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> (why would he care so much about this, boredom?) > due to extreme unreflected and unchecked ego Unfortunately, I think it's worse than that. My belief is t

> (why would he care so much about this, boredom?) > due to extreme unreflected and unchecked ego Unfortunately, I think it's worse than that. My belief is that it's manic phases caused by bipolar disorder. If you squint and chart these 'manic' decisions, it seems to be about every 4-5 months. In between he'll often (though not always) post some self-reflective and more 'down' things and be generally more quiet (remember the diet-coke and gun pics?). Then, like with many bipolar sufferers, he'll get 'manic' again and do these kinda things to his businesses and to those around him who care. His personal life is famously a mess. I want to be clear, I'm not a shrink, I have no degrees in this, and I'm 'diagnosing' this very far removed from the guy. But I do have a few bipolar people in my life and, to me, the parallels are very striking. I feel for him in that way. Despite all the money and fame, the disease that I suspect he suffers from (with, again, low evidence) is a very tough one to accept. Of the people in my own life that suffer from it, none have moved past a confirmed diagnosis and started the long road to recovery and acceptance.

3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
I'm not sure when in the last 9 months since he bought Twitter you found Elon reflective and "down". It's been lunacy after lunacy every single week. Does it seem like manic? Yes. But when this behavior is persistent, not sure bipolar is the diagnosis per se.
- shagie 3y ago
  https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/elon-musk-is-bipolar-has-terrible-lows-and-unrelenting-stress.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/elon-musk-is-bipolar-has-ter... > Sunday, on Twitter, Musk was also asked if he was bipolar, to which Musk replied, “yeah,” but then he explained further, saying his psychological highs and lows are associated with actual ups and downs in his life. > “Maybe not medically tho,” says his tweet. “Dunno. Bad feelings correlate to bad events, so maybe real problem is getting carried away in what I sign up for.” https://sports.yahoo.com/entertainment/elon-musk-tweeted-bipolar-190955762.html https://sports.yahoo.com/entertainment/elon-musk-tweeted-bip...
  - 3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
    He's self-diagnosed Asperger's, self-diagnosed bipolar, many things.
justo-rivera 3y ago
In what sense is bipolar disorder worse than extreme unreflected and unchecked ego?
- soderfoo 3y ago
  Mixed episodes and the inevitable downward swing to depression. Mixed episodes are no joke, I've experienced a couple and hope to never do so again.
  - zogrodea 3y ago
    I think (guessing) the two of you might possibly be using different definitions of “better”/“worse”. We’re not morally responsible for the fact some of us may have mental disorders (some like OCD which I have won’t leave us entirely), so stealing which we would be morally responsible for is worse than having a mental disorder. However, having a mental disorder would be worse than stealing in terms of its consequences (we just can’t get rid of it no matter how much we try). (At least I think it makes sense to accept both of your statements that way since I think having a large ego is morally bad independently of any consequences.)
- superdug 3y ago
  What I believe OP was getting at is that while he’s being an asshole he’s completely tormented by his own mind not allowing him empathy or understanding beyond his suffering. Since he, like so many with bipolar disorder (myself included) is that the cycle of suffering and abhorrent behavior will continue until he can accept that his brain will not let him out of torment long enough to see how his infliction is broadcast outward and who it really effects. Now combine that with the world’s biggest microphone being used by a man with enough means that it will be dumb luck for him to realize it as he has no consequences for his actions. It’s not impossible to make that realization on your own and it’s even harder to make it stick without medication to make your brain break out of a cycle that you have no more control over than anyone else, and it’s your own mind doing it to you.
CaptainZapp 3y ago
I don't think it's OK to remotely analyze a mental illness of another person. I think that Mr. Musk is an undiluted asshole and one of the worst douchebags to ever grace our planet, which he has proven again and again. But analyzing his mental condition is sure as shit not up to me or to anybody else.
- sverhagen 3y ago
  He kind of opens that door by interactively self-analyzing in the public space. Also, while you make that point, you declare a lot of judgement on his personality; is that really any better then?
  - CaptainZapp 3y ago
    I feel that it's my right to make a judgement call on his behavior. After all, he proved again and again what a sad excuse of a human being he is. But I don't think it's OK to judge his mental state as an outsider.
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      This is a forum. People will say stuff. You may or may not agree with the stuff they say. They'll do it anyway. Judging someone's mental state as an outsider is fine as long as you don't purport to do it from the perspective of telling them what to do next, that's pretending you're a doctor. But I've seen plenty of actual doctors do remote diagnosis of Musk's various mental issues (ditto: Trump, Putin) and I'm fine with it, I just take it with a grain of salt. If we take being a sad excuse of a human being as a reflection of someone's mental state then you are in fact engaging in the same, the only difference is whether or not you use terms with clinical relevance.
    - adroniser 3y ago
      Calling someone a sad excuse of a human being sure sounds like an assessment of their mental state lol.
    - singleshot_ 3y ago

3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago

I'm not sure when in the last 9 months since he bought Twitter you found Elon reflective and "down". It's been lunacy after lunacy every single week. Does it seem like manic? Yes. But when this behavior is persistent, not sure bipolar is the diagnosis per se.

shagie 3y ago
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/elon-musk-is-bipolar-has-terrible-lows-and-unrelenting-stress.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/elon-musk-is-bipolar-has-ter... > Sunday, on Twitter, Musk was also asked if he was bipolar, to which Musk replied, “yeah,” but then he explained further, saying his psychological highs and lows are associated with actual ups and downs in his life. > “Maybe not medically tho,” says his tweet. “Dunno. Bad feelings correlate to bad events, so maybe real problem is getting carried away in what I sign up for.” https://sports.yahoo.com/entertainment/elon-musk-tweeted-bipolar-190955762.html https://sports.yahoo.com/entertainment/elon-musk-tweeted-bip...
- 3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
  He's self-diagnosed Asperger's, self-diagnosed bipolar, many things.

justo-rivera 3y ago

In what sense is bipolar disorder worse than extreme unreflected and unchecked ego?

soderfoo 3y ago
Mixed episodes and the inevitable downward swing to depression. Mixed episodes are no joke, I've experienced a couple and hope to never do so again.
- zogrodea 3y ago
  I think (guessing) the two of you might possibly be using different definitions of “better”/“worse”. We’re not morally responsible for the fact some of us may have mental disorders (some like OCD which I have won’t leave us entirely), so stealing which we would be morally responsible for is worse than having a mental disorder. However, having a mental disorder would be worse than stealing in terms of its consequences (we just can’t get rid of it no matter how much we try). (At least I think it makes sense to accept both of your statements that way since I think having a large ego is morally bad independently of any consequences.)
superdug 3y ago
What I believe OP was getting at is that while he’s being an asshole he’s completely tormented by his own mind not allowing him empathy or understanding beyond his suffering. Since he, like so many with bipolar disorder (myself included) is that the cycle of suffering and abhorrent behavior will continue until he can accept that his brain will not let him out of torment long enough to see how his infliction is broadcast outward and who it really effects. Now combine that with the world’s biggest microphone being used by a man with enough means that it will be dumb luck for him to realize it as he has no consequences for his actions. It’s not impossible to make that realization on your own and it’s even harder to make it stick without medication to make your brain break out of a cycle that you have no more control over than anyone else, and it’s your own mind doing it to you.

CaptainZapp 3y ago

I don't think it's OK to remotely analyze a mental illness of another person. I think that Mr. Musk is an undiluted asshole and one of the worst douchebags to ever grace our planet, which he has proven again and again. But analyzing his mental condition is sure as shit not up to me or to anybody else.

sverhagen 3y ago
He kind of opens that door by interactively self-analyzing in the public space. Also, while you make that point, you declare a lot of judgement on his personality; is that really any better then?
- CaptainZapp 3y ago
  I feel that it's my right to make a judgement call on his behavior. After all, he proved again and again what a sad excuse of a human being he is. But I don't think it's OK to judge his mental state as an outsider.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    This is a forum. People will say stuff. You may or may not agree with the stuff they say. They'll do it anyway. Judging someone's mental state as an outsider is fine as long as you don't purport to do it from the perspective of telling them what to do next, that's pretending you're a doctor. But I've seen plenty of actual doctors do remote diagnosis of Musk's various mental issues (ditto: Trump, Putin) and I'm fine with it, I just take it with a grain of salt. If we take being a sad excuse of a human being as a reflection of someone's mental state then you are in fact engaging in the same, the only difference is whether or not you use terms with clinical relevance.
  - adroniser 3y ago
    Calling someone a sad excuse of a human being sure sounds like an assessment of their mental state lol.
  - singleshot_ 3y ago