[darkhorse222]

That's an appeal to authority. Either make an argument for why his reasoning is good or don't. But don't appeal to someone's reputation.

That being said, I do think what the parent commenter is missing is that those other modes require significant investment. With cars you get profit and can scale one by one. So less up front investment. Should do nicely in all sorts of cities.

[WalterBright]

An appeal to authority is a logical fallacy, unless the authority is an expert in a relevant field.

Elon is an expert at overturning conventional wisdom of what can be done in high risk enterprises. And transportation is one of his enterprises.

[darkhorse222]

So your argument is basically that he is just very smart and good at being a disruptor therefore any questioning of his ventures is doubtful because he is successful at previous disruptions?

You really think that's a valid argument? Or is this just being an Elon fan wrapped in additional language.

[WalterBright]

> You really think that's a valid argument?

What you made up is not what I argued.

[oenton]

No, that is indeed what you argued. I suppose I’ll repeat the same question you’ve been asked several times now, do you have an actual argument against the valid skepticism of Elon’s robotaxi business?

[WalterBright]

> valid skepticism

There's a large gap between that and "without a shred of understanding".

The fact that you disagree with my argument does not make it not an "actual" argument.

[buran77]

> an expert at overturning conventional wisdom

Did you just invent a field so you can win an argument? Does it mean you revolutionized the field of inventing fields to win an argument?

What about his less successful ventures like the Boring Company or Solar City?

The world is full of one or two hit wonders thinking they have some insight on everything.

[WalterBright]

> one or two hit wonders

Very few are two hit. Three is incredibly rare (Steve Jobs).

Let's look at his hits:

1. Paypal

2. Tesla

3. SpaceX

4. Starlink

5. xAI

6. Neuralink (looking promising)

7. X (looking promising)

8. Boring (successful, but not a breakout success)

9. Solar City (less successful, now part of Tesla)

BTW, Jobs had his failure too - Next

By any objective measure, Musk's business success is incredible.

I'm not just making an argument. I invested in his companies, and am enjoying the returns.

[Gareth321]

When you list it like that, it's incredibly impressive. He's clearly autistic, and says and does very socially awkward things, but this is the kind of person which moves society ahead by decades. SpaceX alone has reduced space transport by 10 *times.* Starlink provides internet to everyone, anywhere in the world. [This](https://youtu.be/sX1Y2JMK6g8?si=rV5_BKsbPc2GPg3n&t=195) is like something out of a really cool sci-fi, but it's real life. It's going to be in the history books forever.

[WalterBright]

It's so impressive, I would never have believed it possible.

What's so sad is how others dismiss it all with "you didn't build that" and other nonsense.

[chung8123]

Does that mean you are invested in Tesla or do you have private stakes in his other companies? Because all the other companies are separate and I feel like some people are investing in Tesla thinking they get part of SpaceX or something

[queenkjuul]

FSD next year right buddy? How's your truck holding up?