I've been a follower and ‘fan' of Elon Musk for a while, sharing his ideas on Twitter and YouTube playlists. And although he is no stranger to bizarre news headlines and twitter rants it is also true that he's now becoming increasingly a subject to heavy criticism. Like this one by Nathan J. Robinson, editor of Current Affairs, which made me think… I have to admit.
The man who is seen by many as the very definition of a visionary is described on Wikipedia as “a business magnate, industrial designer, and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer of SpaceX; early stage investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. A centibillionaire, Musk is one of the richest people in the world” On the very same page, you can read how “his unorthodox or unscientific stances and highly publicized controversies” have been severely criticized before, in spite of his many and bold achievements contributing to innovation and progresses that one can say to be beyond this world (planet).
“Stephenson points out that the Cybertruck shows the bad kind of futurism, the kind that believes the future is something that happens to us, rather than that we dream and then create ourselves—meaning that a “futuristic” design is one that looks like “what we think the future is going to be” rather than what we want the future to be”
READ MORE: Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs
“Now that the president of the United States is no longer a climate change denier, and there may be some kind of broad national effort to electrify American transit, Musk may take on an even more important role in shaping our national vision for transit, power, and the human future in space. It is therefore vitally important to see through the myths around him, to understand the bleakness of his vision for the future, and to present something better.”
Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk
“But then we have Elon Musk himself, who is constantly saying incredibly dumb things. Every time I hear him talk I am impressed by how unimpressed I am”
Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk via Instapaper
“Musk comes up with flashy world-saving schemes one after another and rarely delivers. (Some of the schemes aren’t world-changing, just obviously doomed, as when he attempted to launch a competitor to the Onion called Thud.) Niedermeyer notes that, “Each of these announcements struggled to withstand close examination, ranging from mere exaggeration to quasi-delusional fantasy,” but “many outlets reported these developments unquestioningly,”
Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk via Instapaper
“His company has improved electric cars, but he doesn’t have any idea how to address the problems flowing from car culture.”
Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk via Instapaper
This turned out to be a huge exaggeration—there is a world of difference between the kind of augmented cruise control that exists today and a fully self-driving car.
Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk ❧ Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk via Instapaper
“Musk, by contrast, is encouraging a feeling of entitlement to the cosmos—that we can and must colonize space, regardless of who or what might be there, all for a long-shot chance at security (…) Musk has used the medium of dreaming and exploration to wrap up a package of entitlement, greed, and ego” – The Atlantic “Mars Is a Hellhole”
