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Why is there only one Elon Musk?

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Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#91

Post by simonsarris »

I sympathize with the author, and I think a lot of the comments here are missing at least part of the point of the post.

Maybe its 12 years of catholic school plus a philosophy degree talking, but in times of peace my brain likes to hold everyone guilty of all the good they didn't do. This applies to me, you, congress, billionaires, and so on. The author swaps my "good" for "awesome stuff", but I think the feeling is probably similar.

In other words, I think that being a billionaire and doing nothing ambitious with their money is much less impressive than not being a billionaire. I think the author is remarking upon that in a similar way.

I think the author is slightly incorrect in thinking Musk is the only one, but that doesn't really detract from his general point.

(Of course, billionaires don't "owe" us/society anything, though some might be able to argue that society allowing one person to accumulate such wealth ought to have some kind of obligation, but as it stands they don't, and that's probably a topic for another time)

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#92

Post by travisp »

vanderZwan wrote: post #78
travisp wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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?

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.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#93

Post by codex »

While there are few billionaires, which is a big part of the story, I would argue that there are plenty of Elon Musks out there, but only a finite capacity of humans and media to idolize. There is only so much attention to go around. Therefore, there is only one or two Elon Musks at a time. He has filled the role Steve Jobs once had in the eyes of the technorati.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#95

Post by rgbrenner »

resu_nimda wrote: post #90
rgbrenner wrote: post #58

You really have to have a terrible case of tunnel vision to write this post. One Elon Musk? Sure, I only see one guy named Elon Musk on the list of billionaires. What is the requirement here? A space company? There are several of those.. Jeff Bezos (worth 23b) has Blue Orgin. He says "cool sci-fi shit"... What about self-driving cars? Those aren't sci-fi enough for you? How is Tesla's battery powered car MORE sci-fi-…

So I guess you didn't read the full article before blasting off...he specifically pointed out self-driving cars, as well as numerous other non-Musk sci-fi initiatives. His point is less about a dearth of cool sci-fi shit than a lack of extremely wealthy individuals wielding their fortunes to aggressively push these things. Edit: And not just "a space company." A space company, an electric car company, a renewable ene…

Yes, he does mention self-driving cars, conveniently leaving out that it's Google, a company controlled by 2 billionaires.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#96

Post by pdenya »

barredo wrote: post #47
edw519 wrote: post #30

This post reminds me of that old joke: Husband: I am the head of the household! I determine our family's position on all of the major economic, political, and social issues of the day! Wife: I decide the little things, like where we'll live, what we'll eat, and where the kids go to school. As much as I admire the dreams and accomplishments of Elon Musk, I have trouble getting past the idea that he failed to maintain…

A good marriage can be way more complicated than putting rockets into space.

To be fair a lot more people have figured out how to have a good marriage than how to put rockets into space.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#97

Post by danso »

This is one of the more annoyingly shortsighted posts I've read on HN in a long while. It reflects the attitude of someone too spoonfed by blockbuster movie culture: if shit ain't being blown up, then who cares?

When Norman Borlaug died a few years back, there were a lot of people who thought, "Who?" And when they learned that this farm-raised Iowan is credited with saving a billion human lives, they said, "Well why wasn't he celebrated more?"

And the mindset of the OP, well, there's your answer.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#98

Post by ry0ohki »

gazrogers wrote: post #85
Egregore wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's more importing preserving a marriage or flying to Mars?

If you're their kids, I'm pretty sure the marriage comes out on top.

I don't know, as a child of divorce, I think having a dad who pioneered flight to Mars would be better then my parents staying in an unhappy relationship.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#99

Post by untog »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #73
untog wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

True, but couldn't Bill Gates be a counterexample?

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.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#100

Post by ohwp »

resu_nimda wrote: post #90
rgbrenner wrote: post #58

You really have to have a terrible case of tunnel vision to write this post. One Elon Musk? Sure, I only see one guy named Elon Musk on the list of billionaires. What is the requirement here? A space company? There are several of those.. Jeff Bezos (worth 23b) has Blue Orgin. He says "cool sci-fi shit"... What about self-driving cars? Those aren't sci-fi enough for you? How is Tesla's battery powered car MORE sci-fi-…

So I guess you didn't read the full article before blasting off...he specifically pointed out self-driving cars, as well as numerous other non-Musk sci-fi initiatives. His point is less about a dearth of cool sci-fi shit than a lack of extremely wealthy individuals wielding their fortunes to aggressively push these things. Edit: And not just "a space company." A space company, an electric car company, a renewable ene…

Like Richard Branson?
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