Elon Musk’s Decision Making | Hacker News Reader

Elon Musk’s Decision Making

9 pointsrobofanatic14 comments

Why does Elon Musk make real decisions based on a poll he conducts on twitter while he thinks twitter has a bot problem?

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He doesn't, but he will consider such results as a factor affecting certain decisions he makes. A key aspect of his existence is borne on fame/celebrity, another portion on adoration, another on notoriety and also begrudging respect. Accordingly, he tries to always keep a hand on the rudder of his public image, and will often do things (even if only paying lip service) that help maintain this image and service some of each of these groups.

Being famous and popular opens doors and probably helps grease much of what he does. The conservative gamble he made where he's swung quite to the right was an odd shift from him, though, and I don't think that will pay off.

He hasnt swung to the right. That was the point he made. His views havent changed. It only seems that way because so many people have swung to the left.

He has allowed harassment of transgender people on twitter, that's not a centrist position. He thinks trains are a scam and made up Hyperloop to stymie attempts for high speed rail in California. Not particularly centrist. I'm sure I could come up with more if I cared but I think he's reprehensible and don't care to journal his life.

?? hyperloop is right-wing? I think you are confirming his point.

He admitted that it was devised to prevent high speed rail. Dislike of public transportation is right wing, yes.

Hyperloop would come under the category of public transportation?

He hasnt swung to the right

Yes he has, and he said as much, in a [tweet] (naturally) from May this year:

——————————————————————

In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.

But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold …

——————————————————————

How he can reconcile "democrats are the party of division and hate" with his statement that he will vote for the party whose leadership was responsible for a seditious mob who stormed the Capitol and was prepared to hang the vice president is beyond me, but that's what you get from maniacs.

[tweet](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1526997132858822658?ref_...)

IMO we have to examine his actions and not his words, as his words are almost always calculated to achieve a certain goal; his hidden agenda, whether it is self promotion or influencing an outcome.

The Jan 6 people no more represent the Republican mainstream than the BLM rioters burning down buildings represent the Democrat mainstream.

Jan 6 was odd though. The only death by gunshot was one of the protestors. Clearly it was a disorganised rabble that was easily removed. Looking at the videos it was obvious they were surprised to be let inside in the building and were wandering around in confusion thinking "now what".

And I have to agree with Elon, you only have to look at any political thread to see the endless river of nastiness and bile coming from the left. They are not remotely the people they think they are. They are just your standard, garden variety haters hiding behind a very thin "cloak of virtue".

yeah best of luck with your choices i guess

Democracy is generally an appeal to legitimize the decision making process. It is less about allowing individuals to influence the outcome and more about PR.

Whatever the outcome, it looks better than the perfectly legitimate, "This is a private company and I can do as I please". Compare to, "I took a poll because I care about your views".

Obviously when conducting a poll the questions can be loaded or a set of false alternatives. The framing of the question is also important. Bots may also be a concern here, but the premises are more important than the minutiae.

Elon Musk has convinced himself he has great "instincts", and he is likely surrounded by yesmen who constantly affirm this for him. So he does whatever his instincts tell him to do.

Elon Musk is not naive. He is a very shrewd business person. Whatever we see in public about him is a well choreographed PR activity. His PR agency/team seems to be doing a very good job.

One thing to note. CEOs of big companies have a "CEO's office", meaning they have a large dedicated team to manage their every activity related to business, from scheduling meetings, self-promotion/branding campaigns, email handling, social media management etc. These CEOs are super busy. Anyone who thinks that CEOs of big companies sit in front of a computer or mobile phone tweeting most of the day does not understand the way big companies "manage" their CEOs and marketing.

elon musk is surrounded with men taking notes on paper

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