[gregjor]

You don't need to interpret what Musk might mean. Musk publicly predicted people on Mars by 2025, then 2026, then 2029. He predicted a million people living on Mars by 2050. He has been specific, if not consistent.

I don't see how humanity will go backward if we don't colonize Mars. That's the kind of thing a cult leader says.

In the meantime Musk is squandering $44bn to buy Twitter just to show that he can.

[ActorNightly]

He didn't predict any of those.

He said something that sounded like a prediction in an interview, and media outlets, knowing people like you will surely click on a clickbait anti-Musk article, picked it up and ran with it.

Saying "I think this is possible in x years" is not the same thing as saying "Space X will deliver in x years"

[gregjor]

Fortunately it’s very easy to find almost everything Musk has said or tweeted. He has made multiple specific predictions. 2029 for humans on Mars and 2050 for a million people were indeed widely-reported and may have had clickbait titles, but they quote Musk’s public pronouncements and Tweets. You can read his statements as predictions or wishes. If Musk was just musing on his aspirations why has he repeatedly given specific dates?

The people who were promised full self-driving Teslas and paid for that didn’t interpret specific delivery dates and promises of features as mere possibilities.

[quickaskq]

He never fully predicts or promises, but we all know the infamous Musk time, where he says one of his inventions will be ready “next year”.

for the last 8 years Musk has been promising FSD and that it will be ready next year.

[gregjor]

He promises things people want to believe. Like fortune tellers, psychics, and astrologers. Because it's clothed in "tech" it seems believable to the ignorant and hopeful. Musk may believe what he says, I don't know. He has a history of self-serving bullshit.

[taf2]

Funny I’ve found in my position to say “I think we can” to consistently be translated into you said “you can”… everyone seems to just disregard the think park …