It all started to go wrong when he called the diving team trying to save kids lives pedos because they wouldn't use his idea. They stated that dragging his design through the caves want feasible, he lashed out with insults.
That was the first pebble in an avalanche.
I used to think he was a genius. Now, I try not to think of him at all.
There's a great article I read by this guy that said he also thought Musk was a genius UNTIL he started talking indepth about a subject this guy knew a lot about.
According to him, Musk was talking absolute shite which made him wonder if he ALWAYS talks shite, but you don't know enough about the subject to realize.
Yeah. For me I had already soured quite a bit on the pedo stuff, but when he acquired Twitter it was obvious to me - as a software engineer - that the guy doesn't have the foggiest idea of what he is talking about.
I knew he was shit after the diving team issues. I he he was FULL of shit when I listened to him on a call with Twitter engineers complaining how their “stack” was shit and needed a complete rebuild. An obviously more versed engineer was pressing him to detail exactly what part of the stack was an issue, and ole Musker quickly lost his shit because he couldn’t just keep spouting buzzwords to sound smart, and he had nothing of substance to add.
He started losing me when he said it was almost a certainty that we lived in a simulation, and then used things observed inside the simulation to postulate about the conditions outside the simulation.
Seemed like a pretty obvious non-sequiter but mainstream media reported it like it was gospel/u assailable logic.
I think you’re referring to this, which wasn’t so much an essay but basically a tweet:
> He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
> Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
> Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.
I had a Déjà vu when he had a recent spat with Yann LeCun on Twitter. LeCun had invented convolutional neural networks, and Elon was like “well teslas don’t use those.” Saying anything computer vision related doesn’t use CNNs is like saying “yeah well our cars don’t use wheels.”
Everyone does this but few apply it consistently. You read news about your own field and immediately spot the errors, missing context, and bad conclusions. An engineer sees it in engineering news; a doctor sees it in medical reporting. But do they apply that same skepticism to news about economics, education, or politics?
We’re all experts at spotting flaws in reporting about what we know and potentially falling for them everywhere else.
no, he doesn't want to save the world. He asked the UN how much it would cost to end global ~poverty~ hunger. They said approx $6B. Which he has. He didn't do it after all.
He was probably a terrible person before that, but it's the first time I realized that he's not only shitty, but also an idiot. I'm surprised that his reputation didn't sink immediately. People still held onto the idea of him as an altruistic genius for a long time.
It's funny...when you have limited knowledge of someone you can have all sorts of thoughts on someone. The more someone is in the public you can then get more knowledge of them and that can change your idea of them. I looked at him as a Tony Stark figure...then I found out he didn't found Tesla but strong armed his way to a founder title. I also thought he was designing rockets...then I found out Thomas Mueller was the engineer behind the first SpaceX engines...So I stopped looking at him like Tony Stark. Then I started reading his public statements and seeing who he platformed and the kind of things he shared on socials and realized he was just a trashbag bigot. Nothing crazy. It's normal to change your ideas as you gather more information...right?
Wow it's been one hour and not a single magat bot has said "it wasn't a nazi salute he was just excited" I guess it could be true what they are saying about the Yandex servers being down.
When he used to keep around a heavy PR team, he maybe had a K overdose in 2018 or something that made him fire them all and just go raw with his nonsense
Yes, you also notice how when all his piece of shit behaviors came to light, they dropped him like a bad habit and didn't double down to admire him even more.
Wish MAGA would learn how to course correct when someone's past comes out instead of building a higher pedestal for them.
Yes, but people aren't online like that. My first time seeing he was crazy was during the diver insident. I knew of tesla back then but i had not heard anything about elon specifically. I'm sure he had done a lot more stuff by then
He publicly pushed for a green energy revolution and regardless of what people say, he is responsible for a massive adoption and normalization of electric vehicles.
I think there is enough evidence to say that he probably got honey trapped by Epstein and his total switch was related to basically trying to stop the details of his involvement from coming out.
You’re so full of shit. If you had said that back, then, you would’ve been downvoted to hell and back.
Typical Redditor revisionist history.
Getting back on topic though, I certainly remember those days, it was when Reddit was more full of scientists, programmers, and technologists in general - then came the Digg exodus. I feel like 95% of the people here now don’t even know what that is. Back then, it was a big deal, and it changed Reddit considerably.
Then Fark died, and other link sharing sites just became irrelevant, and the face of Reddit changed even further.
And well, here we are… though /. still stands strong! I still visit from time to time.
Peoples’ opinions change when they have more information on someone. Subway’s Jared seemed pretty innocuous but it turned out he was a diddler. Elon is in court arguing he should be allowed to make AI CP, wants to use the N-word, and is an unapologetic nazi. It’s not that hard to see why he’s reviled.
Yeah ... so??? Then he opened his mouth and checkbook for traitors and liars. He started interjecting himself, as a foreigner, into US politics. Started BUYING politics. So now we know what he really is. So again, to your statement, ... so???
Yeah, back when I was 18/19 I thought that to some extent. But then I grew up and realized how evil he is. I think a lot of people are in the same boat as me
Then he spent 100s of millions of dollars to influence political elections and shifted from a tech CEO to full on asshole. This the shift you are seeing.
He is the current top political donor to the GOP. Over $200m spent just on the midterms and that's just the public filing numbers. Dark money PACs have also been a thing since we gave our country to companies with Citizen United.
Oh for sure, but apart from that any illusion that's actually smart or technically skilled independent of that has also evaporated like mist on a sunny day. Seems to me he's made it very clear that he's just a dumb guy with more money than God and that was his only 'qualification' ever.
I tend to research people that become famous quickly. Most of the time, it's a wealthy privileged person with a crack PR team.
Elon was suspect back when he said he started PayPal. Though he was an original investor, he didn't know the technology or banking laws that made the app work. Since then, he's done the same, buying existing companies, using their tech, and promoting the snot out of it and his own name. No one remembers he also has some failed endeavors also.
A privileged, rich kid always wanting even more fortune and glory.
Man... that is a valid point and it got me thinking. The avengers are probably responsible for 100s of thousands, if not millions of deaths from people that were flying at the time of the snap and came back 5 years later only to be in a freefall to their inevitable deaths...
Yeah not to mention the cars that were shown crashing, and those people just appear on a busy street going 50 mph. People on boats, trains, or in a building that doesn't exist anymore, or in a field where there is a building now, snapping back fused into the wall. So many problems and none of it is addressed at all
People who were on the fence with him probably had no option but to choose a side once he threw out those salutes. Plus even those who were sure that he was cool because of the innovation in his companies noticed his toxic takes on Twitter and decided that he ain't all that.
Is it a coincidence that people who hold dogmatic, unchanging beliefs about reality are confused when others update their beliefs based on newer information? I don’t think so.
lol when he was doing things for climate change and the food of the people left wingers loved him and right wingers hated him, now all he cares about is making money and pushing far right fascism around the globe and you wonder why the left doesn't like him anymore?
I think you are wrong for this reason.
The timeline for his continual failures happened to align with that.
So how can you say it's Right Wing Hate?
Did Right Wing Hate force him to tell perhaps the Biggest Lie in History ($$) and say in 2020 that your car, within a year, would be able to earn money for you as Level 5.
Did Hate make him never get even 1% of the US Solar Market?
Did Hate make the Boring Company promise 100's of tunnels and build about ZERO?
Did Hate make him tell investors he'd triple the revenue of Twitter - while he ended up not doing nearly as much business as they had?
The answer to these and other questions is....no.
Did Hate make him give up on Mars and start talking about maybe getting to the Moon (we've already been there) during his lifetime?
None of this was due to his Right Wing Leaning.
He was driven to the Right by his desire to Buy the Government and to Buy the World and to Buy the Removal and Lack of Regulations.
The fact is - if you want to cheat and pollute and steal - you simply cuddle up to Republicans you are there.
I don't really. I remember a lot of cult of Elon talk dating back more than a decade. My judgement's clouded by the Thunderf00t lefty types shitting on him dating all the way back to YouTube Athiest Coffee-elevator-Gamergate thing splitting the internet Reddit Atheist community in half. Space X suits look cheap, SOLAR FREAKING ROADWAYS (I guess that wasn't Elon), ALL HAIL THE HYPERLOOP WHITE PAPER, Self driving Las Vegas robotaxis, SOLAR FREAKING SHINGLES AND CHEAP TESLA POWERWALLS FOR EVERYONE, Mars colony volunteers, Full Self Driving coming in 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22...alongside the new Roadster, weird relationship stories between Elon's father and his stepdaughter, etc. It was weird Anarcho-capitalist Libertarian techie types that worshiped Zuckerberg and like that were really into Elon as a cult of personality. These same groups treat Elon like Tony Stark today.
So, I guess I changed my mind. I do remember it, but in the way I remember Reddit misidentifying the Boston Marathon Bombers and the jailbait subreddit being a thing. The Elon worship was always more associated with the 4chan livestreaming mass shooting "high score," Elliot Rodger loving, spend all your free time harrassing Chris-chan type crowd to me. That's a subsection of Reddit, but so are The Donald (or it was), and Ents and Trees.
Yeah us sane ones knew there were no ethical robber barons back then too... But I do remember the progressives lauding him as "one of the good 1%-ers" back then.
Yes until his promises started to fade into time unfulfilled. Then as with all con artists, people started to look closer at the things he said until it became clear he had lied the entire time to one degree or another. There is a quote in the Stormlight Archive by the character Adolin Kholin that seems to fit my experience of Musk before his fall from grace.
"Amaram never seems to do anything wrong... That stinks to me of someone who works too hard to maintain his reputation."
That celebrity worship exists in our world says all you need to know about the lack of independent thought out there. I would just as soon go praise my neighbor for mowing their lawn today than some narcissistic public figure.
Yeah, before we went crazy and showed his true colors, and when he was rejected by progressives and leftists, the only natural place for an unhinged, racist, dishonest, egotistical POS is the right.
I can’t really call him stupid like most of y’all when his bank account is slightly higher than mine. But I’ve created space z tusla and I’ll catch up soon I think
Yeah, but what do you do when you realized you serioulsy misjudged someone? That's right, you never bring it up again and double down on your new-found grudge.
I remember, and I was on Reddit at the time. I guess I’m not as susceptible to cults of personality. Though tbh as a car enthusiast, I’ve never been all that interested in Tesla to begin with. I sat in one of the first Model S cars and immediately didn’t like the giant tablet. I couldn’t wait to get back to drive my uncle’s Camaro.
Yes I do. I remember he was saving the world with solar, EV, and batteries. Also, not only is he saving the world he is advancing humanity with his rocket company.
Now they are upset that he benefited from the solar and EV tax credits that they all probably voted for.
I thought he was pretty fascinating until he started getting crazy with the department of government efficiency. Then the Epstein stuff started coming out. Now I'm just disappointed and think he's weird and creepy. He's like the Michael Jackson of CEOs.
I don’t think maga realizes that everyone outside of their cult can see just how horrible trump is in every facet of his existence. It’s not just “left leaning” people.
Where in my comment did I say you were? Furthermore, responding as if you are in the trump camp certainly isn’t an unreasonable conclusion based on the substance of your comment. Almost like, you’re commenting in bad faith…..skippy
No its really not. When trump does things that are good, he gets credit for it. The issue is it just doesnt happen very often. What was his last good policy? The one step forward act during his first term?
Im assuming this means they got rid of some form of gun control laws? If so, thanks for proving my point. Even being pro second amendment, if this is the beneficial policy you bring up, it shows he hasn't done much thats actually useful
I support the bill of rights, if you're trying to say that any gun control law is an infringement on the secons amendment, thats dumb. I also support Thomas Jeffersons idea that we can make amendments and changes because he understood things will change over time.
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms”
Jefferson
Also the reason for the 2A is clear
"Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it."
Federalist 46
I wouldn't go that far. I think he had much better intentions and actual skills, but failed to deliver for the most part. As a matter of fact, the only two positives I can think of are the ACA and JCPOA. The first was far less effective than promised and gutted by SCOTUS, and obviously we know what happened with the JCPOA. Sometimes I wonder if he had spent more time in the Senate and learned more about how Washington works, and waited until 2012 to run, if he'd have been more effective.
Idk if I'd say that his administration was more warmongering than Bush's, but letting a warhawk like Clinton into the administration was his first bad move, and that led to alot more.
I don't see how that would be possible since he isn't a doctor or a cancer researcher and he has reduced the funding for cancer research that might one day lead to a cure.
The fact that you have to use absurd hypotheticals rather than a real example of some great thing Trump accomplished when he's been the President for 6 years just proves the left's point
It’s just weird that they would forgo the existential climate change crises being trying to get rid of probably the leading EV, solar, and battery company.
Once Elon started opening his mouth and made it clear he had no idea what he was doing and was also a repugnant shithead, yeah of course people stopped liking him.
Then he gleefully took a chainsaw to important government functions and stole all our data!
I remember when he was a liberal icon, now he's a conservative icon. He will be back to a liberal icon again like 6 years. Cycle will repeat indefinitely.
I remember in college he was still some awkward guy pretending to care about the world with Spacex and Tesla, massively government subsidized companies. I remember gushing to a Jeopardy winner that was visiting my campus about how Spacex would reduce barrier to space like a naive but aspirational STEM student... As you learn more, and people change/show their true selves, you're allowed to update your opinions.
Lower a barrier we taxpayer broke 60 years ago in a field that 98% or more of us could care less about if Elon and the Media didn't make that a Big Con also.
That is, in the everyday world do we pay attention to "The Guy who built a ship that holds 3X as much cargo and uses 20% less fuel to get somewhere"?
Of course not. Just the fact you are pointing to it means that marketing got you.
I truly don't think the world is different in any measurable way because the government can send up more spy devices cheaper. I think having the Internet in Space is a BIG mistake and any decent government would have outlawed the filling of Space with 10's of thousands of objects.
A giant negative....which is what is going to be the end result of much of the taxpayer money headed his way.
While on that subject....I don't think the world is even slightly changed, other than the giant Art of the Con, due to Elon Musk. He probably knows that deep inside which is why he is trying hard to buy his way into everything. But we know his game now.
SpaceX has demonstrably reduced the cost of getting payloads into orbit. That's not marketing; it's measurable. Reusable boosters and higher launch cadence have fundamentally changed the economics of space access.
Musk isn't SpaceX. Thousands of engineers, technicians, machinists, and other employees are solving extraordinarily difficult problems and pushing the boundaries of aerospace engineering. They deserve recognition regardless of what anyone thinks of their CEO.
I don't particularly admire Musk. I think he's egotistical, vindictive, and far too eager to take personal credit for achievements that require the work of thousands of people. But disliking him doesn't make those achievements any less real. NASA, government-funded research, and generations of aerospace engineers laid much of the groundwork. SpaceX built on that foundation and delivered results that fundamentally changed launch costs.
Your cargo ship analogy actually proves the point. If someone developed a ship that carried three times the cargo using 20% less fuel, that would have measurable economic consequences whether or not the average person cared about the ship. The same applies to cheaper access to space, which enables more affordable communications, weather monitoring, Earth observation, and scientific research.
Are there legitimate concerns about satellite proliferation and orbital debris? Absolutely. But those are arguments about the consequences of the technology, not evidence that the engineering accomplishments are a con.
You don't have to admire Musk to acknowledge that SpaceX has pushed the industry forward. Criticize the man, his politics, and his business practices all you want. Just don't confuse your opinion of the CEO with the accomplishments of the people doing the actual engineering and the impact that work has made on industry and the world.
Right - but my point is....I lived my entire life and no one ever talked to me about the cost of getting sattelites into orbit!
That's my entire point. It's an Industrial and Military (generally) segment which does not concern most of us. Tech has made it so that even the "old prices" could send up a satellite quite reasonably - that is, the weight, size and capabilities of satellites have changed so much that working out the "cost per photo taken" or anything like that....is not going to change due to a lower cost.
But the Main Point stands. Short of marketing we wouldn't even be talking about it. In fact, we'd probably be laughing about the idea that someone was bragging about getting to the Moon...something we did in the 1960's.
It's a inside game.....just as we aren't discussing the new additive to blacktop which made it 2.38% stronger. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such things happening regularly.
What IS special about our present time is stuff like unraveling DNA and the application of AI to Medicine and other things which, frankly, are at a different level than "watch that cool rocket (that China will likely build 100's of also)".
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u/JohnSpikeKelly 13h ago
It all started to go wrong when he called the diving team trying to save kids lives pedos because they wouldn't use his idea. They stated that dragging his design through the caves want feasible, he lashed out with insults.
That was the first pebble in an avalanche.
I used to think he was a genius. Now, I try not to think of him at all.