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by thomasjbevan 1864 days ago
Yeah, how Musk is generally a hero in the popular imagination of the internet rather than a Bond Villain is beyond me...
3 comments

It's pretty simple for me, him and the people he surrounds himself with create tech and don't force anyone to use it. I suspect anyone who dislikes Musk is someone who has a general disdain for everyone on top.

I don't expect perfection from Musk, but it's easy to imagine he does most everything with good intentions, or at least no malice.

I'm a fan of anyone willing to go broke for what they believe in though and I do recognize his social influence is so strong that it would be very difficult for any human to handle that without getting a god complex.

He's both, which seems an inevitability these days. If enough people glorify someone, a countermovement emerges inevitably.

The reverse, more worryingly, is also sometimes true.

I'm in the "hero" camp, yet I still made that comment about neuralink. I would probably be more shrill in my concerns if Zuck was doing neuralink. But ultimately, I don't think the individual matters much. The creepiness of social media ads and recommendations systems is mostly because of what those platforms are, not the individual publicly leading them.

The current PR strategy is to be relatable and give people some comfort, or something cool, something that entices them. And do the shady stuff in a way they least perceive it.