Luke Muehlhauser

Elon Musk on saving the world

September 11, 2015 by Luke 2 Comments

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert asked Elon Musk if he was trying to save the world. The obvious, transparent answer is “yes.” But Elon’s reply was “Well, I’m trying to do useful things.” Perhaps Elon’s PR person told him that trying to save the world comes off as arrogant, even if you’re a billionaire.

 

Filed Under: Musings

Comments

  1. Benito says

    September 12, 2015 at 3:16 am

    ‘Saving the world’ is what being agenty looks like. It’s possible that just isn’t how he frames it – he simply, does ‘whatever most satisfies his values’ and doesn’t think of it in that way.

    Reply
  2. entirelyuseless says

    September 12, 2015 at 4:16 am

    Elon Musk knows that it is incredibly unlikely that he personally would be responsible for “saving the world.” What he actually expects to accomplish is to do useful things, as he said.

    If you play the lottery, and you’re honest, you don’t say, “I’m trying to win the lottery.” You say, “I’m hoping to win the lottery.”

    Reply

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