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Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

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Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#41

Post by gizmo »

pgeorgi wrote: post #25
gizmo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon's first startup was CMS software. Not all that sexy either. And he did that until he was 28. It's easy to think he's godlike, but he didn't get to work on space ships when he was 22.

Oh. 28. He really wasted the best part of his life on the CMS... (But I suppose, life ends at 30 for many here, given the spin many VCs try to put on entrepreneurship)

The sarcasm makes no sense. I point out that he didn't start working on the really cool projects right away and that's supposed to support the notion that life ends at 30? I don't get it. The guy's clearly at the top of his game and he's 40.

The people who are revered here (justly or not) are people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Richard Branson. All in their 40s and 50s.

And yes, if you're going to do a startup you might as well do it in your 20s (all of the people above did!) because you have fewer responsibilities when you're young, and when you're older you often can't afford to put your life on hold.

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#42

Post by outworlder »

prewett wrote: post #27

The article says "in addition to reducing carbon emissions" in regard to the Tesla. I can't see how electric cars actually reduce pollution/emissions of any kind. Typical coal -> electricity is 33% efficient, but can be up to 50% [1], electricty to battery is 75% [2], and electric motors are about 92% [3]. The typical efficiency will be .33 * .75 * .92 = 23%, with a maximum of 35%. Gasoline engine efficiency is 25 -…

You are forgetting a few things:

1-Coal is not the only power source there is 2-Batteries are not the only energy storage device there is 3-It is difficult to upgrade a whole fleet, as we can see by the difficulty of changing it to be a electric-only fleet. Power plants are much easier to upgrade by comparison - all cars are then instantly more efficient. 4-Electric engines do not have to be kept running while the car is stopped (heavy traffic, or traffic lights). This benefits them greatly in heavily populated urban centers. 5-You can have regenerative breaking and recover some of the lost energy. However small, this is something gas engines cannot do. 6-Several components are not needed. Electric engines do not have the same lubrication requirements of internal combustion engines. So no oil, no heat sinks and water pumps (except in some implementations, to cool batteries while charging), electric generator (unless hybrid), exhaust pipes, fuel catalysts, spark plugs (and no high-voltage coils), fuel pumps.. the list goes on and on. In some implementations you could even get rid of the differential transmission and drive the wheels independently. Some do not even need to shift gears, as electric motors can reach very high RPMs (and have a large power to weight ratio). 7-Less sound pollution

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#43

Post by AznHisoka »

While not anyone has the luxury of bootstrapping a space company in their 20's.. I still think most startups have lots of other opportunities to tackle bigger problems. The problem is we hang out in tech, and aren't exposed to those problems. But if we hang out with biologists, doctors, teachers, etc.. they'll all tell you problems that need solving. Technology can't solve everything, but paired with the insight of someone from those other fields, it can make a dent.

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#45

Post by maaku »

damoncali wrote: post #36
maaku wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the space business, and there are no other organizations in the world doing space the way Elon is with SpaceX. The framework is entirely different, which is far more important than you might give credit. None of his competitors are doing business in a way that will credibly open up space as an entrepreneurial frontier like we have here in the valley.

Can you elaborate? I used to work in the space industry, but it's been some time. I spent some time at Orbital at a time when they were trying to launch ORBCOMM. What they were doing seems similar in feel to SpaceX. I also noted that ORBCOMM is one of the first scheduled launches for SpaceX. Interestingly, Orbital was started by an entrepreneur with a vision of small launch vehicles and he managed to actually pull it…

In the quickest summary, SpaceX is structuring their business in such a way as to grow fast, get profitable, and remove the need for external funding. They are using COTS (government funding) in much the same way as a silicon valley company would use a VC to provide capital needed for rapid growth. They've been using that money coming in the door to create a non-government market and to make their technology very cost effective in order to grow the space market. Orbital has structured their COTS approach in such a way that they will be able to meet objectives and stay profitable, but it is not an evolutionary path towards a general space architecture.

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#47

Post by cdjarrell »

Elon Musk will be one of the most influential people in the world for the next 20-30 years, not just directly from his companies but also from others in the industries he's pushing.

Let's not forget Elon is also Chairman of the Board for SolarCity as well, which is leading the distributed solar PV market.

He's pushing the human race forward in many areas, all at the same time. Pretty remarkable

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#48

Post by zerostar07 »

damoncali wrote: post #46
zerostar07 wrote: post #44

If I dare ask, why does the human race want to leave the earth? There's no reason or benefit. There are more interesting, more pressing issues having mostly to do with our biology.

Because we can.

We could, 40 years ago

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#49

Post by SatvikBeri »

JamesBlair wrote: post #20
lionhearted wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometimes I wonder if I'm creating any value in the world. ... Hopefully this'll be a stepping stone towards financing a startup that'll be a little more meaningful. I think almost everyone thinks this, but y'know what? It's a lie. People keep saying they'll do what really motivates and engages them real, real soon... just as soon as this obviously-must-be-done thing is done. But life, life is a series of obviously…

Although I am probably not the intended audience of your message, I can't agree with the sentiment. Akrasia has to have a reason, even if it makes no rational sense, and all my believing in "stop doing [unimportant things] and start doing what actually matters" seems to do is make me feel guilty and worthless for being unable to find the motivation to do what actually matters to me. I know what I'd like to be doing,…

Actions tend to follow emotions, not rational decisions. And connecting your long term plans to your present day emotions is nontrivial.

This is where Personal Development resources like Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, etc. can be very useful. I know it's not particularly scientific, but I, and several of my friends, have personally found visualization exercises to be extremely helpful in aligning my motivation with my long term goals. Here is a starting point that worked well for me: http://www.petermichaud.com/essays/5-steps-to-overcome-procr...

I'd like to reiterate that connecting emotions with rational, long term decisions is not especially easy, but it is by far one of the most useful skills I developed.

Re: Elon Musk is pushing the human race forward

#50

Post by prewett »

outworlder wrote: post #42
prewett wrote: post #27

The article says "in addition to reducing carbon emissions" in regard to the Tesla. I can't see how electric cars actually reduce pollution/emissions of any kind. Typical coal -> electricity is 33% efficient, but can be up to 50% [1], electricty to battery is 75% [2], and electric motors are about 92% [3]. The typical efficiency will be .33 * .75 * .92 = 23%, with a maximum of 35%. Gasoline engine efficiency is 25 -…

You are forgetting a few things: 1-Coal is not the only power source there is 2-Batteries are not the only energy storage device there is 3-It is difficult to upgrade a whole fleet, as we can see by the difficulty of changing it to be a electric-only fleet. Power plants are much easier to upgrade by comparison - all cars are then instantly more efficient. 4-Electric engines do not have to be kept running while the ca…

Points 4, 6, and 7 are a pretty compelling argument for electric cars, at least in cities (plus the shifting of exhaust outside the city).

I just find it difficult to believe that converting three times (electricity source -> electricty -> storage -> mechanical energy) is going to be more efficient than converting once (gasoline -> mechanical).

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