This evening I heard Walter Isaacson talk about his newly released biography of Elon Musk. I am looking forward to reading the full book and, as Isaacson said, it is important to give people due consideration in their full complexity rather than to jump to simplistic conclusions, especially if based on partial evidence. I might write a fuller reflection when I get into the book, but there is one takeaway which I thought it worth sharing. Isaacson suggested there are three through line motivations to Musk’s endeavours:
- Musk’s focus on not only electric vehicles but battery technology and solar panels is all part of his desire to tackle climate change in order to preserve Earth as a home for human civilisation.
- Knowing that living only on Earth is a risk to the long-term future of human civilisation fuels Musk’s interest in space exploration and making humanity a extra-planetary species.
- Also with the protection of humanity in mind, Musk wants to develop safe artificial intelligence in order to avoid the pitfalls of AI if improperly developed.
These three related motivations all speak to a deep belief that Musk has in preserving human civilisation. I don’t think this normally cuts through in the coverage of Musk and the popular perception which that coverage gives us.
Commonplace 