The confusing duality of Elon Musk
Elon Musk is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.
Elon Musk is also one of our time’s most dangerous purveyors of incivility and misinformation.
He has revolutionized automobiles and space exploration, while reshaping the digital town square into a haven for bigots and extremists.
He has inspired a generation of entrepreneurs and scientists, while empowering the bad behavior of humanity’s less evolved.
Tesla and SpaceX on the one hand, Twitter and Trumpism on the other.
How can such an extreme polarity exist within the same person?
Because humanity is nuanced - even, and perhaps especially, among the greats. As so many of the greats throughout human history have shown, being born different is fertile ground for inner tumult.
In examining the nuance of Elon Musk, we see a very human story - one of extraordinary abilities coexisting with mortal contradictions.
Take his stance on speech protections. He proudly self-identifies as a “free speech absolutist” yet imposes strict speech restrictions on his employees and tries to silence those who reveal inconvenient information about him. A plain-as-day contradiction that in media interviews either goes unchallenged or is laughed off by the characteristically sophomoric Musk.
Alongside that and other troubling contradictions lives a remarkable consistency. Against all odds, Elon Musk has spent decades singularly focused on taking humanity to new heights - and has largely succeeded! It can’t be denied that no single person in our time has done more to advance humanity than Elon Musk - and he has decades more to contribute at just 51-years-old.
If only Elon could exude more gravitas, live by a more consistent code of values, curb his bullying ways, and practice more empathy. Then maybe he would be more palatable to the more civilized among us, and maybe he could be even more effective in carrying out his life’s mission.
If only wishing made it so.
Elon Musk is a flawed human just like the rest of us, just with a set of extraordinary abilities that have propelled him to rarified success despite his significant shortcomings.
So what are we to do when faced with such a confusing historic figure who embodies both troubling and redeeming qualities? Should we refuse to buy a Tesla? Should we shutdown our Twitter accounts? Or should we focus on the net positive contribution he’s making to humanity and excuse any harm being done along the way?
The answer is … surprise, surprise … a nuanced one.
Since Elon Musk is neither all good nor all bad, and if you believe that thus far he’s been a major net positive, then how about we take him on a case-by-case basis.
If you love what he’s doing for the environment and road safety, support Tesla. If you hate what he’s doing to the online social atmosphere, boycott Twitter. Praise him when he does something great and criticize him when he does something harmful.
It’s ok, for instance, to love him as an entrepreneur yet want him far away from the levers of key societal centers like major communication platforms and government. To admire his courage and his perseverance while detesting his enablement of extremism and his lack of empathy. That kind of nuanced stance would reflect the nuance of the situation.
The duality of Elon Musk is confusing because humanity is inherently confusing. But that shouldn’t keep us from having clarity on how to approach such a complex and important figure - one case at a time with a watchful eye on the imperative that he remain a major net positive for humanity.
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