15 Comments
User's avatar
varactyl's avatar

Musk was considerably younger in his glory days with Tesla and SpaceX. Aging damages the brain, and Musk's father is known to have gone insane around his current age.

Expand full comment
Austin's avatar

Hubris is you talking like you're a public intellectual, fuckwit.

Expand full comment
Murtaza Hussain's avatar

Sounds like you’re having a mental health episode?

Expand full comment
Austin's avatar

No I am just profoundly unimpressed by your behaviour, specifically you asked me to review one of your articles, and then didn't read it.

Are you going to pretend you don't know what I am talking about? You are not a celebrity Maz. Just a shit friend.

Edit, here's the review, which I had shared with you weeks ago, following your explicit request for my thoughts. I made sure you actually asked before I put the time and effort in: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1edYsHDnHpldKJJ8NztfBv8-YEmAp00-VYvBehQ0meKs/edit?tab=t.0

Expand full comment
Murtaza Hussain's avatar

I never even saw this message. I’ll read it. You should probably relax before immediately flying off the handle.

Expand full comment
Austin's avatar

Well now you know and you know it's important to me so here's your chance to surprise me. EDIT: I am not looking for personality advice (for example about when to relax) from you. I am happy with who I am and how I communicate. I do not think you have anything to teach me on this front.

Expand full comment
Murtaza Hussain's avatar

Ok that’s a very thoughtful response thanks for writing it. I suppose I am making a normative argument but when are we supposed to expect a world government to emerge? Nothing like that has ever existed, but I suppose it could. I wouldn’t counsel anyone to bet on it however and it might generate a more realistically peaceful world if there is a balance of forces between a few large blocs and states. Sure it’s not an inspiring idea per se but I can see it happening and working well enough.

Expand full comment
Austin's avatar

I am tempted to respond, but can I be confident you will read it and not ghost me for two months?

Expand full comment
Sandra McGuire's avatar

I don’t agree with Hussain, you aren’t having a mental health episode, you are at the four season.

Expand full comment
It's Always the End of History's avatar

Just wanted to ask since I know littlw about him: how do Isaacson and others answer the contention that Musk did not have much engineering input in Tesla cars, and simply scaled up the business? I guess that's also your point here? That he was a good businessman first and foremost?

Expand full comment
Eric's avatar

Most of this is of course all reasonable and who couldn’t agree, but you lost me at the premodern-to-modern “modernity talk”. What could someone like Musk have been like before the 17th century in an enchanted world of the great chain of being, etc., vs MoDErnitY? It’s really beside the point of anything relevant isn’t it? Have you just been hanging out a lot with Sayyid Hussain Nasr, Guenon and Evola a lot lately? No offense; I’m giving you a hard time.

Expand full comment
Murtaza Hussain's avatar

It’s because his fan base compares him a Aristotle-like figure which is effectively impossible to exist in present conditions

Expand full comment
Austin's avatar

If you met a real philosopher, would you recognize them? I have my doubts.

Expand full comment