I'm happy Musk _is_ obsessed. The world would be a worse off place without SpaceX and Tesla, who both are what they are to a large extent because of him.
I can definitely empathize with that, I'm happy with what's being achieved as well. Seing how SpaceX and Tesla are routinely achieving their goals and arguably change the world, I often can't get over the fact that the output of our civilization seems to hinge on the iron will of a few billionaires.
Elon Musk (and SpaceX as his tool) is just an extremely illustrative example of this, because we can directly see what our space capabilities and ambitions would look like without him.
I wish there was a Musk-like figure focused on transhumanism, but sadly it may genuinely be too early for that in my lifetime. Or not. And that's the frustrating thing: we wouldn't know until one appears.
I know this sounds like I'm writing a love letter, but it's really not meant that way. I would rather live in a civilization that has its own momentum and a better-distributed capacity for achievement, as opposed to putting my hope for the future on a few tenuous human pivot points and their whims.
The momentum of civilisation is meandering and spread. The few humans burning their own path are straightforward and fateful, there seems to be more change happening once there's a single individual behind it, but perhaps only because more change in every direction seems less than the pure firethrodden path of the single individual.
Unfortunately, the science and technology involved is nowhere near ready for a Starship-style push to be feasible. That's not even mentioning the legal environment.
Let’s hypothesise sufficient brain scans. I think even that is a way off yet?
Is a backup of your mind protected by the right to avoid self-incrimination? What about the minds of your pets?
Does a backup need to be punished (e.g. prison) if the person it is made from is punished? What if the offence occurred after the backup was made?
If the mind state is running rather than offline cold-storage, how many votes do all the copies get? What if they’re allowed to diverge?
If you memorise something and then get backed up, is that copyright infringement?
If a mind can run on silicon for less than the cost of food to keep a human healthy, can anyone other than the foremost mind in their respective field ever be employed?
If someone is backed up then the original is killed by someone who knows they were backed up, is that murder or the equivalent of a serious assault that causes a small duration of amnesia?
I suspect we have a few groups. Those who drank the kool-aid and liked it. Those who used to believe in it but after abuse are now stuck in an endless cycle where they have no time for job searches. And those that never drank the kool-aid and will leave after getting time on their resume.
It takes a great mix of super smarts and super stupid to work there.
I think that's pretty much accurate, and what I saw when I was at the Job Faire in Browning last month, most were surprised by how extensive my experience was before I applied to get there: I worked for one of Kimbal's companies, I did a short stint at the Mars Desert Research Station, and got to know the Director and was asked to come back under her on a crewed mission etc...
Most were there to dip there toes and see what it was all like, but some of us were kool-aid drinkers for sure.
I met a SpaceX engineer in S. OC at an inn/out years ago and struck up a chat and the way he spoke about it was inspiring; despite the commute, long hours, fears of possibly going bankrupt before every launch (this was before Falcon 9 was recoverable) he seemed very fulfilled: like this is what he was here to do.
I got to stay after hours and hang out with some the crew in Browning as they were having dinner-lunch and it was the same vibe--smiles everywhere and just a really warm and inviting environment as you knew you among similar 'crazies.' I'm not sure if its cult-like or not but it was one of those rare moments I've had in Life where people genuinely wouldn't want to be anywhere else than where they are.
Money can't really buy that, and that is probably why I'm so drawn to it. If you're there trying to have a cushy work-life balance in any Musk corp you're deluding yourself.
> There is some segment of the population that would pity your perspective as the disillusionment of an abused spouse. I don't. I get it.
Thanks, I often wonder if this is healthy practice myself as it can be rather personally-abusive to be so mission-centric, but then I see the consequences of the alternative: consider how many people in the US alone consume psychotropic drugs just to cope with depression despite having access to so much of everything but being so inherently listless and distracted.
I won't bemoan about the pitfalls about the Human Condition, but I will say that despite the hardships and loss I still see this as a worthwhile endeavor and wish to be part of it all, especially when you understand the implications it may have for the Species if we get this right.
Which right now as we're seeing the blow-back of something significant (albeit minor in the grand scheme of outbreaks) like Coronavirus is really alarming.
No engineer that works at SpaceX and is actually good at what s/he does would have an issue finding a job somewhere else. Having SpaceX on your resume is a guaranteed door opener. Everyone that I knew did it because they believed in the company's mission. Eventually, many went on to other places, many others kept on.
My guess is that an engineer who can build space stations has every employment option in his field that he could wish for. Wave with SpaceX's employer's reference letter and get the job, basically.
Working at a Musk company usually is, from what I've heard, a rigorous, fast-moving and stressful experience. It's expected, from the top all the way down, that people move really fast and push really hard.
So, given that, here's my question: is it not well known, ahead of time, that's the environment? How many people are truly surprised once they hire on?
I've been a long-time fan of most of Musk's work, acknowledging that the man is deeply flawed.
Yet even though I personally believe in most of what Musk wants to accomplish, I will never work at any of his companies, even though I'm quite qualified for several roles in each.
I believe in the mission, but my personal and family time is even more important to me.
Note that all of the above is, roughly, talking about salaried/technical/management positions, and not, roughly, about hourly.
