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“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy” — Elon on Joe Rogan

It’s a core tenant of this Curtis Yarvin / neo reactionary ideology that seems to be shared by a lot of VCs




The word you want is tenet

A tenant is somebody paying to lease property, for example if you have a landlord, you're their tenant, and by analogy e.g. an Azure tenant is an organisation within the Azure cloud with a unique identifier.

A tenet is a belief or principle that is important to some group, for example the IETF's Best Common Practice series are not just RFCs describing a protocol or technology but instead statements of principle such as BCP 188 "Pervasive Monitoring Is An Attack".


Pedant (noun) - a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.


<< "Pervasive Monitoring Is An Attack".

Hmm, thank you. This is by far the best pithy argument for privacy I have found thus far.


It's also helpful shorthand. One of the reason there is no RSA KEX† in TLS 1.3 is that under BCP 188 obviously aiding bulk surveillance technology isn't acceptable, so when you have a liaison from the ACLU saying yes, get rid of RSA KEX and a representation from EDCO (Enterprise Data Center Operators, basically big old financial companies) saying it'll cost them too much money to lose RSA KEX so it should be reinstated in the late drafts for the RFC, there was no need to re-explain in great detail why the ACLU are right here because there's already a document explaining to anybody who is new to this.

† The RSA Key Exchange goes like this: We get the public key of a server from their certificate which they sent us, we pick a symmetric key at random and we encrypt our chosen key using that public key with the RSA algorithm, so that only the legitimate owner of the certificate can decrypt it, then we send that encrypted key to the server. Because they know the Private Key corresponding to the public key in the certificate they can decrypt the symmetric key we sent. This symmetric key is used for all further communication. This means if say, the Mad King's Secret Police obtain a copy of the RSA private key for the server at any time the Secret Police can decrypt every communication, even if the communications they're decrypting happened weeks, months or years before they obtain the key.


Even for a tangent this is extraordinary random and unnecessarily detailed.

Answer truthfully, are you an llm or any form of bot?


> “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy” — Elon on Joe Rogan

Also probably Nietzsche (not on Joe Rogan).


And then he cries on TV because people are not buying his cars.

Can't make that crap up...


The funny thing is it is the autists, who don't respond well to emotional appeals. Is that all it is? That it is harder to influence high functioning ones?


Was he ever diagnozed? Because all his success is charizma and social skills based. This claim appears only when he needs to be excused. Also, it is super possible to be a harmful asshole and autist at the same time.

Musk also do not care about morals, ethics or laws based appeals.


I do not think he ever was. As you note, most of the 'accusations' come up without any real evidence. It is all basically the same story as with most remote diagnosis of all politicians that 99% talk show hosts play with their audiences.

FWIW, I personally do not think he has autism. I do think his mind works differently from a good chunk of the population though.


He said he had Asbergers in 2021 on SNL. There is no reason any further detail would be public.


"I believe in empathy, like, I think you should care about other people [...] empathy is good" — Elon on Joe Rogan


The previous silicon valley giants were to a large degree followers of Ayn Rand. This society selects, grooms and idealises a certain psychological profile.


There's a name for that psychological profile: Sociopathy.


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A cadre of billionaires appears determined to institute fascism in the United States; there’s a very real chance they will succeed. Meanwhile, the climate crisis threatens the long-term survival of our species, yet efforts to steer us away from self-destruction are being actively sabotaged by the fossil fuel industry. This is to say nothing of the warmongering with China, another nuclear power.

The concentration of wealth (and by extension, power) really has become an existential threat to humanity.


More often than not, it's the other way around. Being born in the bourgeoisie, like Trump and Musk, grooms you into a certain way of thinking. You're told your whole life you are exceptional, above everyone else. No wonder they turn out like that. Read up on both of these guys' educations if you're interested in this.


Both Trump and Musk may have been born into “bourgeoisie“, but the connecting and relevant factor here is a highly traumatizing childhood with highly traumatized parents.


I don't know why you put bourgeoisie in quotes like it's a ridiculous concept.

With the kind of analysis you give we're stuck with surface level "oh they're just a bad batch", when they're pure products of a system that makes series of them. It's not like they are thousands just like Trump, ready to step in if he loses power.

The bourgeoisie has a material interest in installing fascism, which is why we're here. Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg are among the only ones to profit from the current circus.

It's not the first time it happens either, this has been proven times and times again. Look up the relations of Hitler and Mussolini with the capitalist class of their times.

I am not saying them having a shitty childhood had no influence on their politics, simply that it is not nearly enough to understand our current state of affairs.


I put it in quotes because I quoted you.

From my understanding, it is not wealth that creates sociopathy, it is a traumatic childhood. For me it points to the origin, and thus the fix, which is why I find that distinction not only relevant but crucial. After studying a broad body of literature around the connection between trauma and violence and politics, I do believe this would indeed be “nearly enough to understand the current state of affairs“. What connects Hitler and Mussolini and Trump and Putin is not wealth but severe early childhood violence.


But by what mechanism can they attain power? That's what matters. Many sociopaths remain in the shadows.

Material support from the oligarchy absolutely connects Hitler, Mussolini, Trump and Putin. It is how they find the funding to get into power, how media is made to relay fascist propaganda 24/7, etc.

Serving the interests of the capital class, and only theirs, is what defines and enables fascism.




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