Strongly agree with pg here. We have one existence proof for an "asshole" Elon, and zero for a "nice guy" version. That should make the null hypothesis that the personality traits that sometimes make him so annoying are also key factors in his extraordinary achievements.

Strongly agree with pg here. We have one existence proof for an "asshole" Elon, and zero for a "nice guy" version. That should make the null hypothesis that the personality traits that sometimes make him so annoying are also key factors in his extraordinary achievements.

https://x.com/paulg/status/1768611682085937215

Ethereum protocol R&D. Admirer of emergent order.

Without endorsing that whole incident, I'll highlight that "I want to go to Mars" comes across as a petulant child demand to a large % of the population 😄

I think it is possible to have those traits and be less of an asshole though. I lost a lot of respect from him after his behaviour towards the rescue of the trapped Thai football team. He came across as a petulant child.

i don’t think achievements make it ok to be an asshole. i’m not sure why we’re normalizing childlike tendencies

If you believe he was actually responsible for the science parts of Space X and not just the regulatory arbitrage bits, I can see how you’d think that