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.
‘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.
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.”