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Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

ycombinator.com

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Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#281

Post by kareemsabri »

nichochar wrote: post #275
djcooley wrote: post #228

I have all the respect in the world for what Mr. Musk has accomplished, but it has come at an amazing cost to the people around him. He is worshiped from afar but reviled by many the closer you get to his inner circle. Go read "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future." The question I always ask myself with the people who move mountains is what cost did that progress come at? What would someone'…

This is true throughout history. Publicly selfless heroes (Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Elon Musk) often have to "sacrifice" (is it conscious?) their private selves, to be able to be the incarnation of what their work is. It bothers a lot of people, personally I am fine with it and would make the same decision. I think it's a personality thing.

Elon Musk is worth $12B. He's a businessman. He lives in a giant mansion. Ghandi owned like 5 things. I'm not knocking Musk, but this is a strange interpretation of a very successful capitalist.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#282

Post by elihu »

ythl wrote: post #251
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…

> "Yes, he's building rockets, but he took a bunch of government money!" To be fair, pretty much all of his companies rely on government subsidies. He's basically built his businesses around it.

Pretty much every company relies on government subsidies of some form or another. (Cheap transportation infrastructure and a workforce partially or entirely educated via the public school system are two of the larger subsidies governments provide.) Taxpayers generally don't have a problem with that when those subsidies are a net benefit to society.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#283

Post by striking »

ryandrake wrote: post #253
striking wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't take the comments too seriously. Especially only an hour after the story's been posted. Let the downvotes and the flags take their toll. Yes, people on the internet will be negative. No, that doesn't mean you should respond to them.

I disagree with the idea that negativity, in and of itself, deserves downvoting. Shouldn't these negative comments at least be evaluated for how they add to the discussion? Blanket dismissal of negativity leads only to "Yea it's great!" echo chambers.

I assume that sama's comment addresses harsh and unreasonable negativity.

Here's an example of a negative comment that (rightly) hasn't been downvoted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12509856

Here's an example of a negative comment that (rightly) has been downvoted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12508752

If sama is talking about negativity in general, then it would be a very sad thing to complain about people being negative. Because negativity is important, especially in discussions, especially for the reasons you touched upon. But I assume he knows better than to complain about people disagreeing.

I think he's just complaining about the number of people this topic has attracted that have come here simply to vent. And I agree, it's kind of a pain, but within a couple hours they get sorted out of the discussion. It's great that it's possible to say what they say on HN. And I just don't think it's worth complaining about, especially as someone involved in the production of the linked story. That's just feeding the trolls.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#284

Post by PieterH »

ryandrake wrote: post #244
astazangasta wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Heck I'm a "visionary" too, just add one billion dollars and tons of free time and see what I come up with! Thread winner. There is little difference between a billionaire and anyone else except a billion dollars.

I agree, it's brilliant, and a great counter to the idea of how the "entrepreneur hero" is intrinsically better than the rest of us.

And when Jobs died, we needed a new icon to worship and show us the Future. Musk was in the right place at the right time.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#285

Post by AndrewKemendo »

grecy wrote: post #242
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…

> It always saddens me when I see a slew of Debbie Downer comments from the HN crowd. My observation over the last few years has been a steady decline in the quality of comments on HN, and a steady increase in the number of Debbie Downer comments. No matter what someone is doing - there will always, always be a comment about how whatever they are trying to achieve is stupid and they should instead be doing x, y, z. I…

Nah, in fact I'd say it's the opposite. There are more middle if the road comments and meta complaining. The HN crowd is notoriously hard on everyone - especially so if there are technical questions involved -and it has been that way forever.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#287

Post by dilemma »

_RPM wrote: post #243
hbt wrote: post #161

What amazes me about Elon is the level of self control, discipline, perseverance, resilience, willpower etc. He's not the only one playing the game so effectively at that level but to me, he exemplifies rational behavior. I wish more entrepreneurs like Page or Bezos were in the public eye as much as Musk. I believe those traits are common to achieve your goals.

It's quite possible, that Page, and Bezos don't see much value in collaborating with the press. Maybe that seems like a non productive use of time to them. For example, look how much Zuck is in the press.

They don't need it because they have sustainable businesses regardless of the press, so they don't do it. Musk wouldn't have a business without constant coverage and a strong brand (brand equity helps him cut deals no one else could).

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#288

Post by CptJamesCook »

dpc_pw wrote: post #258

Relevant: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-06/how-elon-musk-used-... According to this, the answer to "How to Build the Future" is "make the story big, and get free money from government". Note: I have not fact-checked it or anything. Just find it interesting and relevant, so don't expect me to argue about it, and don't flag me as a troll.

Another way to phrase this is: If you take on big enough challenges that are important enough to America (and humanity), the government will rightfully help fund your quest.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#289

Post by leesalminen »

Paul_S wrote: post #278
iMuzz wrote: post #2

Question/Answer I found interesting: Sama> How should someone figure out how they should be useful? Elon> Whatever this thing is you are trying to create.. What would be the utility delta compared to the current state of the art times how many people it would affect?

What about all the people working in marketing, software patent lawyers, drug dealers? You want them to quit their jobs? --- Let me make my point in a less obtuse way. Most people make decisions about their careers based on opportunity and maximising profit. No one becomes a footballer to make the world a better place. This would all be fine as long as the capitalist market rewarded choices that make the world a bett…

'Tis an interesting point.

> Drug dealers

Perhaps drug dealers (and their suppliers) can implement testing, QA and proper labeling.

I'm not totally sure about software patent lawyers. But, deep down, my gut says that if software patent law wasn't to crappy, perhaps the occupation would be perceived in a better light. Maybe they could push for reform from the inside?

On the whole, I think every industry can do some introspection on how they can affect more people for the betterment of society. It would do us all some good.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#290

Post by Myrmornis »

etendue wrote: post #7

How would one go about meaningfully contributing to solving problems in genetics without having done the work leading to a MD or PhD (or both)?

You can definitely contribute. If you're a software engineer, then you could join a research lab as a scientific programmer. Good labs are well-funded in these areas and will have funding to cover salary for a programmer to implement data analysis pipelines, polish research software and make it publicly available etc.

Alternatively if you're a software engineer or a product designer, or many other roles, then you could join a company working on commercializing genetic medicine. They're are lots and those companies are definitely not just looking for people with PhDs.

Once in a place like that, you'd be able to chat further with people about your career direction.

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