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What a cynical view of the world. Whilst it can be true (that people have different incentives than they display), it's not always true, nor necessarily import

What a cynical view of the world. Whilst it can be true (that people have different incentives than they display), it's not always true, nor necessarily important.

bumby 2y ago
Understanding people's incentives is extremely important if you want to understand their behavior. As Charlie Munger once said, "Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome." Based on your replies, you seem to think neither incentives or promises are important in business and, given the context, possibly not even profits. To give you the benefit of the doubt that those aren't just shallow dismissals, what do you think is important?
- KoolKat23 2y ago
  Improving the human condition. His intentions could be interplanetary expansion, profits, or more likely both. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day we now have reusable rockets and starlink thanks to this.
  - bumby 2y ago
    Do you extend the same generous interpretations to the other space-faring company owners like Bezos, Branson, Bigelow etc. or is this unique to Musk?
    - KoolKat23 2y ago
      Well SpaceX has delivered reusable orbital rockets, it is currently developing starship, those were stated pre-requisites for his mars plan. Blue origin has delivered New Glenn but it's only suborbital so far? Still possible, at the stroke of a pen, they'll get the needed funds to develop capabilities (so at Bezos mercy), they also are actively bidding for government contracts (where the money to make it sustainable is). Virgin Galactic went bankrupt and no one seems to be willing to fund it, so no to them. I don't follow Bigelow closely, I see they closed down.
      - bumby 2y ago
        I meant moreso the “betterment of the human condition” than the Mars mission specifically. I believe Bezos has said he’s not in favor of an approach to colonize another planet. My issue is that each of those steps can also be cast as a pathway to more profit. Granted profit and Mars/betterment of the human condition aren’t mutually exclusive, but outside of mere talk I haven’t seen anything convincing that differentiates that one is the primary objective, e.g., a move that undermines profitability but helps the Mars mission

What a cynical view of the world. Whilst it can be true (that people have different incentives than they display), it's not always true, nor necessarily important.

bumby 2y ago

Understanding people's incentives is extremely important if you want to understand their behavior. As Charlie Munger once said, "Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome." Based on your replies, you seem to think neither incentives or promises are important in business and, given the context, possibly not even profits. To give you the benefit of the doubt that those aren't just shallow dismissals, what do you think is important?

KoolKat23 2y ago
Improving the human condition. His intentions could be interplanetary expansion, profits, or more likely both. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day we now have reusable rockets and starlink thanks to this.
- bumby 2y ago
  Do you extend the same generous interpretations to the other space-faring company owners like Bezos, Branson, Bigelow etc. or is this unique to Musk?
  - KoolKat23 2y ago
    Well SpaceX has delivered reusable orbital rockets, it is currently developing starship, those were stated pre-requisites for his mars plan. Blue origin has delivered New Glenn but it's only suborbital so far? Still possible, at the stroke of a pen, they'll get the needed funds to develop capabilities (so at Bezos mercy), they also are actively bidding for government contracts (where the money to make it sustainable is). Virgin Galactic went bankrupt and no one seems to be willing to fund it, so no to them. I don't follow Bigelow closely, I see they closed down.
    - bumby 2y ago
      I meant moreso the “betterment of the human condition” than the Mars mission specifically. I believe Bezos has said he’s not in favor of an approach to colonize another planet. My issue is that each of those steps can also be cast as a pathway to more profit. Granted profit and Mars/betterment of the human condition aren’t mutually exclusive, but outside of mere talk I haven’t seen anything convincing that differentiates that one is the primary objective, e.g., a move that undermines profitability but helps the Mars mission