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Elon Musk explains the choice of materials

That is highly interesting actually. I just got educated on the wonders of stainless steel, comparatively to other options. But it all makes sense.

Looking to make everything work efficiently as possible for your needs. It's the best way to handle anything, honestly.
 
Elon makes it sound obvious, but in fact this is extremely counter-intuitive to engineering.

There are very few CEOs capable of making decisions like these which go against the grain.
 
The problem with Musk is that he also shows off the worse about most human beings. With all his money, he could get some help, which according to his biography, he refuses
 
marc_101 said:
The problem with Musk is that he also shows off the worse about most human beings. With all his money, he could get some help, which according to his biography, he refuses
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I'm not a fan of Musk as a person either, but I can separate his accomplishments from that. The strength and breadth of his business accomplishments is simply unprecedented since maybe Thomas Edison - who, btw, got kicked out of elementary school due to behavior issues (the claim is undiagnosed ADHD, but perhaps autism played a role as well).
 
I do the same in a way. Not a Musk hater. I own one of his cars. I was responding to the idea of him showing off the best of his autism when he often shows the worse of... something.
 
Also, I have some empathy towards him because I could see similarities in his traits with mine, at least as described by Walter Isaacson's biography. I don't know how I would behave if I had the same power and money he has. On the other hand, I like to make myself a better person, so I think that I would spend money trying to work on myself. Who knows, though.

Clearly an extraordinary human being in the dictionary meaning of extraordinary.
 
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People often forget his social awkwardness. Like many of us, we say things that are not popular or can be misinterpreted, BUT we don't have 100's of millions of people hanging on your every word because of who you are. Elon has a spotlight on him, a very large and bright spotlight. So, do put that into perspective when he says or posts something. All it would take is a few people out the millions and millions to "be offended", twist his words around, misinterpret, and have it effect opinion. We don't. We can get away with our social and verbal mistakes. He can't ever. Everyone calls him out on everything. He's no victim, for sure, but do put things into the perspective of someone with an ASD.
 
@Neonatal RRT Read his biography if you can. I understand his reckless statements and that people truly scrutinize every little thing he does -- unfairly many times. But he is an abusive, vindictive person who insults people, fires people, cheats, and so many things that are way beyond social awkwardness and fall into the category of not good human being. He has a lot of problems regulating emotions. In a way, I feel bad for him. He seems to suffer a lot.

I don't know the guy but he could use some help. It would cost him less than 0.0001% of his money. ASD is not an excuse to be a jerk to others.
 
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Why would someone insensitive enough to be a jerk "get help"? They don't perceive it as a problem.
 
I don't think anyone disputes his personal flaws. Zero other people that I'm aware of share his philosophy of ... well, let's euphemistically say sowing seed in the wilderness.

SpaceX, Paypal, Starlink, OpenAI, Neuralink, Tesla, Boring, X/Twitter. IMO, an objective case can be made that he is a once-in-a-century prodigy, and his autism helped to contribute to that.
 
What if you don't get the good without the "bad?"

Many autistic people are treated as jerks simply because they are brutally honest about their thoughts when a gentle social lie is called for. Musk gets to be "brutally honest" with a $40 billion megaphone.
 
Au Naturel said:
What if you don't get the good without the "bad?"

Many autistic people are treated as jerks simply because they are brutally honest about their thoughts when a gentle social lie is called for. Musk gets to be "brutally honest" with a $40 billion megaphone.
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That was his biographer's conundrum. Would he have accomplished the same being nice to others? Does the good he has done justify the bad?

(I like the biographer a lot but it truly bothered me that he fell into the typical autism means lack of emotional empathy trope. We've had that thread many times.)
 
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jsilver256 said:
SpaceX, Paypal, Starlink, OpenAI, Neuralink, Tesla, Boring, X/Twitter. IMO, an objective case can be made that he is a once-in-a-century prodigy, and his autism helped to contribute to that.
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And sadly his autism helped with the immense jerk part. I wish it were not true, but probably is.
 
I honestly don't know much about the controversies around Elon Musk, so I don't want to speak about something I don't know much about. He came across as blunt to me in some media content I'm familiar with, but I don't know about the other things. But I admire his career, ideas, expertise and entrepreneurship. I feel like as a boss you're always going to make decisions that hurt someone as well.
 
jsilver256 said:
I'm not a fan of Musk as a person either, but I can separate his accomplishments from that. The strength and breadth of his business accomplishments is simply unprecedented since maybe Thomas Edison - who, btw, got kicked out of elementary school due to behavior issues (the claim is undiagnosed ADHD, but perhaps autism played a role as well).
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Thomas Edison started five companies and lost them all to the boards of directors, because his attention always went to the lab. When he was young, he had a friend who let him sleep in the utility basement at the NY stock exchange. There he was able to study how the stock ticker telegraph worked. History only records that one morning, the ticker failed, and the trading floor was in chaos. Then Edison appeared and offered to fix it, and was rewarded with a salary to keep it maintained. I suspect that he made his own luck that morning.
BTW, Stainless Steel was carefully considered for the SR-71, as the usual aluminum lacked heat resistance. Carbon fiber is often used for glamour, but there are many grades of it, and none can beat aramid or even linear polyethylene for specific tensile strength or toughness. Even fiberglass makes a lighter spring, if extreme fatigue resistance is not a requirement.
As for Musk, I think he is quite insane to be pursuing a Mars colony when he can't even make a living atop Mt. Everest.
 
Shevek said:
Thomas Edison started five companies and lost them all to the boards of directors, because his attention always went to the lab.
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I'm not sure who would be a good analogy for Musk. Edison was an inventor, Musk is not. He is an entrepreneur. He didn't invent electric cars. He founded Tesla with 2 (or more?) others who had developed the technology (and then were involved in lawsuits about credit and agreed to stop insulting each other). He is not the inventor of rockets either or brain implants. He seems to me an idea person with a drive to work 24/7 and squeeze the soul and sweat of others viciously (and his) to achieve his visions. And yes, a very bright person who gets into the tiny little details about technology and production costs, but he is not an inventor like Edison.

I recommend his biography. I wanted to do some research before buying one if his cars and got into a rabbit hole.

I'm actually in this forum because of the biography. His behavior sounded so familiar in so many ways that I decided that I needed to explore more my autism. I could relate to his obsessions, his shutdowns, his emotional roller coasters, his apparent lack of emotional empathy and bluntness, an so son. Yet, there are no excuses for the nastiness.
 
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