Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

Post by synaesthesisx » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

clydethefrog wrote: post #66

bbctol wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like Elon Musk, but the hero-worship disturbs me. Yeah, he founded one pretty successful company, got in early at a very successful company, and has been using the money to fund cool projects ever since. I think Tesla and SpaceX are both interesting, but still experimental: he hasn't been singlehandedly Tony Starking up the future in a lab, he's just used a lot of money from making some smart/lucky decisions to hir…

>has been using the money to fund cool projects Musk and his companies' investors enjoy most of the financial upside of the government support, while taxpayers shoulder the cost. [1] http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

Post by guelo » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 7:39 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #105

It always saddens me when I see a slew of Debbie Downer comments from the HN crowd. "Yes, he ushered in the electric car revolution, but the production carbon footprint is still huge!" "Yes, he's building rockets, but he took a bunch of government money!" "Yes, he's paving the way to Mars, but what has he done for world hunger?" And it not just with Musk, but really with anyone who has been successful. I would have t…

Post by dave1619 » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 7:40 PM UTC

jwuphysics wrote: post #36

firasd wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While we're at it, these are great interviews and I'm glad they're being created and published, and I'd appreciate if the series was available as a podcast... I only noticed this new interview because I happened to be on HN right now.

I searched on my podcast app, and found an RSS feed that has the three existing episodes. Who would have known that YC has a SoundCloud account? https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:24682936...

Post by TeMPOraL » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 7:41 PM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #59

JoshTriplett wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot easier to go from "expensive treatment" to "inexpensive treatment" (and/or supporting funding) than to go from "no known solution" to "treatment" (however expensive). Asking people for funding for a cure for mortality is hard, not least of which convincing them of the problem, and then convincing them that a solution is not only feasible but realistic. Asking people to help make an existing cure available…

I'm not talking about a cure for death, but something that is the life extension analogue to plastic surgery.

Post by geedy » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 7:43 PM UTC

chorkpop wrote: post #120

He also exploits people because he's "building the future." He is an evil capitalist with a cult of personality and doesn't deserve the worship he gets.