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Comment by ineptech | Hacker News Reader

I had a similar thought - perhaps Elon was visited by a time traveler from the future who convinced him that the only way to stave off some impending disaster is for someone to drive Twitter into bankruptcy as quickly as possible, and he heroically offered to ruin his fortune and reputation to save humanity. That's a stupid idea, but it would elegantly explain his recent behavior...

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Alternative explanation, things aren't that deep, he's just someone who is almost never held to account because of his wealth. He regularly displays appalling judgement but rarely has to suffer the consequences, which are bourne by those around him or the public at large. But in this particular case, he really stepped in it, and there was a group of people - Twitter employees - able to hold him accountable, and because he thoroughly burned his own bridges and denied himself any avenue of escape, he has to take it on the chin this time.

It isn't a difference in kind from calling a rescue diver a pedophile, or pretending he's going to take Tesla private, or any of the million bad decisions he's made over the years. It's just a difference in outcome.

Honestly, I think you could convince a non-trivial portion of the US population that this is completely true.

This has to be the deepest insight from all this circus.

> That's a stupid idea, but it would elegantly explain his recent behavior...

I think Elon Musk's character as we've publicly known him last few years explains this behavior elegantly and comprehensively enough. As someone else in this thread said, he's a "techno-feudalist", he gives the orders and peasants comply. He's been operating on this mode for a decade now.

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