Elon Musk's only real act of genius was casting himself into a fictional archetype (the Tom Swift / John Galt / Tony Stark-style billionaire inventor) that so many people want to believe in so badly that they will overlook the mounting evidence that he's actually just an unstable idiot with enough money to hire better engineers than himself.
And in some ways, clever people *have* to believe in it. If it's real, then they're living in a meritocracy; the world is fundamentally just, Everyone Can Become Rich in America, and all social problems can be solved through visionary engineering and rugged individualism. If it's a lie, on the other hand--if he only bought his way into his position using the proceeds of a stolen emerald mine worked by stolen labour--then how will *you* ever become a genius-billionaire-playboy philanthropist with *your* engineering degree? And worse, if the system is unjust enough to promote someone like that, and if electric cars and underground tunnels and colonising Mars aren't going to solve the problems that capitalism creates--then don't you have a moral obligation and practical obligation to change the system?
No, it doesn't bear thinking about.
this is the most concise and clear explanation of elon musk’s popularity among my fellow engineers that I’ve found, and I agree pretty resoundingly.
fundamentally, elon musk is a rich person’s idea of what a smart person looks like