The Elon Musk Thread

[beiser]

I wouldn't

without the Revolution he would've been an anonymous French (Corsican) officer with few prospects of serious advancement

and the early years of his career are filled with luck and narrow victories, for example Marengo

and he had comparably talented, less lucky contemporaries like Kleber and Desaix (the guy who was killed saving him at Marengo), among others

and you would have ended up with nothing, while Gus here would’ve made bank on his Napoleon bet! This is exactly the point!

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I think musk is much less ideologically sophisticated than this implies

that's true, he doesn't have the grasp of the history of philosophy that Thiel does

he would never write an essay citing Schmitt, Girard, and Leo Strauss

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

and you would have ended up with nothing, while Gus here would’ve made bank on his Napoleon bet! This is exactly the point!

when would you and gus have bet on Napoleon in this scenario?

how you have determined in 1794 that he was the horse to back

we're not talking about betting on Napoleon in 1801, anyone can do that

 

[beiser]

even simplier, he would never write an essay. too clever for that scam.

 

[IdleRich]

I wouldn't

without the Revolution he would've been an anonymous French (Corsican) officer with few prospects of serious advancement

and the early years of his career are filled with luck and narrow victories, for example Marengo

and he had comparably talented, less lucky contemporaries like Kleber and Desaix (the guy who was killed saving him at Marengo), among others

Well he did say that thing about lucky generals... luck does tend to run out eventually though.

 

[beiser]

yeah this was unhinged cope, and very disrespectful to Huang’s family. simultaneously trash and stupid. indefensible.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

the most surprising thing about Thiel, to me, when I discovered it, is how religious he is

or how religiously framed "The Straussian Moment" is, anyway

once I knew it I was like I guess that makes sense, but I wouldn't have guessed it beforehand

 

[IdleRich]

all I'm saying is if I was a VC I'd fund the hell out of Napoleon

I genuinely thought this Napoleon was an unknown (to me) silicon valley billionaire until the next few posts. Although I have to admit it's not a common name these days.

 

[beiser]

the most surprising thing about Thiel, to me, when I discovered it, is how religious he is

once I knew it I was like I suppose that makes sense, but it's not something I would have guessed

he’s “religious” in the same sense that he’s a “libertarian,” which is to say he’s not really except in a metaphorical way and as a misdirection. (have you ever heard of a libertarian teaching a class on ‘midcentury german political philosophy?’) He believes in Girard and Tolkein much more than he does the existence of any deity.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

the other thing about Napoleon is say you do bet big on him in 1794, before the whiff of grapeshot

and then he's killed leading the charge at Arcole Bridge in 96, or at Marengo, or during his flight from Egypt, or etc

you wind up with nothing

meanwhile I've invested in an index fund of French generals - in other words, a long bet on the overall French war effort - and I've done quite well

 

[beiser]

I also think you and beiser, are, as with algocracy or any number of similar things, ideologically invested in what Musk and Tesla represent

which isn't surprising, it just is what it is

a little remarked upon fact is that the biggest advantage of battery-electric vehicles is their excellent acceleration—hence, belief in Tesla is a kind of “accelerationism.” It is true that the stock price is well above what is justifiable with current sales, but it reflects a belief in the company. That belief can be translated into cheaper access to capital, which in turn accelerates the growth of the company. Public markets inherently contain this hyperstition; belief is what creates the value, not vice versa.

 

[luka]

How'd I get tied in with Peter Thiel that was just a Luka shitpost I think

Woah there lil' buddy! Hold your horses! I would invite interested parties to check the dissensus '10 Alpha Males you respect and admire' thread where they will find you had Pete at number 2 wedged in between Joe 'insane kicks' Rogan and Ted 'Million Dollar Man' Dibiase

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

He believes in Girard and Tolkein much more than he does the existence of any deity

you have, I'm sure, studied more Thiel minutiae than I have

I don't take extreme free market types too seriously wrt their stated beliefs as a general rule. they're almost always happy to cite Hayek or whatever and in the same breath profiteer on Big Govt contracts, just as Thiel is happy to be an integral part of the military-industrial complex.

I do agree with what you said in the other thread - that unlike Yarvin (a fucking clown), Thiel is worth studying, smart and very dangerous

 

[sus]

I think musk is much less ideologically sophisticated than this implies. That said, ideological sophistication is not a prerequisite for running a car company.

I have the same suspicion. Is it hubris? That's my guess given his Reddit-tier aesthetic taste. It implies a certain worldview that goes with not reading old books or something

 

[beiser]

I don't think so—I hear he's quite methodical when he gets down to something. But again—old books aren't what you want to run a car company. Introspection-free, comes with the mania.

 

[luka]

History is bunk

 

[sus]

I agree that reading old books in order to have a sophisticated political ideology is not necessarily synergistic with running multiple publicly traded companies.

 

[sus]

Woah there lil' buddy! Hold your horses! I would invite interested parties to check the dissensus '10 Alpha Males you respect and admire' thread where they will find you had Pete at number 2 wedged in between Joe 'insane kicks' Rogan and Ted 'Million Dollar Man' Dibiase

Don't forget Jordan "Based" Peterson

 

[beiser]

History is bunk

Luka is bunk

 

[IdleRich]

I think he's agreeing with you by quoting the most famous car maker's derision of history in support of your claim.