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> If mega wealthy man boys like Musk want to waste money in boys own adventure science fiction instead of making real change here in earth well that’s their dec

> If mega wealthy man boys like Musk want to waste money in boys own adventure science fiction instead of making real change here in earth well that’s their decision. If the really big problems here on Earth could be fixed by throwing a few tens of billions at them, they'd have been fixed already by governments.

andrewstuart 4y ago
Bill Gates works full time in spending money on projects with social good like vaccinations and searching for solutions to things like mosquitoes, disease, clean water, education, poverty, woman’s health, energy, sewerage, reducing methane emissions from livestock. Musk does fart jokes.
- bluescrn 4y ago
  Musk defends freedom of speech. In his own flawed way, but better than many. And that makes a lot of people incredibly angry/scared.
  - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
    We've already seen him banning accounts of people who were saying things he didn't agree with so I really don't think we can say he defends freedom of speech. What Musk seems to want to do is make money off of attracting and offering to signal boost what would be otherwise unpopular speech. He's monetizing speech, not making it free.
    - jqpabc123 4y ago
      The only "freedom" Musk has defended is his own to suppress anything he doesn't like. He has displayed all the "media bias" he accused others of having --- just in an opposite and arguably more extreme manner.
  - sharemywin 4y ago
    unless it conflicts with his agenda: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/elon-musk-blocks-likes-and-replies-to-tweets-that-link-to-substack-in-a-pique-of-pettiness/ https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/elon-musk-blocks-likes-a... https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1143291081/twitter-suspends-journalists-elon-musk-jet https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1143291081/twitter-suspends-j... more examples here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-matt-taibbi-substack/673698/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-...
  - fleetwoodsnack 4y ago
    In many ways the false expert is more harmful than the do-nothing layman.
  - tucosan 4y ago
    This is such a boring take. Musk could "defend free speech" (as if that is something that was ever substantially contested - Trump the shit talker par excellence has been president of the US of A), and still actually improve the world for everyone by funding medical research or the conservation of the rain forests. But yeah, let's drink some more of the Kool aid that the super rich like Musk and Trump are sticking it to the man.
  - karmakurtisaani 4y ago
    Freedom of speech hasn't been an issue in a long time. Even if it was, the likes of Musk would just replace the status quo with their own restrictions on what's allowed to be said. Thanks for the good chuckle though.
- bryanlarsen 4y ago
  Tesla's master plan includes the electrification of the entire world economy. https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2022-tesla-impact-report-highlights.pdf https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2022-tesla-impact-report-hig... Tesla's impact on CO2, NOx and PM25 emissions have prevented a large number of premature deaths (at least 6 figures, likely). Musk didn't start Tesla to save the world, he's not an environmentalist, he's a humanist. He started Tesla because he thought the world was running out of oil. But a lot of Tesla employees are environmentalists, and so are a lot of their customers. Intentional or not, Elon Musk & Tesla will be responsible for a significant decrease in the global warming rise. I don't know if he'll beat Gates or not in terms of global positive impact, but they can be compared.
  - taylodl 4y ago
    Musk didn't start Tesla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla%2C_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla%2C_Inc.
    - bryanlarsen 4y ago
      A judge has ruled that he is one of the founders of Tesla. https://www.tesla.com/blog/judge-strikes-claim-who-can-be-declared-founder-tesla-motors https://www.tesla.com/blog/judge-strikes-claim-who-can-be-de...
      - taylodl 4y ago
        Just because a judge ruled it doesn't make it so. Legislatures have decreed the value of PI is 3.14. That didn't change the actual value of PI.
        bryanlarsen 4y ago
        Judges are more authoritative than legislatures, wikipedia and random internet comments. If you have a point that is actually relevant to the original comment please make it. You're arguing semantics, not substance. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that Musk "started Tesla" because it's a contested point but removing that phrase has 0 impact on the rest of the comment.
brindy 4y ago
What problems do you think living on Mars solves? You’ll never have the environment we have here (even in its currently declining state). Do you think society will be better on Mars living in indentured servitude for generations? As Lennon said, “war is over, if you want it”. It’s the same with the problems we have down here.
- bluescrn 4y ago
  Mars isn't the end goal. It's a step on the way to going even further, beyond our solar system.
  - taylodl 4y ago
    We're not going beyond our solar system. Ever. The nearest star is 4 light-years away. Assuming you could even travel at the speed of light, which you can't, it takes 1 year to reach the speed of light while accelerating at a comfortable 1G. But, as I said, we're not ever traveling at the speed of light. 20% of the speed of light is about the best we'll realistically ever be able to do - but that still makes the nearest star over 20 years of travel away! How do you propose to travel for over 20 years? It's clear then that robots will be exploring the solar system, not us. Even then it's going to take several centuries just to travel to, collect data from, and send back to earth just from the local stars we can see with the unaided eye. When they say space is big, space is BIG.
    - inawarminister 4y ago
      There are people that will be willing to lose decades of subjective time getting iced. Or if we can't do that (which would be weird since many complex mammals can hibernate already) then generation ships are possible. It'll probably be only done by culturally crazy groups, but hey! They're still counted as humans, and their expanding human habitats into new systems is still a win to us all.
    - bluescrn 4y ago
      > We're not going beyond our solar system. Ever. We're not going within my lifetime, but we don't know what currently-unimaginable technologies could be developed in the future (if we don't destroy our civilization within the next few decades) Significantly extending the lifespan of humans seems inevitable at some point. Robotics and AI will continue to improve. We may master fusion, or discover new ways to store energy. We'll probably mine asteroids and master construction in space. Robots will lead the way, but humans are unlikely to lose the urge to explore.
archagon 4y ago
Well, as they say, “wherever you go, there you are.”
Turing_Machine 4y ago
> they'd have been fixed already by governments. Governments don't exist to "fix problems". Governments exist to perpetuate problems so that tax money can be funneled to cronies under the guise of "fixing" problems.

andrewstuart 4y ago

Bill Gates works full time in spending money on projects with social good like vaccinations and searching for solutions to things like mosquitoes, disease, clean water, education, poverty, woman’s health, energy, sewerage, reducing methane emissions from livestock. Musk does fart jokes.

bluescrn 4y ago
Musk defends freedom of speech. In his own flawed way, but better than many. And that makes a lot of people incredibly angry/scared.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  We've already seen him banning accounts of people who were saying things he didn't agree with so I really don't think we can say he defends freedom of speech. What Musk seems to want to do is make money off of attracting and offering to signal boost what would be otherwise unpopular speech. He's monetizing speech, not making it free.
  - jqpabc123 4y ago
    The only "freedom" Musk has defended is his own to suppress anything he doesn't like. He has displayed all the "media bias" he accused others of having --- just in an opposite and arguably more extreme manner.
- sharemywin 4y ago
  unless it conflicts with his agenda: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/elon-musk-blocks-likes-and-replies-to-tweets-that-link-to-substack-in-a-pique-of-pettiness/ https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/elon-musk-blocks-likes-a... https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1143291081/twitter-suspends-journalists-elon-musk-jet https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1143291081/twitter-suspends-j... more examples here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-matt-taibbi-substack/673698/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-...
- fleetwoodsnack 4y ago
  In many ways the false expert is more harmful than the do-nothing layman.
- tucosan 4y ago
  This is such a boring take. Musk could "defend free speech" (as if that is something that was ever substantially contested - Trump the shit talker par excellence has been president of the US of A), and still actually improve the world for everyone by funding medical research or the conservation of the rain forests. But yeah, let's drink some more of the Kool aid that the super rich like Musk and Trump are sticking it to the man.
- karmakurtisaani 4y ago
  Freedom of speech hasn't been an issue in a long time. Even if it was, the likes of Musk would just replace the status quo with their own restrictions on what's allowed to be said. Thanks for the good chuckle though.
bryanlarsen 4y ago
Tesla's master plan includes the electrification of the entire world economy. https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2022-tesla-impact-report-highlights.pdf https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2022-tesla-impact-report-hig... Tesla's impact on CO2, NOx and PM25 emissions have prevented a large number of premature deaths (at least 6 figures, likely). Musk didn't start Tesla to save the world, he's not an environmentalist, he's a humanist. He started Tesla because he thought the world was running out of oil. But a lot of Tesla employees are environmentalists, and so are a lot of their customers. Intentional or not, Elon Musk & Tesla will be responsible for a significant decrease in the global warming rise. I don't know if he'll beat Gates or not in terms of global positive impact, but they can be compared.
- taylodl 4y ago
  Musk didn't start Tesla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla%2C_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla%2C_Inc.
  - bryanlarsen 4y ago
    A judge has ruled that he is one of the founders of Tesla. https://www.tesla.com/blog/judge-strikes-claim-who-can-be-declared-founder-tesla-motors https://www.tesla.com/blog/judge-strikes-claim-who-can-be-de...
    - taylodl 4y ago
      Just because a judge ruled it doesn't make it so. Legislatures have decreed the value of PI is 3.14. That didn't change the actual value of PI.
      - bryanlarsen 4y ago
        Judges are more authoritative than legislatures, wikipedia and random internet comments. If you have a point that is actually relevant to the original comment please make it. You're arguing semantics, not substance. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that Musk "started Tesla" because it's a contested point but removing that phrase has 0 impact on the rest of the comment.

brindy 4y ago

What problems do you think living on Mars solves? You’ll never have the environment we have here (even in its currently declining state). Do you think society will be better on Mars living in indentured servitude for generations? As Lennon said, “war is over, if you want it”. It’s the same with the problems we have down here.

bluescrn 4y ago
Mars isn't the end goal. It's a step on the way to going even further, beyond our solar system.
- taylodl 4y ago
  We're not going beyond our solar system. Ever. The nearest star is 4 light-years away. Assuming you could even travel at the speed of light, which you can't, it takes 1 year to reach the speed of light while accelerating at a comfortable 1G. But, as I said, we're not ever traveling at the speed of light. 20% of the speed of light is about the best we'll realistically ever be able to do - but that still makes the nearest star over 20 years of travel away! How do you propose to travel for over 20 years? It's clear then that robots will be exploring the solar system, not us. Even then it's going to take several centuries just to travel to, collect data from, and send back to earth just from the local stars we can see with the unaided eye. When they say space is big, space is BIG.
  - inawarminister 4y ago
    There are people that will be willing to lose decades of subjective time getting iced. Or if we can't do that (which would be weird since many complex mammals can hibernate already) then generation ships are possible. It'll probably be only done by culturally crazy groups, but hey! They're still counted as humans, and their expanding human habitats into new systems is still a win to us all.
  - bluescrn 4y ago
    > We're not going beyond our solar system. Ever. We're not going within my lifetime, but we don't know what currently-unimaginable technologies could be developed in the future (if we don't destroy our civilization within the next few decades) Significantly extending the lifespan of humans seems inevitable at some point. Robotics and AI will continue to improve. We may master fusion, or discover new ways to store energy. We'll probably mine asteroids and master construction in space. Robots will lead the way, but humans are unlikely to lose the urge to explore.

archagon 4y ago

Well, as they say, “wherever you go, there you are.”

Turing_Machine 4y ago

> they'd have been fixed already by governments. Governments don't exist to "fix problems". Governments exist to perpetuate problems so that tax money can be funneled to cronies under the guise of "fixing" problems.