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Ask HN: What is Elon Musk's world view?
I’ve been following Elon Musk for a while, initially because of his ties to figures like Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan from the so-called “intellectual dark web.” Recently, with his acquisition of Twitter and increasing influence, his public statements have become more controversial and polarizing.
While some of what he says seems nonsensical at first, I think it reflects a worldview that’s very different from the mainstream—ideas like the liberal left holding too much power or universities pushing “woke culture.” This worldview clearly shapes his decisions and the agenda he’s pushing.
I’m curious if there are any interviews, podcasts, or other sources where Musk clearly lays out his beliefs himself. It would be helpful to better understand his recent statements and potential long-term plans. Any recommendations?
- tocs3 2y agoI used to be a fan but now I think his world view is much more "Whatever suits me for the moment." There maybe times when that matches up with whatever others might believe or want but it is not to be relied upon.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoNot that I am aware of. There is a bite size interview he did regarding German politics [1], where he summarizes his views on several topics in a few lines. Much of it is applicable to the US as well. That said, I think very few people have a rationally cohesive world view, but rather a diverse set of conflicting heuristics they apply. I suspect his views are similar to the more coherent Peter Theil, who has written much more extensively about his philosophy and world view. I would recommend looking into his major political essays, starting with The Straussian Moment [2] [3] https://archive.is/bm9PX#selection-3371.0-3371.20 https://archive.is/bm9PX#selection-3371.0-3371.20 https://gwern.net/doc/politics/2007-thiel.pdf https://gwern.net/doc/politics/2007-thiel.pdf https://www.startuparchive.org/p/the-essays-talks-and-interviews-of-peter-thiel https://www.startuparchive.org/p/the-essays-talks-and-interv...
- surrTurr 2y agoThanks for the great links. It's my first time reading "The Straussian Moment"; it was a great read.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoThe linked text ([1]) is definitely not authored by E. Musk. Definitely not.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoWhat do you mean? It is an Op-ed in Musk's name, and he is widely criticized for it within Germany and without[1]. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/28/elon-musk-germany-afd-party https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/28/elon-musk-germ...
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoThis is how Welt introduces the text that is meant to represent Musk's thinking: > ein[...] Text, den der Unternehmer Musk WELT AM SONNTAG zur Verfügung stellte [...] Das schreibt Elon Musk: [...] That's very close to saying "Musk authored the text". The Guardian article is titled "Elon Musk pens German newspaper opinion piece [...]" clearly supporting the notion that Musk authored the text—which I don't believe.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoWhy dont you think that is the case? It is only 600 words written at a high school level and isn't especially complex. Im assuming it was written in english and translated. The Whet article (translated) says the following: Shortly before Christmas, a post by Elon Musk on his platform X caused controversy. According to him, only the AfD could prevent Germany's decline. In a text that the entrepreneur Musk made available to WELT AM SONNTAG, he tried to justify this statement. It is a text that calls for contradiction. Jan Philipp Burgard takes on this response. This is what Elon Musk writes:...
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoBecause I've listened a lot to this guy and read a lot def written by this guy and 600 words is way beyond any contiguous utterance I've ever heard or read by him. And what he produces definitely does not sound like it would get any better at length. He just doesn't have the high school level skills needed for that and not enough patience.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoYou've landed on a juicy strip of fly-paper. You assume there should be a world view, a coherent theory or... well, something. There's not. Musk is a hollow shell of a person. He has no principles, no ethics, no shame, no honor. He has one goal, and that is aggrandization of his ego. Getting rich—by stealing, appropriating, scheming, evading taxes, procuring public funding, withholding payments to the people that work or worked for him—whatever it takes, he'll just take it. He will not say thank you, and if you're among the ones holding his ladder, be prepared for a kick with the boot right where your teeth are. He will not cry over your dead body, and he has repeatedly shown that he doesn't care for other people, animals, wildlife—it's all up for grabs, creation is a fun house full of moving and not moving critters waiting to get exploited by him. He laughed over the cruel seal experiment they did at SpaceX (interview with Tucker Carlson). He ditches all and any regulations. He's not to be held accountable. He's beyond the rules. OK I'll stop here for the time being. Fascism is not a political direction. Fascism is crime against humanity. Elon Musk is a criminal already, now he has turned into fascist, we can be pretty sure his more heinous crimes are still lying in the future.
- Zigurd 2y agoHe may be a hollow shell, but, like the Straussians someone else here mentioned, he probably thinks he's putting one over on the normies.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoHe's a dangerous fascist who's trying to set the world on fire while youguys are haggling over this and that.
- mads 2y agoThe man is a drug addict, so I dont think you can expect much coherence there. Clearly demonstrated also by that guy also who analyzed his tweets, who could even extract data like the downward tolerance spiral musk was in.