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Karpathy, Carmack, Andreesen, Jensen, Dawkins and others who know him IRL say the same. It's endlessly curious how people who don't know him are confident they

Karpathy, Carmack, Andreesen, Jensen, Dawkins and others who know him IRL say the same. It's endlessly curious how people who don't know him are confident they know better.

archagon 2y ago
Many people who work under him say he’s the worst kind of seagull boss imaginable: swoops in, understands nothing, fires people for funsies, gives unreasonable orders, and leaves. Don’t be around when Musk is at the office is a common refrain. But yeah, I’m sure he presents himself well to his C-suite “peers.”
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- amazingman 2y ago
  Can confirm via anecdata: some people have always seen him as the narcissist child he is, and have proactively avoided reporting to him in any capacity. A few years ago I found this perplexing and hyperbolic. Boy was I wrong.
- ein0p 2y ago
  Who specifically? Could you name names? Or are you going to ask us to believe without evidence that the guy who got FIVE mega-Unicorns off the ground (3 of them "impossible") "understands nothing"?
  - lesuorac 2y ago
    That's actually pretty good evidence he understands nothing. Either he's the faster learner in the history of mankind or he actually knows very little about his _10_ companies, 14 children, and countless other video game accounts.
    - johnthewise 2y ago
      He seems to understand more than you suggest. https://www.astralcodexten.com/i/136923606/is-musk-smart-does-he-understand-the-stuff-his-companies-are-building https://www.astralcodexten.com/i/136923606/is-musk-smart-doe... He could be one of the greatest learners of all time as he is likely the greatest entrepreneur of all time.
    - Manabu-eo 2y ago
      He has a degree in Physics, that is like half of any engineering curriculum. Before funding SpaceX he hired several industry consultants to educate him, indicate aerospace engineering textbooks to study, etc. And then he had about 6 years of experience as almost full time CTO and CEO of SpaceX, until he had to divide his attention with Tesla. And somehow, after he and the SpaceX team achieved what dozens of other teams with more funding failed, he "understands nothing"? No need to be "the faster learner in the history of mankind". Someone being capable in one field doesn't means he isn't a insufferable jerk or a moron in other fields. I don't understand this impulse to paint someone as completely black or completely white.
      - pqtyw 2y ago
        > He has a degree in Physics Consensus seems to be that he has some kind of a dual degree (obtained simultaneously) which includes B.S. in economics and a B.A.(!) in physics. That A would imply that he probably took the easier physics related classes (and probably not that many in total given the 2 degrees for 1 thing). Regardless, a bachelor degree hardly means much anyway... Is there any indication that he's a particularly (or at all) talented engineer (software or any other field)? I mean, yeah, I agree that it doesn't really matter or change much. Just like Jobs had better/more important things (not being sarcastic) to do than directly designing hardware or writing software himself.
        Manabu-eo 2y ago
        I don't know how B.S. and B.A. degrees work, but apparently that B.A. in physics was enough for him be accepted to a graduate program in materials science at Stanford University. He also "held two internships in Silicon Valley: one at energy storage startup Pinnacle Research Institute, which investigated electrolytic supercapacitors for energy storage, and another at Palo Alto–based startup Rocket Science Games."[1] , has some software patents (software patents should be abolished) from his time at Zip2, and made and sold a simple game when he was twelve. So he has a little experience working directly at the low level with his physics degree and coding knowledge, but of course it was not his talent in those that made him a billionaire, it might even have been the opposite. So there is indication for the "at all" but not on how talented. I guess one versed in BASIC can read the source of his game, but that was when he was twelve... But yeah, nowadays he has thousands of engineers working under him, of course he is going to delegate. The the important thing is the system engineering, making sure the efforts are going in the right direction and well coordinated. He seems knowledgeable and talented enough at that. Evidence for SpaceX: https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/evidence_that_musk_is_the_chief_engineer_of_spacex/ https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/eviden... [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191228213526/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/09/how-internships-helped-elon-musk-figure-out-his-future.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191228213526/https://www.cnbc.... , https://fortune.com/longform/book-excerpt-paypal-founders-elon-musk-max-levchin/ https://fortune.com/longform/book-excerpt-paypal-founders-el...
cheema33 2y ago
> Karpathy, Carmack, Andreesen, Jensen, Dawkins and others who know him IRL say the same. Most of these people know that there is a price to pay for bruising Elon's ego. We all know he is vindictive. Not unlike his new friend.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  Yep. This came out in that recent issue with him hiring someone to play a game. As I recall, he got called out for it by some streamer, and Elon ended up blocking him.
SilverBirch 2y ago
You can list lots of people who haven't suffered his wrath. But that's not evidence, that's lack of evidence. I can provide you with someone who does have his phone number and does know him and says something quite different[1]. There's a litany of examples of Musk deliberately endangering people he's decided to go to war with - whether that's spurious accusations of pedophilia or forcing a former employee to go into hiding. [1]:https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon

Karpathy, Carmack, Andreesen, Jensen, Dawkins and others who know him IRL say the same. It's endlessly curious how people who don't know him are confident they know better.

archagon 2y ago

Many people who work under him say he’s the worst kind of seagull boss imaginable: swoops in, understands nothing, fires people for funsies, gives unreasonable orders, and leaves. Don’t be around when Musk is at the office is a common refrain. But yeah, I’m sure he presents himself well to his C-suite “peers.”

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
amazingman 2y ago
Can confirm via anecdata: some people have always seen him as the narcissist child he is, and have proactively avoided reporting to him in any capacity. A few years ago I found this perplexing and hyperbolic. Boy was I wrong.
ein0p 2y ago
Who specifically? Could you name names? Or are you going to ask us to believe without evidence that the guy who got FIVE mega-Unicorns off the ground (3 of them "impossible") "understands nothing"?
- lesuorac 2y ago
  That's actually pretty good evidence he understands nothing. Either he's the faster learner in the history of mankind or he actually knows very little about his _10_ companies, 14 children, and countless other video game accounts.
  - johnthewise 2y ago
    He seems to understand more than you suggest. https://www.astralcodexten.com/i/136923606/is-musk-smart-does-he-understand-the-stuff-his-companies-are-building https://www.astralcodexten.com/i/136923606/is-musk-smart-doe... He could be one of the greatest learners of all time as he is likely the greatest entrepreneur of all time.
  - Manabu-eo 2y ago
    He has a degree in Physics, that is like half of any engineering curriculum. Before funding SpaceX he hired several industry consultants to educate him, indicate aerospace engineering textbooks to study, etc. And then he had about 6 years of experience as almost full time CTO and CEO of SpaceX, until he had to divide his attention with Tesla. And somehow, after he and the SpaceX team achieved what dozens of other teams with more funding failed, he "understands nothing"? No need to be "the faster learner in the history of mankind". Someone being capable in one field doesn't means he isn't a insufferable jerk or a moron in other fields. I don't understand this impulse to paint someone as completely black or completely white.
    - pqtyw 2y ago
      > He has a degree in Physics Consensus seems to be that he has some kind of a dual degree (obtained simultaneously) which includes B.S. in economics and a B.A.(!) in physics. That A would imply that he probably took the easier physics related classes (and probably not that many in total given the 2 degrees for 1 thing). Regardless, a bachelor degree hardly means much anyway... Is there any indication that he's a particularly (or at all) talented engineer (software or any other field)? I mean, yeah, I agree that it doesn't really matter or change much. Just like Jobs had better/more important things (not being sarcastic) to do than directly designing hardware or writing software himself.
      - Manabu-eo 2y ago
        I don't know how B.S. and B.A. degrees work, but apparently that B.A. in physics was enough for him be accepted to a graduate program in materials science at Stanford University. He also "held two internships in Silicon Valley: one at energy storage startup Pinnacle Research Institute, which investigated electrolytic supercapacitors for energy storage, and another at Palo Alto–based startup Rocket Science Games."[1] , has some software patents (software patents should be abolished) from his time at Zip2, and made and sold a simple game when he was twelve. So he has a little experience working directly at the low level with his physics degree and coding knowledge, but of course it was not his talent in those that made him a billionaire, it might even have been the opposite. So there is indication for the "at all" but not on how talented. I guess one versed in BASIC can read the source of his game, but that was when he was twelve... But yeah, nowadays he has thousands of engineers working under him, of course he is going to delegate. The the important thing is the system engineering, making sure the efforts are going in the right direction and well coordinated. He seems knowledgeable and talented enough at that. Evidence for SpaceX: https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/evidence_that_musk_is_the_chief_engineer_of_spacex/ https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/eviden... [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191228213526/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/09/how-internships-helped-elon-musk-figure-out-his-future.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191228213526/https://www.cnbc.... , https://fortune.com/longform/book-excerpt-paypal-founders-elon-musk-max-levchin/ https://fortune.com/longform/book-excerpt-paypal-founders-el...

cheema33 2y ago

> Karpathy, Carmack, Andreesen, Jensen, Dawkins and others who know him IRL say the same. Most of these people know that there is a price to pay for bruising Elon's ego. We all know he is vindictive. Not unlike his new friend.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Yep. This came out in that recent issue with him hiring someone to play a game. As I recall, he got called out for it by some streamer, and Elon ended up blocking him.

SilverBirch 2y ago

You can list lots of people who haven't suffered his wrath. But that's not evidence, that's lack of evidence. I can provide you with someone who does have his phone number and does know him and says something quite different[1]. There's a litany of examples of Musk deliberately endangering people he's decided to go to war with - whether that's spurious accusations of pedophilia or forcing a former employee to go into hiding. [1]:https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon