Dear Elon:
You are being deified and you’re loving it. Which worries me.
Here are statements I read earlier in an Associated Press article published today.
‘You have a guy who probably has an unmeasurable IQ…’ said a professor in Michigan referring to you.
C’mon, man, don’t believe a word of it. Your IQ is measurable.
Here’s another, from a venture capitalist you worked with you at PayPal. ‘Elon, on his worst day, is probably 100 times more effective than anybody else in America.’
I had to pause to swallow that one.
Look around, Elon, all kinds of creative people are making contributions to mankind every day.
And non creative people, too. Who keeps the lights on?
Another praise from a few days ago, ‘Tesla is Musk.’
Really? If so, what happened to all the engineers and mathematicians, designers, technicians and craftspeople who actually make the vehicles you sell, or the rockets Space X launches?
I also read of a person who, dazzled by your aura, stated, ‘If we lose Musk, what’re we doing to do?’
Will the world come to an end if we lose you?
No, Elon, it will not.
So, please, it’s not good for you to believe those who wish to deify you.
It’s not good for TSLA stock, either.
Particularly now that you’re off on the quest to making Twitter the paragon of free speech.
Actually, you’ve not had a good start because to say like you did recently, that to ban Trump from Twitter was ‘morally wrong,’ is a big mistake.
Mr Trump was banned because he was inciting violence. Inciting violence is not free speech. It is a crime.
That you don’t get that, or don’t have people around you with enough sense to tell you that, is most worrisome.
The deification of others is a peculiarly human phenomenon. Highly intelligent people fall into it. I think it’s associated with an urge to surrender, to worship, to not accept that it’s all of us together who decide our fate. Every day. All of us — together — collaborating in ways small and large. Accepting such truth is hard, so it must be easier to surrender instead.
So please, try to keep yourself from being seduced by praise, for it will lead you to making mistakes. Guaranteed.
Here are a few suggestions: 1) take the reins. Remind people who adore you that you’re human. Not superhuman. You are very ambitious and capable, so thank you for that, but you have limitations also.
2) Stop smoking marijuana. It dulls your brain cells. 3) Recognize the work of others in bringing your ideas to market.
Hang in there, Elon. You can do it. Best.
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts
