Elon Musk's epic bacon adventures

Halftrack

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Saying Hyperloop isn't a solution to anything is a bit short-sighted I feel. It's like saying cars aren't a solution to anything because we have horse carriages.
Hyperloop is a solution to traffic problems in the same way flying cars are a solution to traffic problems. In that they aren't.
 

Sweet Square

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It’s surprising for me to say this but here is a amazing article on the great potential of the Hyperloop

 

Conor

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Elon Musk being compared to Da Vinci, I'm constantly surprised by this forum.
 

marktan

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Twitter is a stock I've held for a long time, there's some blatantly obvious things they could do to make it grow well and earn a lot more than it currently does. I'm still surprised at how bad it's product Dev teams are. It's probably the most undervalued billion dollar + tech stock around, when you consider what other companies like FB are valued at.

That said Elon is a prick who only cares about his own interests, him talking about defending free speech is straight from the Boris and Trump playbook of saying something that looks good when you know it blatantly isn't true. Hopefully they turn it down, the last thing the world needs is more rich, entitled, capitalistic morons owning journalistic platforms.
 

BayernFan87

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Hyperloop is a solution to traffic problems in the same way flying cars are a solution to traffic problems. In that they aren't.
As far as I understand the vision basically consists of two parts:
1. Connect major cities to enable travel and cargo transports at far greater speeds
2. Building tunnel systems beneath huge cities to shift some traffic below the surface

Would you say current subway systems are a good thing and help reducing traffic on the streets? If yes, I can't see how you say that a Hyperloop network wouldn't have any benefits.

But for me the even bigger part is that it has the potential to make domestic flights obsolete and thus playing a significant part in reducing carbon emissions.
Just a german example: A flight from Munich to Berlin takes about 1 hour. Going by train takes 6 hours. Of course many people take a flight. If there would be a Hyperloop connection taking ~2 hours, I don't think anybody would decide to take the flight anymore.
 

unchanged_lineup

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As far as I understand the vision basically consists of two parts:
1. Connect major cities to enable travel and cargo transports at far greater speeds
2. Building tunnel systems beneath huge cities to shift some traffic below the surface

Would you say current subway systems are a good thing and help reducing traffic on the streets? If yes, I can't see how you say that a Hyperloop network wouldn't have any benefits.

But for me the even bigger part is that it has the potential to make domestic flights obsolete and thus playing a significant part in reducing carbon emissions.
Just a german example: A flight from Munich to Berlin takes about 1 hour. Going by train takes 6 hours. Of course many people take a flight. If there would be a Hyperloop connection taking ~2 hours, I don't think anybody would decide to take the flight anymore.
I think you've taken the absolute faintest whiff of what the concept is and run wild with it.
 

BayernFan87

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Elon Musk being compared to Da Vinci, I'm constantly surprised by this forum.
If Musk manages to fullfil his greatest dream and really be the driving force and maybe single most responsible person for making us a inter-planetary species by creating permanent settlements on the Mars, will you still laugh about this comparison?

I really think that kids in a few centuries will learn about Musk as one of the most important persons in the history of humankind.
You can laugh about this and we won't be able to judge this unfortunately, but I really believe it.

And just to say it again: I really don't like him as a person. I dislike most of his political statements and I hate his stance and comments on Covid.
But I only have respect and admiration for what he has achieved and how he contributed to drive our species forward.

Yes his tax evasion can be critized, he could donate much more money, but at least he's not like other billionaires that use their money to buy the 10th mansion, 5th yacht or 3rd private jet. He uses his money to continue building companies that benefit millions of people. According to himself and people close to him he works 70 to 80 hours every week. How can you not have respect for his work ethic and his achievements despite the issues regarding his personality?
 

BayernFan87

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I think you've taken the absolute faintest whiff of what the concept is and run wild with it.
Why do you think that?

The part of connecting huge cities for very fast and carbon neutral travel and cargo transports was basically the pitch when Hyperloop was founded and how it was presented to universities (there were several competitions where universities around the world had the task to build the fastest pod).

And the huge tunnel systems (that could be used for Hyperloop pods) below big cities were the main argument I frequently heard then The Boring Company was founded.

I'm open to learn if you have differing information to share.
 

sebsheep

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but at least he's not like other billionaires that use their money to buy the 10th mansion,
Yeah, for me his greatest achievement was selling the 7 houses he somehow found himself owning.
 

BayernFan87

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I feel like I'm again in a big Twitter discussion ~2 years ago where I tried to convince Covid deniers and conspiracy theorists that Bill Gates does in fact not plan to kill 90% of humans with his vaccination for a "fake disease" for fecks sake :lol:
 

atkar83

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This goes over it better than I can put into words. Elon Musk isn't this brilliant mind he tries to make people think he is. He's just invested and sold things at good times, he hasn't actually invented anything.
 

BayernFan87

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:lol: at the bit about “achievements and what he is doing for mankind” please stop it’s pathetic and very cult like
Yeah being one of the most important persons in vastly reducing the biggest factor that will otherwise lead to a huge climate catastrophe is certainly no achievement.

One-upping NASA and enabling further space exploration obviously neither.

Clown.
 

TwoSheds

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Never fails to amaze me that we're in the 21st century and people still fetishise working long hours. Long hours doesn't mean productivity (certainly not for most people) and it's bad for your health and happiness. In Musk's case I also think he takes drugs in order to be able to work that long doesn't he, or has he packed that in? That definitely isn't good for you.

The fact that the fate of the world to some degree rests in the hands of a drug-addled, overworked conspiracy theorist is a scary one to me, no matter how many amazing achievements he and his companies clock up. Admittedly we are fortunate that this poster child for a broken socioeconomic system at least has some good aims and intentions, unlike say Bezos.

I'm giving him 5/10 bippos on the Billionaire Piece of Shit scale.
 

unchanged_lineup

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Why do you think that?

The part of connecting huge cities for very fast and carbon neutral travel and cargo transports was basically the pitch when Hyperloop was founded and how it was presented to universities (there were several competitions where universities around the world had the task to build the fastest pod).

And the huge tunnel systems (that could be used for Hyperloop pods) below big cities were the main argument I frequently heard then The Boring Company was founded.

I'm open to learn if you have differing information to share.
I think that because what you've written is your extrapolated pure fancy and the reality and what Musk actually wants this to be is nothing like what you describe.

Even if he did achieve it and linked cities together with it, it would be 100% be for elites like him only by design.
 

Adisa

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Not really involved in this debate but I just find the concept of an "Elon Musk fan" weird. He's not a sports star or an actor, just a bloke that has a couple of companies. Does Bill Gates have this type of following?
 

VorZakone

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Not really involved in this debate but I just find the concept of an "Elon Musk fan" weird. He's not a sports star or an actor, just a bloke that has a couple of companies. Does Bill Gates have this type of following?
Musk may not be a sports star or actor but he's a celeb in his own right. And active on social media too.
 

Conor

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If Musk manages to fullfil his greatest dream and really be the driving force and maybe single most responsible person for making us a inter-planetary species by creating permanent settlements on the Mars, will you still laugh about this comparison?

I really think that kids in a few centuries will learn about Musk as one of the most important persons in the history of humankind.
You can laugh about this and we won't be able to judge this unfortunately, but I really believe it.

And just to say it again: I really don't like him as a person. I dislike most of his political statements and I hate his stance and comments on Covid.
But I only have respect and admiration for what he has achieved and how he contributed to drive our species forward.

Yes his tax evasion can be critized, he could donate much more money, but at least he's not like other billionaires that use their money to buy the 10th mansion, 5th yacht or 3rd private jet. He uses his money to continue building companies that benefit millions of people. According to himself and people close to him he works 70 to 80 hours every week. How can you not have respect for his work ethic and his achievements despite the issues regarding his personality?
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most incredible humans to ever live, his breadth of actual expertise and talents were ridiculous. Musk is an intelligent business man, he has a talent for successfully building up companies. He is not going to be the 'single most responsible person for making us a inter-planetary species', because he is literally just running the companies that are trying to achieve these things. Deciding you want to go to Mars and then not actually doing any of the work involved and just milking engineers and other talented people for all they are worth is in no way comparable to the things Da Vinci did and the ideas he had himself, as one person.
 

Redlambs

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Whilst I don't necessarily dislike Musk himself, certainly not some of the work the actual geniuses at his companies are doing, I do find his cult to be incredibly similar to Trumpism. Building up this inherited billionaires to deity status as if they are going to save us all with their self made ingenuity and genius, but totally not snake oil salesman, ways of speaking like us to be really weird.

The twitter stuff right now should be a bit of a red flag considering the man clearly doesn't understand the concept of free speech and is trying to bulldoze over the ownership of a company just because he can, but hey he smokes weed and references it all the time, so he must be one of us and cool and is doing it for us all!

It's all very odd, but fascinating to watch.
 

Jippy

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I think the cultish following bizarre, but equally I find people's need to deride his company's acievements because he didn't singlehandedly design and build every component in the SpaceX rockets strange.

He's clearly an extremely talented businessman with great vision who is able to put together and motivate excellent teams and drive these advances. He's also obviously an attention-seeking, moany tax-dodging manchild with it.

This whole thread is strange.