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Comment by Bubble_Pop_22 | Hacker News Reader

> So no, those guys are smart dudes.

Von Braun was a very smart dude but he was making the Nazi salute and fawning over Hitler all the times.

When he moved to the US he was fawning over Eisenhower all the times.

Similarly this Friedman guy has 4 years worth of videos in which he fawns over Putin.

Technical abilities and critical thinking in the social realm are 2 very different sets of competences. It's very rare to find somebody who is extremely technically gifted and is also able to realize that the leader of a big organization is not a god but a regular guy like anybody else who happened to be positioned in the right spot to ride the wave of social consensus.

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Yes and? They're still smart guys. To be honest I don't see why you anti-Musk crusaders bother so much, let people's accomplishments speak for themselves. Sure, go laugh at Musk's and other self-appointed Ubermen when they fail, but at least appreciate when they did accomplish stuffs. Better to fail a hundred times than not even try from the beginning.

When I decided to be atheist I clearly reasoned that if I had to believe in somebody without any evidence I'd rather believe in myself.

If the greatest story ever told and 2000+ years of compounding marketing and outreach had no chance of getting god in my brain and heart, I'll let you figure what are the odds for Musk self-promoting himself via bullying and cheap outreach.

> let people's accomplishments speak for themselves

Musk and all the other 2500 billionaires in the world have as much agency over their so called accomplishments as lottery winners.

When I am in SV/SF I have lots of fun acting and pretending that I am a believer brainwashed too. Musk fans especially throw the most bizzarre parties, only second to crypto-guys. Maybe they hope that the cult leader would show up. I got a private jet ride in a G3 because I "believe in Elon" whatever the fuck that means lol.

>> but at least appreciate when they did accomplish stuffs. Better to fail a hundred times than not even try from the beginning.

That still doesn't give them any right to crap over people. At least treat people with basic human decency or in the long run they won't give a crap about you.

If his behaviour continues like this, sooner or later, Musk will find out that history is not kind to him ... or maybe not.

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