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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

#421

Post by thr0waway1239 »

mikepk wrote: post #252
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'…

"I admit that mathematical science is a good thing. But excessive devotion to it is a bad thing. If we evolved a race of Isaac Newtons, that would not be progress. For the price Newton had to pay for being a supreme intellect was that he was incapable of friendship, love, fatherhood, and many other desirable things. As a man he was a failure; as a monster he was superb." -- Aldus Huxley

Counterpoint from the philosopher George Bernard Shaw:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#422

Post by pvdebbe »

gameshot911 wrote: post #393
sbuttgereit wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...make the world a better place. Just what the hell does anyone even mean by "make the world a better place"?! I am willing to bet that if we held a forum to settle what a "better world" means, we'd have to adjourn it with no resolution. The questions of better world for whom, and on what terms, by what definition, what expense and, oh yeah, who pays the bill and why would never find one conclusion. What you really…

The world is a better place when our desires are attained.

Even Hitler's desires?

One has to remember that "a better world" is a very subjective thing.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#423

Post by imh »

mikepk wrote: post #252
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'…

"I admit that mathematical science is a good thing. But excessive devotion to it is a bad thing. If we evolved a race of Isaac Newtons, that would not be progress. For the price Newton had to pay for being a supreme intellect was that he was incapable of friendship, love, fatherhood, and many other desirable things. As a man he was a failure; as a monster he was superb." -- Aldus Huxley

I don't like the implication that you have to choose between excellence/"supreme intellect" and niceness. It excuses all sorts of assholes who believe that about themselves. What's wrong with being someone like Terry Tao?

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#425

Post by intended »

marvin wrote: post #114
soufron wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Affect like how? As of today they're useless, except for Tesla who's motivating car automakers to go towards autonomous cars - but they had the tech before.

Tesla's energy storage enables people to use solar energy at night, without the process being a big hassle. If it gets cheap enough, it will make solar power competitive with fossil power in most scenarios. Currently, the battery installations are a cost-competitive alternative to fossil ways of covering peak load. Calling it useless is probably a stretch. Ditto with Tesla's cars; they aren't a drop-in replacement fo…

So what happens to the batteries when they go bad or old?

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#426

Post by lunula »

Bakary wrote: post #400
rpedela wrote: post #378

I would be far more interested in how to build a successful business. Everyone asks Elon about his big ideas, but how do you turn those big ideas into reality, specifically? I have never seen anyone ask him those questions. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with Jessica Livingston because that was the primary topic. A missed opportunity in my opinion. I hope the rest of the interviews are more about the nuts and bol…

The problem is that even with a highly intelligent and driven person like Musk there also is a definite role played by luck and circumstances. Therefore it's highly unlikely to be able to garner some actionable insights from past successes other than the most general ones.

Which ironically means that such people are not uniquely prepared to guide our future. Maybe we could pick selfless but intelligent people as our leaders. Any benefit that this "experience" gives to Mr. Musk is overwhelmed by his penchant for flashy, greedy narcissism. Exhibit: the hyperloop.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#428

Post by AstralStorm »

maroonblazer wrote: post #394
Paul_S wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That strategy is similar to our current best strategy for bringing peace by killing more people than the enemy. It's proven to work but it is very wasteful on both sides.

Segmenting a market, analyzing user needs, determining optimal pricing and developing effective messaging (among other things) is wasteful...how?

Segmenting a market is often suboptimal. See how Intel is "segmenting" their CPU market by hard locking features in "consumer" CPUs. This effectively means they are not available unless you pay big big money.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#429

Post by sheer_horror »

projektir wrote: post #341
rwallace wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are any number of people who are far more toxic to those around them without having accomplished any significant progress in the process, so Elon Musk is a poor choice of target for that criticism.

I don't know about that, Musk has that effect on some of the best people, and his effect, due to his status, is very strong. I'm actually highly concerned about Musk's overall effect on society, specifically due to the kind of people he'll have that effect on.

I don't understand why you would be concerned and not elated by his effect on society. Tech has been stuck for 40 years in most major industries, and in a time when it seems impossible to overcome the entrenched incumbents of those industries, here comes a person who shows us that it is in fact possible. Now people have hope that our future will be decided not by frail, unmoving conglomerates, but instead by nimble and innovative start ups. There are going to be more science ventures thanks to that.

Re: Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

#430

Post by AstralStorm »

karmelapple wrote: post #404
dpark wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An hour spent watching a football game is an hour less committing crime or doing other unsavory acts. Not for the vast, vast majority of people watching football. Most people aren't engaging in crime or "unsavory acts" whenever they have to entertain themselves. I think mass entertainment is definitely for the greater good, but not because it reduces crime in any appreciable fashion.

Maybe not crime, but also stops people from doing any other bad things. Not to mention the good social bits of being a fan of something and being able to bond with strangers over fandom.

Also stops some people from doing good things - they'd be bored, so they'd either go after politics (yup, either big or local), actual art (ok), maybe make something as in crafts (probably best outcome).
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