Joe Rogan Experience #1169 Elon Musk
I’ve lived in LA for 16 years. The traffic has always been horrible. I don’t see any other ideas for improving the traffic. In desperation, we will dig a tunnel. Maybe it will be successful and maybe it won’t. (4:51)
I don’t think people understand what I do with my time. They think I’m like a business guy. My wikipedia page says business magnate? I’m a business magnet. 80% of my time is engineering and manufacturing. Hardcore engineering. Designing things. (10:30)
A company is essentially a cybernetic collective of people and machines. And all the humans that connect to it are part of one giant cybernetic collective. (15:00)
It feels like we are the biological bootloader for AI. The percentage of intelligence that is not human is increasing. Eventually, we will represent a very small percentage of intelligence. (17:30)
The success of these online systems is a function of how much limbic resonance they are able to achieve with people. The more limbic resonance the more engagement. (18:55)
What most people don’t realize is you are already a cyborg. Your phone is an extension of yourself. It is just the communication rate between you and the cybernetic extension that is your phone (and computer) is slow. Very slow. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Read about Elon’s company Neuralink here. (28:50)
On the dangers of social media: No one looks good all the time. It doesn't matter who you are. Instagram can make people quite sad. People think of themselves relative to others. Happiness = reality - expectations. (40:15)
I would rather be optimistic and wrong, than pessimistic and right. (47:47)
Valve is a great company. (51:35)
I think we should take the set of actions that are most likely to make the future better. And then reevaluate those actions to make sure they are true. (53:30)
A tesla is the most fun thing you could buy ever. It is not a car. It is a thing to maximize enjoyment. (58:37)
What keeps you up at night? Running companies is pretty hard. Running Tesla is the hardest thing Elon does. Tesla and Ford are the only two American car companies that have not gone bankrupt. (1:53:00)
I don’t necessarily think that you would want to be me. I don’t think most people would like it very much. It is very hard to turn it off. (2:16:28)
What gives Elon satisfaction: I like to get things done. I like to be useful. That is one of the hardest things to do: to be useful. Doing something useful for other people. (2:19:22)
My goal is to try and do useful things. Try to maximize the probability that the future is good. Make the future something you look forward to. Make things people love. (2:25:14)