived by others. They are not part of society. They believe they sit outside of it.
- mmarq 4y ago
  What is intelligent about mocking a disable employee publicly and putting yourself at risk of a massive lawsuit?
  - phs318u 4y ago
    Has he made similar undeserved comments about other people and gotten away with it? Some people believe they can manage extreme risks. And every time he gets away with something like this he’s proven right. Do I think it’s an I intelligent move? No.
    - rsynnott 4y ago
      I mean, define "getting away with it". I think that cave diver thing, and a couple of other incidents, have pretty comprehensively destroyed his reputation amongst a lot of people who previous thought he was pretty much fine. (I do actually wonder if this latest obnoxious behaviour has done any significant damage, though; the previous stuff would already have turned decent people off him).
      - hotpotamus 4y ago
        Donald Trump mocked a disabled person as a warm-up act in his presidential campaign. I used to think that sort of thing was disqualifying for leaders, but I'd say all the evidence would show that it is not.
        bongoman37 4y ago
        [dead]
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        But: he did get away with it. And every time he gets away with it he sees that as confirmation that he should continue.
        rsynnott 4y ago
        Well, the guy he attacked failed to get legal relief, but Musk's reputation was severely permanently damaged. I wouldn't call it "getting away with it", personally.
        jacquesm 4y ago
        From Musk's point of view the legal bit is the only bit that matters. Until he has to pay up some substantial amount of money and is forced to do so it's a no-op as far as he's concerned. Witness the fact that he apparently didn't learn a thing from it. In Musks mindset as far as I can read it the rest of the world is NPCs and what we do, think or feel doesn't matter to him as long as he isn't personally inconvenienced. He probably thinks because he 'won' the lawsuit that he came out ahead. And with his kind of money he can always stall and keep the legal game going until the other side has lost. Life gets a lot simpler if you can throw ethics and morals out of the window and are wealthy enough to manipulate things in the legal arena. Until he gets smacked down hard I predict this stuff will continue.

phs318u 4y ago

I’ve said this before about Rupert Murdoch, and I’ll say it about Elon Musk - he’s a ruthless arsehole. This is not to say they aren’t highly intelligent, but that intelligence is not at all influenced by any kind of empathy whatsoever. They can, if required, perform a perfectly serviceable simulacrum of a reasonable person, for short periods of time, but they fact they believe they are the smartest people in any room, coupled with the fact they don’t believe they are subject to the rules (moral, ethical or even legal) that the rest of us are, means any such simulacrum will be short lived and they revel in revealing themselves, caring not one iota how they are perceived by others. They are not part of society. They believe they sit outside of it.

mmarq 4y ago
What is intelligent about mocking a disable employee publicly and putting yourself at risk of a massive lawsuit?
- phs318u 4y ago
  Has he made similar undeserved comments about other people and gotten away with it? Some people believe they can manage extreme risks. And every time he gets away with something like this he’s proven right. Do I think it’s an I intelligent move? No.
  - rsynnott 4y ago
    I mean, define "getting away with it". I think that cave diver thing, and a couple of other incidents, have pretty comprehensively destroyed his reputation amongst a lot of people who previous thought he was pretty much fine. (I do actually wonder if this latest obnoxious behaviour has done any significant damage, though; the previous stuff would already have turned decent people off him).
    - hotpotamus 4y ago
      Donald Trump mocked a disabled person as a warm-up act in his presidential campaign. I used to think that sort of thing was disqualifying for leaders, but I'd say all the evidence would show that it is not.
      - bongoman37 4y ago
        [dead]
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      But: he did get away with it. And every time he gets away with it he sees that as confirmation that he should continue.
      - rsynnott 4y ago
        Well, the guy he attacked failed to get legal relief, but Musk's reputation was severely permanently damaged. I wouldn't call it "getting away with it", personally.
        jacquesm 4y ago
        From Musk's point of view the legal bit is the only bit that matters. Until he has to pay up some substantial amount of money and is forced to do so it's a no-op as far as he's concerned. Witness the fact that he apparently didn't learn a thing from it. In Musks mindset as far as I can read it the rest of the world is NPCs and what we do, think or feel doesn't matter to him as long as he isn't personally inconvenienced. He probably thinks because he 'won' the lawsuit that he came out ahead. And with his kind of money he can always stall and keep the legal game going until the other side has lost. Life gets a lot simpler if you can throw ethics and morals out of the window and are wealthy enough to manipulate things in the legal arena. Until he gets smacked down hard I predict this stuff will continue.