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Elon Musk shows why we shouldn't make cult figures out of our tech geniuses

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DailyBiteJul 18, 2018 | 11:03

Elon Musk shows why we shouldn't make cult figures out of our tech geniuses

Musk, who among many other businesses, also heads the Boring Company, is usually anything but when he takes to Twitter or graces the media with his presence. He always has something interesting – borderline outrageous – to say. This particular quality has often worked to his favour, helping him become the darling of the tech community, and to an extent the media too, which has often been found singing praises of Musk's ability to disrupt the status quo with his ability to innovate. 

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To an extent, such assertions are somewhat true. Musk, after all, has to his credit a number of ideas that are quite innovative. Earlier this year, Musk's SpaceX successfully launched the world's most powerful operational rocket – a mammoth 27 engine launch vehicle christened Falcon Heavy – carrying a payload that included among other things a 2008 Roadster made by his other big-name firm, Tesla.

He is also the brains behind the ultra high-speed rail system called Hyperloop that Musk claims will use a magnetic levitation train and a low-pressure transit tube to help commuters get from London to Edinburgh or LA to San Francisco in under 30 minutes. 

Then there is also the planned Big F*ucking Rocket (BFR) – an interplanetary vehicle for ferrying humans to Mars by 2024. Interestingly, Musk's SpacreX plans to build the BFR by cannibalising existing vehicles from the Dragon and Falcon series rockets that it currently uses for various cargo missions to space. 

These innovations sold to the world using his charm have helped him become a cult figure and amass followers that would have you to believe that Musk is nothing short of God himself. However, there are times when the billionaire steps over the line, and in the process helps the world see what truly lies behind the veil – just another flesh and bones human being like the rest of us. 

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Case in point, Musk's unsavory tweet targetting British diver, Vern Unsworth – the man involved in the rescue of 12 Thai soccer players and their coach who remained trapped inside a cave for over 17 days. 

The tweet came after Musk's idea of using a mini-submarine to save the team was rejected by Thai officials as not being "practical" and then subsequently shot down by Unsworth as "a PR stunt" on live television. Though, he said little about the officials involved, the SpaceX and Tesla founder decided to hit out at the 63-year-old Brit diver by questioning the part he played in the rescue efforts and then going a step ahead by calling him a "pedo".

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Musk the monster?

The tweet, which has since been deleted, has seen him being thrashed by the media, and twitterati alike, who have questioned not only his choice words, but also the motivation behind what he does. Musk has been advised to take a crash course in humility, and not let all the success, and money get to his head.

The same audience that has for long egged him on to be disruptive – on social media and otherwise – is now calling for his head and did some real damage to Musk by sending Tesla's shares tumbling by as much as 3 per cent yesterday.

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Though we don't deny that the particular tweet from Musk was way out of line, and reeks of a man drunk on power, it will also be prudent to understand that this power emanates from his over 22 million followers on Twitter, and many sections of the media which have created him nothing short of a cult figure. 

Though well-intentioned, these people have unknowingly inflated his ego and created a monster which over the years has been the cause of disastrous exchanges on social media. 

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Problem with cults

It is important to understand that in the modern day when power users take to Twitter, they don't use it as a platform just to share their views and opinions, but rather to put forth an image their millions of fans will approve of. 

From his Trumpesque solution to the problem of fake news – Pravda, a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article and track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication – to his Twitter spats where he has reduced the life's work of experts down to nothing, Musk has increasingly appeared to be a man looking to be pandering to his followers. 

So part of the problem here is the ecosystem created by his loyal "Muskbros" that expect him to be this hard fighting tech genius who knows it all and is above all around him.  

There is no denying that Elon Musk is a brilliant man. However, it is also true that he appears to be crumbling under the burden of the expectations, and a recently developed God complex that his followers and sections of the media have helped develop. So maybe its time for us to take a step back, and let men like Elon Musk just innovate, and not expect them to turn into Iron Man everytime something goes wrong in our lives. 

Last updated: July 18, 2018 | 11:07
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