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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Musk gets a lot of flack which I feel is undeserved, there are MANY billionaires out there who are dragon hoarding their wealth or even developed net negative organisations to get it.
Musk on the other hand is interested in forward humanity - Paypal - Shakeup the finance world and enable transfers, Tesla - Stop climate change and moved the EV forward many counterfactual years, SpaceX - backup civilisation for mars.
So yeah I think the hate is unjustified, he's defo not perfect, as you will find from this book, but generally trying to do good things and cares deeply for humanity
Musk on the other hand is interested in forward humanity - Paypal - Shakeup the finance world and enable transfers, Tesla - Stop climate change and moved the EV forward many counterfactual years, SpaceX - backup civilisation for mars.
So yeah I think the hate is unjustified, he's defo not perfect, as you will find from this book, but generally trying to do good things and cares deeply for humanity
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
fast-paced
I came to this book wanting to better understand how someone who cares so much about the human project can be so reckless about humanity; how someone so devoid of empathy can feel so deeply; and how to be better than that without sacrificing the good in it.
“The mission is more important than individual sensitivities,” so says Musk. In the case of Autopilot, Tesla’s driving assistance, Musk would get furious at people focusing on the deaths caused by the technology, rather than focusing on how much lower the crash rate is than amongst human drivers. Obstructing progress, for instance due to regulation, means getting in the way of improving or saving lives now.
Musk’s sense of mission is one of the highest virtues and proves a wake up call to the stagnant space industry, a breakthrough in the fight against climate change, an inspiration to many he worked with.
But within the first few pages, Isaacson deftly outlines the factors that created the stark contrast of visionary light and vicious darkness in Musk. A violent upbringing in South Africa. An emotionally manipulative father. A family history of recklessness. Issues with emotional regulation. Loneliness.
Musk leaves a lot of pain in his wake. His mission is to make humans an interplanetary species, but it’s a mission that leaves no space in him to understand the complexity of humans. The virtue of his mission for humanity’s future is tempered by the vice of making the present a kind of hell for others. Mathematically, reductively, this may add up. Logically, morally, it does not.
The book taught me a lot, about Musk’s world view, narcissism, an autistic personality type, capitalism, government, and business leaders, amongst other things. It’s an entertaining, expansive, insightful read about one of the most significant figures of our time — for better or for worse.
Though it concerns me that people witness Musk’s endeavours and worship him, and all he stands for, in all its complexity. Even in Isaacson’s writing, the author is at times enamoured with the subject. It’s hard not to be, no matter how ideologically opposed, when reading the account of SpaceX’s first successful launch. But two opposing viewpoints can co-exist. Musk is a disruptive, necessary innovator. Musk is a narcissistic, idealistic danger.
I hope the future will see more of his drive and sense of mission for humanity with a more human-centred approach. Progress in science mustn't come at the expense of progress in society.
informative
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
I never envisioned my being interested enough to read a biography on this man, but since he’s become the shadow president, I thought it wise to know the enemy. And enemy he is. I admire Issacson as a biographer, but his subject I find just reinforced my preconceived notion that he may be the most horrible man living. He doesn’t get a pass because he has Asberger’s. I’ve known and taught several on the spectrum and their default isn’t being a loathsome human. I grow weary of the defense of “ Well, he had a monster of a father and was bullied.” Again, a defense is ludicrous. I can totally get his Sheldon Cooperesque personality, but Sheldon is endearing. I find nothing about Musk this way.
Is he visionary? I guess, but instead of using his vision in a completely selfless way, I don’t buy he’s doing it for the sake of humanity. I don’t know if he can sustain this argument. And as one who lives with bipolar illness, I reject his behavior as associated with this illness. As I explain to friends and acquaintances if I experience mood swings, it’s basically because I’m being an asshole, not because I have an illness. I’m no more an expert on mental health disorders, but if I was diagnosing, I’d say Borderline Personality Disorder.
Sure, we’re living in a Gilded Age, and unlike those that lived at the end of the 19th Century, I find nothing redeeming about any of this cast of characters. There is no Carnegie, donate his wealth to the creation of libraries for all. There is no John D. Rockefeller donating to his Baptist church and the foundation of the University of Chicago, and I see none of these Bozos ( Bezos) sacrificing his life on a sinking ship. He’s a spoiled brat and my fear is that one of his impulsive acts could affect my life and others like me that have no way of fighting against his strength.
A caveat: a man so consumed with “ green living “ has sired to date 14 children in an already overpopulated world with shrinking resources? I cry bullshit.
Is he visionary? I guess, but instead of using his vision in a completely selfless way, I don’t buy he’s doing it for the sake of humanity. I don’t know if he can sustain this argument. And as one who lives with bipolar illness, I reject his behavior as associated with this illness. As I explain to friends and acquaintances if I experience mood swings, it’s basically because I’m being an asshole, not because I have an illness. I’m no more an expert on mental health disorders, but if I was diagnosing, I’d say Borderline Personality Disorder.
Sure, we’re living in a Gilded Age, and unlike those that lived at the end of the 19th Century, I find nothing redeeming about any of this cast of characters. There is no Carnegie, donate his wealth to the creation of libraries for all. There is no John D. Rockefeller donating to his Baptist church and the foundation of the University of Chicago, and I see none of these Bozos ( Bezos) sacrificing his life on a sinking ship. He’s a spoiled brat and my fear is that one of his impulsive acts could affect my life and others like me that have no way of fighting against his strength.
A caveat: a man so consumed with “ green living “ has sired to date 14 children in an already overpopulated world with shrinking resources? I cry bullshit.
informative
inspiring
Good look into the complex and flawed but seemingly brilliant risk taking entrepreneur. Quite the polarizing figure, but interesting to see how he works.