One model for Elon is that he is perpetually operating in wartime mode

Move as fast as possible, bring overwhelming force, extract superhuman effort, accept collateral damage

Fits a range of things from SpaceX to DOGE. Anyway, I find it easier to understand him using this lens

I first thought of this when I read this story in a review of a book about SpaceX

What explains this? In what model of the world could it be rational? The only answer is wartime. These are the actions of a soldier on the front lines

Founder, The Roots of Progress (rootsofprogress.org). On book-writing sabbatical, trying not to check social media including DMs

I first thought of this when I read this story in a review of a book about SpaceX

What explains this? In what model of the world could it be rational? The only answer is wartime. These are the actions of a soldier on the front lines

https://thepsmiths.com/p/review-reentry-by-eric-berger

This excerpt was supposed to be attached to previous cast:

DOGE is also operating in wartime mode. In the sense both of tackling an existential crisis, and of battling a determined adversary

Hence the sledgehammer. In war you don't go door to door arresting individuals and putting them on trial. You bomb cities and let God sort them out

Anyway, if you want to debate his actions, maybe a useful frame is: Does this problem deserve a wartime approach?

(Also, if you are wondering whether you want to emulate him, you could ask yourself: am I willing and able to go into wartime on this problem?)

The wartime model is also consistent with Scott Alexander's takeaway from the Ashlee Vance bio:

The wartime model is also consistent with Scott Alexander's takeaway from the Ashlee Vance bio:

https://astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-elon-musk