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Why is there only one Elon Musk?

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Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#141

Post by SeanDav »

qzxt wrote: post #59
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…

I think people who hype on and on about his personal life are just grasping at straws to mask their own insecurities. As someone who grew up not spending that cliched ooey gooey version of "family time" that we always see on television and someone who has been married once, I'm fairly sure it's a lot more complicated than "oh always working, and doesn't care about his family? --insert underhanded "I'm better than you…

The fact that someone can in all seriousness talk about the "hype" of personal life as "grasping at straws to mask their own insecurities" is a very sad indication of some aspects of modern life.

What could be more important than a happy family and personal life? How on earth is this considered "hype"?

I would trade any amount of billions for that, in fact I probably have, because I decided long ago that family and my personal happiness are more important than millions in the bank.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#142

Post by lutusp »

sigzero wrote: post #134
lutusp wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. On the contrary, you can, and you should. The era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. People shouldn't be pressured into a family lifestyle if they don't feel a motivation in that direction. Can you tell…

> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. No it's not. Those things help to define a person. I don't think you entirely got the nuance that the OP was getting at.

>> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance.

> No it's not. Those things help to define a person.

When you try to refute someone's position, it's expected that you will offer a counterargument, not a different topic. Yes, relationships help define a person. No, that doesn't mean the era hasn't ended in which one's relationships are central to one's identity.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#144

Post by untog »

lutusp wrote: post #128
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…

> 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. On the contrary, you can, and you should. The era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. People shouldn't be pressured into a family lifestyle if they don't feel a motivation in that direction. Can you tell…

I wouldn't dispute that Musk will go down in history as an entrepreneur and not a father. That's not the point.

The point is that when you show Musk as an inspiration for entrepreneurship, you should look at his whole life- because being a serial entrepreneur absolutely has an effect on your personal life.

The title of the story is "Why is there only one Elon Musk"- there are many, connected answers. His personal life is part of that. Just because it doesn't define him doesn't mean it isn't relevant.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#145

Post by zimpenfish »

ErrantX wrote: post #131
zimpenfish wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WCML is an abomination of a service. Toilets frequently out of order. Carriages with toilets reeking of urine. Reservations downloaded to the train maybe one time in 5. Empty first class carriages while standard contains double the number of people. Attempting to stop people with open walk-on tickets from getting on valid trains. etc. etc. Maybe it's just my (and everyone I know's) bad luck that these things happen e…

No, fair cop, I've only ever used Virgin Cross Country, never the WCML. So obviously I've only seen one half of things.

To be wholly fair, I have rarely enough used Virgin Cross Country that I can't bring to mind any explicit badness therein.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#146

Post by oliverhunt »

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…

Some of the responses you are getting are as if you are the anti-Musk but you are right. People can choose family life, they can choose professional or a balance.

I see one as an individual perspective and one as a society perspective. Musk will be remembered for his incredible achievements, he will not be remembered for being father of the year (any time soon at least according to your post).

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#147

Post by oliverhunt »

SeanDav wrote: post #141
qzxt wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people who hype on and on about his personal life are just grasping at straws to mask their own insecurities. As someone who grew up not spending that cliched ooey gooey version of "family time" that we always see on television and someone who has been married once, I'm fairly sure it's a lot more complicated than "oh always working, and doesn't care about his family? --insert underhanded "I'm better than you…

The fact that someone can in all seriousness talk about the "hype" of personal life as "grasping at straws to mask their own insecurities" is a very sad indication of some aspects of modern life. What could be more important than a happy family and personal life? How on earth is this considered "hype"? I would trade any amount of billions for that, in fact I probably have, because I decided long ago that family and m…

"What could be more important than a happy family and personal life? How on earth is this considered "hype"?"

Perhaps to you nothing is more important, fortunately people can do what they want - some choose family, some choose other responsibilities, most choose a balance. Whether Musk is happy or not he seems to have made his choice.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#148

Post by oliverhunt »

Me1000 wrote: post #49
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…

Are we really going to start analyzing a man's marriage now? This is not a tabloid. :/

His marriage is relevant to the question - perhaps there is 'only one Elon Musk' because few others are happy to sacrifice family life in the way he is.

Hacker News is not used to the answer being social and not technical and suggesting that this mention of his marriage and an unnecessary value judgement on its failure by OP is not tabloid levels of personal investigation.

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#149

Post by milkshakes »

lutusp wrote: post #142
sigzero wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. No it's not. Those things help to define a person. I don't think you entirely got the nuance that the OP was getting at.

>> he era when a man or a woman is defined by his relationships and family is over, and good riddance. > No it's not. Those things help to define a person. When you try to refute someone's position, it's expected that you will offer a counterargument, not a different topic. Yes, relationships help define a person. No, that doesn't mean the era hasn't ended in which one's relationships are central to one's identity.

Sure, I'll bite. You argue that family is no longer important (or, 'optional', in your words) because Wikipedia does not elevate the status of, or obsess over the details of the family of a notable person in the same fashion. This is a ridiculous argument [1]. Who cares what Wikipedia thinks? Who cares what google thinks? Who cares what society thinks? A relationship is a very personal connection between two people. Perhaps it doesn't translate well to Wikipedia, but it's absurd to assert that they're not worth having just because they're not preserved for all eternity.

[1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

Re: Why is there only one Elon Musk?

#150

Post by ryankshaw »

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…

actually your rebuttal is a little flawed. the OP is not asking "why isn't there more Elon Musks vs happy husbands & dads" he's asking "there are a lot of billionaires in the world, why dont more of them do great things instead of (insert capitalistic/extractionary/1% vs 99%/evil thing here)?"

Although he is a sample size of 1 I'm betting that Elon's family life is not much different than other billionaires. but I'm betting most of the damage came from the rough road of making that first billion.

You're right, becoming rich or famous probably involves a decision at some point of prioritizing that over the "small things" like family, but that's a decision the rest of the billionaires have made as well. the question is "if you're going to work incessantly and sacrifice so much, why not work towards truly great things instead of 50% off coupons, places to post pictures of cats, or time-wasting games?"

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