Has Elon Musk become an existential threat to humanity?

[TimBKK]

He certainly grows more annoying by the day.

[Will B Good]

OMG...just been reading up his father Errol Musk.

 

Raised his step-daughter Jana from four years old until she was 16......then divorced her mother but later on had two kids with Jana...the daughter he raised.

 

This kind of thing doesn't even happen in Middlesbrough

[RSD1]

31 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

OMG...just been reading up his father Errol Musk.

 

Raised his step-daughter Jana from four years old until she was 16......then divorced her mother but later on had two kids with Jana...the daughter he raised.

 

This kind of thing doesn't even happen in Middlesbrough

Pretty sickening. And as they say, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree:

 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-father-kids-stepdaughter/
 

He also comes across as quite deluded:

 

 

[patman30]

TLDR
but
The man has a lot of satellites capable of lots of things
he is currently manufacturing a droid army
he already has vehicles that require no humans
he has rockets that can reach any part of the earth within 30 mins
and he wants to put chips into peoples brains
and one of his recent comments on government issued visa's was....
"I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend"
yeh, sure, nothing to see here.

[spidermike007]

He has certainly not worn his power and wealth lightly, he is becoming incredibly obnoxious, and he seems to be spectacularly ignorant when it comes to world affairs and politics. 

 

So yes, I would agree that he is an existential hazard to humanity. 

[connda]

4 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

If Elon Musk is an existential threat to anyone or anything, it is probably to himself and his business empire.

Yep - He looks like a business failure to me. 

[Will B Good]

2 hours ago, RSD1 said:

Pretty sickening. And as they say, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree:

 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-father-kids-stepdaughter/
 

He also comes across as quite deluded:

 

 

 

Mad as!!

[RSD1]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

He has certainly not worn his power and wealth lightly, he is becoming incredibly obnoxious, and he seems to be spectacularly ignorant when it comes to world affairs and politics. 

 

So yes, I would agree that he is an existential hazard to humanity. 

Around ten years ago, I was genuinely impressed by Elon Musk’s accomplishments and often praised him as someone making a positive impact on the world. Many of my friends were skeptical even then, dismissing him as just another dubious billionaire. At the time, I defended him, but looking back, I can see they were absolutely right. It wasn’t long after that my opinion of him began to shift dramatically.
 

Today, I see him in a completely different light; lacking integrity, emotionally unstable, spreading lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. He now comes across as totally greedy, self-serving, and self-absorbed, acting like an immature and disruptive politically motivated troublemaker that the world could do without. And his recreational drug use only seems to make him even more erratic and unstable.

[jas007]

On 1/18/2025 at 5:50 PM, RSD1 said:

It's not only about his money that will shape the future but, as Sam Harris pointed out, it's all the platforming he does of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracies, hoaxes, and what seems to be his wholesale distorted view of reality.
 

Personally, I think there is a good chance that he could be remembered as a destructor and not a creator. Many people start out on the right course doing some seemingly great things, but then eventually turn to the dark side, which is what they are remembered for in the end. 
 

Names like Julius Caesar, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini come to mind. And let's of course not forget Anakin Skywalker. 

Platforming? It's called free speech. An important right in America.  Without that, we have nothing. The rest is just noise. 

[FriscoKid]

3 minutes ago, jas007 said:

Platforming? It's called free speech. An important right in America.  Without that, we have nothing. The rest is just noise. 

False conspiracy theories, hate speech and disinformation is not free speech. 

[jas007]

16 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

False conspiracy theories, hate speech and disinformation is not free speech. 

You have been brainwashed. My condolences.  You just don't understand.  

 

People should be able to say whatever.  If it's nut,  the other people will figure that out.  What's the alternative?  A brainwashed fact checker?

[soi3eddie]

No.

[rattlesnake]

9 hours ago, connda said:

it's The End Of The World As We Know It.

Thank God.

[rattlesnake]

The minute he supports Trump, he become à supervillain. You guys are funny. 

[FriscoKid]

36 minutes ago, jas007 said:

You have been brainwashed. My condolences.  You just don't understand.  

 

People should be able to say whatever.  If it's nut,  the other people will figure that out.  What's the alternative?  A brainwashed fact checker?

 

You just don’t fully understand; it’s much more than that. It is no longer so simple and this isn’t just about fake words in a newspaper anymore. We now live in an era of highly advanced technology, where AI and sophisticated spoofing capabilities can seamlessly combine audio, video, and doctored photos, often with images taken entirely out of context and combined with false words. For the average person, especially those who may not be tech-savvy or highly informed, distinguishing fact from fiction has become increasingly difficult in the face of such convincing disinformation.

[jas007]

10 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

 

You just don’t fully understand; it’s much more than that. It is no longer so simple and this isn’t just about fake words in a newspaper anymore. We now live in an era of highly advanced technology, where AI and sophisticated spoofing capabilities can seamlessly combine audio, video, and doctored photos, often with images taken entirely out of context and combined with false words. For the average person, especially those who may not be tech-savvy or highly informed, distinguishing fact from fiction has become increasingly difficult in the face of such convincing disinformation.

Even if you assume all that, what's the alternative?  A brainwashed fact checker?   People will figure it out.  The town square. All sort of nuts, and yet life goes on. That's reality. 

 

Have you ever lived in NYC?  Ever been to the heart of Manhattan?  All sorts of nuts, on every street corner.  Some have microphones and amplifiers. They'll tell you about  Jesus, or the end of the world, or the evils of capitalism. They spew nonsense 4/7. And yet most people pay no attention.  They just walk on by.  And life goes on.  The crazy people  are no danger to anyone.  What's the real danger? People who want to shut down free speech because they think they know what's best. Those are the dangerous people. 

[GammaGlobulin]

Elon's approach to China is what seems most worrisome.

 

This is, perhaps, just a self-serving approach which Elon has taken, presumably to protect his business interests in Red China.

 

But, is it best for the world?

Likely....not.

 

Taiwan cannot accept Elon's view of Red China, and neither can any thinking individual who respects freedom and rule of law.

 

[oldcpu]

On 1/18/2025 at 7:19 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

The bigger problem with him, with X and with people like Trump is that too many people listen to them and think they are the smart guys, and they must all know the truth and tell us the truth.

 

 Exactly.

 

But rather than point a finger at the stupidity (?) those who listen to Trump's spins or lies, or point a finger at the stupidity of those who listen to Musk when Musk is trolling, ... no ...  instead we read of many who ignore the stupidity of such blind followers. 

 

 

[SiSePuede419]

Has Elon Musk become an existential threat to humanity?

 

No.

 

He's just a loudmouth African hustler.

 

Full Self Driving is "just around the corner".

😀😃😄😆😅🤣😭

[soalbundy]

On 1/18/2025 at 6:18 PM, RSD1 said:

 

Yes, fully agree, that’s one potential narrative I had also considered, although I believe he’s less likely to turn his version of Skynet into an outright killing machine and more likely to conspire with China to exploit and undermine Western infrastructure through computer and internet technology.
 

Overall, Elon strikes me as another one of those madmen who has already lost the plot, and I suspect psychedelic drug use plays a role, but his true colors won’t be as clear to everyone else until it’s too late. Another textbook case of "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

 

Elon also seems like the ultimate troll of humanity, far worse than a maniac like Putin, who at least appears to follow some kind of (more predictable) Soviet era, power-hungry, bloodthirsty agenda.
 

But Elon now seems to do it purely for the “Lolz,” as he already has all the money and success he could ever want and has now transformed into more of a technological and disinformation prankster. That makes him far more unpredictable and possibly even more dangerous and destructive than your typical dictator.

Things have a way of 'turning', remember Robespierre ended up on the guillotine himself.

[OneMoreFarang]

11 hours ago, jas007 said:

People should be able to say whatever.  If it's nut,  the other people will figure that out.

That's what I hoped for.

But in reality, it seems too many people are so stupid that they don't figure it out.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for stupid.

[OneMoreFarang]

11 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

The minute he supports Trump, he become à supervillain. You guys are funny. 

Actually, it isn't funny. That is the problem.

[Chosenfew]

Hater’s hate, especially the commies.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/18/2025 at 10:56 PM, RSD1 said:

The following is from a recent post by Sam Harris about the reckless and irresponsible behavior of Elon Musk during the pandemic.

Would have helped if you explained who Sam Harris is that we should care what he thinks.

 

Having just looked him up, it might help if you explain why it is that you think we should care about what he thinks. It's not as though he is famous or anything like that.

 

As for Musk, if he wasn't rich, nobody would care about his opinions. He's just another pub talk guy that spouts a load of *******, IMO. Perhaps that is why he's best buds with Trump. Without lots of money they'd just be two guys blathering over a beer while they watch sports in the basement.

 

As for existential threats to humanity, that would be humanity with it's desire to breed itself into extinction, and it's disregard of the environment. Any species that poos in it's own nest isn't going to be around too long ( in cosmic terms ). Humans have been around for about 50,000 years and I'd be surprised if we are still in existence in 5,000.

[thaibeachlovers]

50 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Things have a way of 'turning', remember Robespierre ended up on the guillotine himself.

Yes, the 1% have a knack of surviving. I wonder whom they bribed to end the reign of terror?

[thaibeachlovers]

11 minutes ago, Chosenfew said:

Hater’s hate, especially the commies.

Plenty of non commies hating on this forum. Just mention Trump and it's all over the place.

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Elon's approach to China is what seems most worrisome.

 

This is, perhaps, just a self-serving approach which Elon has taken, presumably to protect his business interests in Red China.

 

But, is it best for the world?

Likely....not.

 

Taiwan cannot accept Elon's view of Red China, and neither can any thinking individual who respects freedom and rule of law.

 

Sadly, the world has never been run on "right", but on "might" and wealth. China, thanks to being given the technology by greedy capitalists that wish to get richer by exploiting the poor in China, is very powerful, and the ruling class are very rich.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, jas007 said:

Even if you assume all that, what's the alternative?  

IMO, either the poor revolt and bring it all down ( there are going to be lots of poor once AI robotics destroys their jobs ) or the 1% go too far and bring it all down, or a real nutter gets into power and nukes the planet, which will bring it all down.

 

Basically, IMO it's just a matter of time before we either pollute ourselves into extinction or we bring the whole rotten farce down, one way or another.

 

Have a nice day.

[soalbundy]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Yes, the 1% have a knack of surviving. I wonder whom they bribed to end the reign of terror?

They didn't survive though did they and the all powerful destroyer Robespierre was killed himself, forcing through change with power and violence doesn't work out well, dictators don't usually die of old age.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, FriscoKid said:

For the average person, especially those who may not be tech-savvy or highly informed, distinguishing fact from fiction has become increasingly difficult in the face of such convincing disinformation.

Or, people can be like those of us that assume everything is BS till proven not.

It's a philosophy that works well for me, though unfortunately I didn't understand how BS runs our lives till too late to benefit from it.

 

For any interested in the topic, plenty of books about BS out there.

 

One way of separating BS from reality is to ask

a/ does it sound or look too good to be true ( if it does it's BS )

b/ work out what the benefit to the person promoting something is.

c/ start engaging the brain- most of us have common sense- use it.