this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Dave got rich and kinda lost his grip with reality
There is probably some secret rich person drug that they're all doing that makes them this way. We'll find out about it in a few decades.
Like lead in gasoline
It's a lack of negative reinforcement. Normal people face negative reinforcement every single day: if you screw up you lose something. Relationships, jobs, money, etc.
After a certain amount of wealth the negative reinforcement starts to disappear. You don't need to give a shit about what "little people" think when you can always find an audience that agrees with you. When people will put up with your shit because you're the one footing the bill. When expensive mistakes are pennies to you.
Exactly. Look at what happened with the OceanGate II Scandal. Stockton Rush, founder of the company was killed when he thought he could bend reality to his will. But the laws of physics can't be bribed or bullied. They can be bent, but not broken. He was told by the manufacturer of the carbon fiber tube that was his submarine that it would not be suitable for use in a high pressure environment. He even fired his own safety guy because he never wanted to be told "no".
Exactly. Good example.
The only difference between Musk and Rush is that Musk doesn't board his own rockets if he thinks they're going to kill him. Rush knew his little toy sub wasn't safe. Not only that, but he convinced other rich idiots that it was and conned them into getting on board with him.
Apparently Space X and Tesla both have entire protocols and teams specifically set up to minimize Musk's influence in the companies. I once read a story by somebody who interned at Space X who was told, as an intern, not to do anything Musk ordered him to do and to run it by his boss first. The reason Twitter is burning so badly is because there's no team there to run Musk damage control, so he's free to do whatever he wants and suffer the consequences.
I just wanna say: nobody should have this much money.
If we're gonna make exception, make it for the doctors and surgeons. Don't make it for the business owners who have people do all their work for them.
And probably drugs.
If he were some normal dork people would shun him or just tell him to shut the fuck up until the penny dropped and he moderated what he said. But since he is mega rich we get to enjoy his personality in all its terrible glory because there is nobody who can or would dare stand up to him.
It's called "unwavering approval from your peers."
We'd all be pieces of shit if our peers cheered us on for every bad thing we did.
It's called money. Without moderation
Greed
Just normal drugs but in unlimited quantities.
It's called sycophants.