“The fundamental weakness is empathy,” Musk recently told radio podcast host Joe Rogan. “There is a bug, which is the empathy response.”
As Musk has established himself as at least the second most powerful person in an administration seeking a wholesale remaking of institutions, rules and norms, what he said matters, because it encapsulates a political plan. What the Project 2025 report set out in over 900 turgid pages, Musk’s remark captures in a simple pithy mantra for the social media age.
It’s a useful skill if you’re trying to cultivate a popular following. The funny thing is that he used to have it and was quite good at feeling people out for a popular vibe. Now he’s too ketted out to feel anything. Just a rolling ball of Id, bouncing between hungry, cranky, and horny.
I wonder if he was ever good at it, or if before he got a pass on being a weird guy because his goals seemed positive (save the planet, push tech forward). Now that he’s fixated on manosphere/nazi shit, more people are less willing to overlook his idiosyncrasies.
I think he had a really good PR firm and they said fuck this shit after he called a guy a pedophile for not using his shitty submarine.
I always thought he had a really good PR firm and fired them after they said no to his great idea for a rescue submarine. Just look at the press: everyone loves him, everyone hangs on his very word, he must know better
Some such people are really good at pretending to have empathy. I used to be with a narcissist who was a nurse. She could put on a good face, but in actuality she just got off on the sense of power over people who needed her help. In areas where being an awful person didn’t threaten her job security, she had zero qualms about hurting or taking advantage of others, and she did so without hesitation when she felt it would benefit her.
Empathy is an ability not a skill. It’s not a mundane tool to get what you want.
It is a inbuilt limit that prevents (most of us) from doing harm to our fellow humans, and to shun from society those that do. It is the very core of why humanity has reached the modern society with a high quality of life.
you’re right, it’s not a tool to get what you want
it’s a tool to not be a horrible person
Plenty of conmen and torturers can tell you differently. Whether your soul can bear the burden of your actions is far removed from what you can accomplish with your abilities.
The skill of reading people is different from the skill of feeling their pain. Both are skills, and require practice. Some people are born better at it than others.
As for bearing the burdens of your choices, I agree with you.
He’s gone too far with special k and needs to come back. Many such cases observed in the scene during my youth.
i think he also downs alcohol and cocaine as well, given his sudden increase in energy from time to time.