7 ms·

Are we really going to start analyzing a man's marriage now? This is not a tabloid. :/

by Me1000 14y ago

untog 14y ago
I agree with your sentiment but I'm actually kind of conflicted. Inspecting into his marriage feels dirty and indeed, tabloid. But if we want to get the full picture of entrepreneurial life, we can't ignore personal life. If you want to be the next Elon Musk it is probably worth noting that his marriage failed- if nothing else, just to remind you that even when you're a billionaire it is very difficult to have it all.
- travisp 14y ago
  But, relationships are very personal and private. It is very difficult to know enough details about the people involved and their relationship with one another to draw any real conclusions from the simple failure of a relationship.
  - vanderZwan 14y ago
    > But, relationships are very personal and private. I'm not going to disagree on this being a private issue, but if we're talking about why billionaires do not share Elon Musk's personality, doesn't it make perfect sense to discuss things like this?
    - travisp 14y ago
      I don't mean private in the sense that we shouldn't discuss them, I mean private in the sense that the actual details of the relationship occur in private and that we don't know them. It is very hard to judge a relationship from the outside because a lot of what goes on in a relationship is private: private conversations and communication, the way a person expresses love or likes to be shown that they are loved, the way romantic conflicts are handled, what initially attracted a couple to each other, minor quirks and eccentricities, pet peeves, sexual compatibility, changes in personality and values, and so on. I don't think we really know most of these things about Elon Musk's marriage, and I would be hesitant to draw broad conclusions without them.
    - jlgreco 14y ago
      A failed marriage is not exactly rare. You may as well attempt to "discuss" the fact that he married in the first place.
- joshuahedlund 14y ago
  True, but couldn't Bill Gates be a counterexample?
  - untog 14y ago
    Perhaps. But I'd argue they are very different entrepreneurs- Bill Gates was successful young and stuck with his original success. Musk has darted all over the place looking for further successes. That must have an effect on your life stability.
- coob 14y ago
  Why stop at his personal life? Would you like to look at his medical records too?
  - sigzero 14y ago
    Didn't people really really want to do that with Jobs?
- lutusp 14y ago
  > Inspecting into his marriage feels dirty and indeed, tabloid. But if we want to get the full picture of entrepreneurial life, we can't ignore personal life. On the contrary, you can, and you should. The era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. People shouldn't be pressured into a family lifestyle if they don't feel a motivation in that direction. Can you tell me the names of Einstein's children? No? How about two-time Nobel Prizewinner Marie Curie? Ironically, on Curie's Wikipedia page, her children (two) are only mentioned in passing -- they just weren't important enough to include in her list of noteworthy lifetime accomplishments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie And if we accept the idea that children are an option, not a requirement, guess who benefits the most? Children, of course. The children who are brought into existence without social pressure can feel assurance they they were planned, not mistakes.
  - sigzero 14y ago
    > he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. No it's not. Those things help to define a person. I don't think you entirely got the nuance that the OP was getting at.
    - lutusp 14y ago
      >> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. > No it's not. Those things help to define a person. When you try to refute someone's position, it's expected that you will offer a counterargument, not a different topic. Yes, relationships help define a person. No, that doesn't mean the era hasn't ended in which one's relationships are central to one's identity.
      - milkshakes 14y ago
        Sure, I'll bite. You argue that family is no longer important (or, 'optional', in your words) because Wikipedia does not elevate the status of, or obsess over the details of the family of a notable person in the same fashion. This is a ridiculous argument [1]. Who cares what Wikipedia thinks? Who cares what google thinks? Who cares what society thinks? A relationship is a very personal connection between two people. Perhaps it doesn't translate well to Wikipedia, but it's absurd to assert that they're not worth having just because they're not preserved for all eternity. [1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority
jessriedel 14y ago
If you're looking to understand either (1) why there's a dearth of Elon Musks (like the OP) or (2) whether you and I should want to be like Musk (like edw519), then the complete man's life seems very pertinent. The thing that makes analysis of celebrity personal lives in tabloids such a waste of time is that it's done for titillation and emotional shallowness (i.e. I can feel good about myself because this supposed big shot can't even keep his marriage together), rather than thoughtful analysis.
oliverhunt 14y ago
His marriage is relevant to the question - perhaps there is 'only one Elon Musk' because few others are happy to sacrifice family life in the way he is. Hacker News is not used to the answer being social and not technical and suggesting that this mention of his marriage and an unnecessary value judgement on its failure by OP is not tabloid levels of personal investigation.

Are we really going to start analyzing a man's marriage now? This is not a tabloid. :/

by Me1000 14y ago

Are we really going to start analyzing a man's marriage now? This is not a tabloid. :/

untog 14y ago

I agree with your sentiment but I'm actually kind of conflicted. Inspecting into his marriage feels dirty and indeed, tabloid. But if we want to get the full picture of entrepreneurial life, we can't ignore personal life. If you want to be the next Elon Musk it is probably worth noting that his marriage failed- if nothing else, just to remind you that even when you're a billionaire it is very difficult to have it all.

travisp 14y ago
But, relationships are very personal and private. It is very difficult to know enough details about the people involved and their relationship with one another to draw any real conclusions from the simple failure of a relationship.
- vanderZwan 14y ago
  > But, relationships are very personal and private. I'm not going to disagree on this being a private issue, but if we're talking about why billionaires do not share Elon Musk's personality, doesn't it make perfect sense to discuss things like this?
  - travisp 14y ago
    I don't mean private in the sense that we shouldn't discuss them, I mean private in the sense that the actual details of the relationship occur in private and that we don't know them. It is very hard to judge a relationship from the outside because a lot of what goes on in a relationship is private: private conversations and communication, the way a person expresses love or likes to be shown that they are loved, the way romantic conflicts are handled, what initially attracted a couple to each other, minor quirks and eccentricities, pet peeves, sexual compatibility, changes in personality and values, and so on. I don't think we really know most of these things about Elon Musk's marriage, and I would be hesitant to draw broad conclusions without them.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    A failed marriage is not exactly rare. You may as well attempt to "discuss" the fact that he married in the first place.
joshuahedlund 14y ago
True, but couldn't Bill Gates be a counterexample?
- untog 14y ago
  Perhaps. But I'd argue they are very different entrepreneurs- Bill Gates was successful young and stuck with his original success. Musk has darted all over the place looking for further successes. That must have an effect on your life stability.
coob 14y ago
Why stop at his personal life? Would you like to look at his medical records too?
- sigzero 14y ago
  Didn't people really really want to do that with Jobs?
lutusp 14y ago
> Inspecting into his marriage feels dirty and indeed, tabloid. But if we want to get the full picture of entrepreneurial life, we can't ignore personal life. On the contrary, you can, and you should. The era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. People shouldn't be pressured into a family lifestyle if they don't feel a motivation in that direction. Can you tell me the names of Einstein's children? No? How about two-time Nobel Prizewinner Marie Curie? Ironically, on Curie's Wikipedia page, her children (two) are only mentioned in passing -- they just weren't important enough to include in her list of noteworthy lifetime accomplishments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie And if we accept the idea that children are an option, not a requirement, guess who benefits the most? Children, of course. The children who are brought into existence without social pressure can feel assurance they they were planned, not mistakes.
- sigzero 14y ago
  > he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. No it's not. Those things help to define a person. I don't think you entirely got the nuance that the OP was getting at.
  - lutusp 14y ago
    >> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. > No it's not. Those things help to define a person. When you try to refute someone's position, it's expected that you will offer a counterargument, not a different topic. Yes, relationships help define a person. No, that doesn't mean the era hasn't ended in which one's relationships are central to one's identity.
    - milkshakes 14y ago
      Sure, I'll bite. You argue that family is no longer important (or, 'optional', in your words) because Wikipedia does not elevate the status of, or obsess over the details of the family of a notable person in the same fashion. This is a ridiculous argument [1]. Who cares what Wikipedia thinks? Who cares what google thinks? Who cares what society thinks? A relationship is a very personal connection between two people. Perhaps it doesn't translate well to Wikipedia, but it's absurd to assert that they're not worth having just because they're not preserved for all eternity. [1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

jessriedel 14y ago

If you're looking to understand either (1) why there's a dearth of Elon Musks (like the OP) or (2) whether you and I should want to be like Musk (like edw519), then the complete man's life seems very pertinent. The thing that makes analysis of celebrity personal lives in tabloids such a waste of time is that it's done for titillation and emotional shallowness (i.e. I can feel good about myself because this supposed big shot can't even keep his marriage together), rather than thoughtful analysis.

oliverhunt 14y ago

His marriage is relevant to the question - perhaps there is 'only one Elon Musk' because few others are happy to sacrifice family life in the way he is. Hacker News is not used to the answer being social and not technical and suggesting that this mention of his marriage and an unnecessary value judgement on its failure by OP is not tabloid levels of personal investigation.