4 ms·

Yes. The only real question is whether he's trying to or it's just happening anyway. When your competitor is Mark Zuckerberg and he can moot an alternative wit

Yes. The only real question is whether he's trying to or it's just happening anyway. When your competitor is Mark Zuckerberg and he can moot an alternative with the sole USP being "sanely run", and this sounds like a positive development, you know value is being destroyed. But this was predictable way back, including for instance the Thai cave rescue, where his suggestion being shot down led him to make unwarranted, vile personal attacks. Elon Musk comes across as a malignant narcissist. Twitter is his narcissistic supply. It is going as well as anyone remotely informed would have predicted. He could have got out of this for a couple of billion dollars, a telling off, and a small hit to his credibility with backers. But no. He has had his thin skin exposed, and everything avoidable that has happened since is the inevitable consequence of him lashing out while decompensating.

Tozen 3y ago
This view also introduces the question of how badly has Elon hurt his reputation and orchestrated mythology. Until Twitter, many thought the man a "genius" that could do no wrong. After Twitter, Elon has become "very human" with glaringly obvious flaws.
- bemusedthrow75 3y ago
  He's not a typical human, though. He appears to lack the capacity for empathy and he is cruel -- he toys with people like Halli Thorleifsson in public. It is sociopathic, which by definition makes him unusual. Sensible, consistent business leaders simply do not behave the way he does: if they are sociopaths, they at least try to surround themselves with qualified people who are not. Elon has ruined his reputation with everyone who matters. It's not unreasonable to assume that if he makes judgements this bad in public he is making much worse judgements in private. This isn't business, it's a function of his personality. He has not ruined his reputation with the people he is enabling: the assorted alt right and hard right wing pond scum he follows and trollishly retweets because they provide him with narcissistic supply. The reality I suspect is that most people who know who he is don't think "he's a dick but he's a good businessman" now, because they can see that little of what he is doing is good business. He didn't have to do this at all. And the majority of people see the serious flaws in his behaviour. And while people still have a tendency to compensate for the narcissists who crept up on them while validating their beliefs (Trump, Boris Johnson) I don't believe people have their eyes closed to Musk, because everyone who comes to understand a narcissist gets a bit better at avoiding letting more narcissists into their lives. I always tended to believe that he's a pitiable little rich boy who is overselling his own myth, but I now believe he is malignant. The Thai cave rescue story is what cemented it in my mind: he is a bully who expects to get away with callously punishing other people for his hurt feelings. He's not the sort of person who should be trusted with anything, and we know from the behaviour of other severe narcissists that his behaviour will only get worse after the criticism he receives from this incident.
  - exodust 3y ago
    All those paragraphs dedicated to "Elon - Bad Man"? > "he toys with people like Halli Thorleifsson"... Who started the public exchange with Musk in the first place. Who tweets HR questions to their employer unless there's another agenda? After that exchange, he received a bunch of new subscribers for his upcoming announcement he made a few days later (releasing a song on Spotify and other platforms), the tweet still pinned. Among other announcements such as opening a new restaurant. He went into detail about his disability, got world-wide media attention and sympathy, got the subscribers, got the Musk apology, had his job termination reversed, got his own Wikipedia page, among other things. Cave Diver guy: Messy, but again the Diver guy started it. Musk had no idea who this man was until he publicly attacked Musk for trying to help the Thai rescue. Would you take to a public forum and tell someone they can shove something they built up their ass? Who does that? The Diver guy did it. When Musk reacted poorly, then apologised, the Diver guy already had dollar signs in his goggles, tried to sue Musk for the ridiculous amount of $190 million, and was awarded zero dollars by the jury. But, "musk bad man" is the easier take, and you'll get upvotes, so just stick with that.
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Tozen 3y ago

This view also introduces the question of how badly has Elon hurt his reputation and orchestrated mythology. Until Twitter, many thought the man a "genius" that could do no wrong. After Twitter, Elon has become "very human" with glaringly obvious flaws.

bemusedthrow75 3y ago
He's not a typical human, though. He appears to lack the capacity for empathy and he is cruel -- he toys with people like Halli Thorleifsson in public. It is sociopathic, which by definition makes him unusual. Sensible, consistent business leaders simply do not behave the way he does: if they are sociopaths, they at least try to surround themselves with qualified people who are not. Elon has ruined his reputation with everyone who matters. It's not unreasonable to assume that if he makes judgements this bad in public he is making much worse judgements in private. This isn't business, it's a function of his personality. He has not ruined his reputation with the people he is enabling: the assorted alt right and hard right wing pond scum he follows and trollishly retweets because they provide him with narcissistic supply. The reality I suspect is that most people who know who he is don't think "he's a dick but he's a good businessman" now, because they can see that little of what he is doing is good business. He didn't have to do this at all. And the majority of people see the serious flaws in his behaviour. And while people still have a tendency to compensate for the narcissists who crept up on them while validating their beliefs (Trump, Boris Johnson) I don't believe people have their eyes closed to Musk, because everyone who comes to understand a narcissist gets a bit better at avoiding letting more narcissists into their lives. I always tended to believe that he's a pitiable little rich boy who is overselling his own myth, but I now believe he is malignant. The Thai cave rescue story is what cemented it in my mind: he is a bully who expects to get away with callously punishing other people for his hurt feelings. He's not the sort of person who should be trusted with anything, and we know from the behaviour of other severe narcissists that his behaviour will only get worse after the criticism he receives from this incident.
- exodust 3y ago
  All those paragraphs dedicated to "Elon - Bad Man"? > "he toys with people like Halli Thorleifsson"... Who started the public exchange with Musk in the first place. Who tweets HR questions to their employer unless there's another agenda? After that exchange, he received a bunch of new subscribers for his upcoming announcement he made a few days later (releasing a song on Spotify and other platforms), the tweet still pinned. Among other announcements such as opening a new restaurant. He went into detail about his disability, got world-wide media attention and sympathy, got the subscribers, got the Musk apology, had his job termination reversed, got his own Wikipedia page, among other things. Cave Diver guy: Messy, but again the Diver guy started it. Musk had no idea who this man was until he publicly attacked Musk for trying to help the Thai rescue. Would you take to a public forum and tell someone they can shove something they built up their ass? Who does that? The Diver guy did it. When Musk reacted poorly, then apologised, the Diver guy already had dollar signs in his goggles, tried to sue Musk for the ridiculous amount of $190 million, and was awarded zero dollars by the jury. But, "musk bad man" is the easier take, and you'll get upvotes, so just stick with that.
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