Gregory's ServerI feel like sci-fi writers have a lot to answer for in enshrining Musk as part of popular culture. For years now, there have been stories which make casual references to him. Stories which include inconsequential mentions of little pieces of worldbuilding like "the Elon Musk space station" may not sound like much, but they all work to plant seeds in people's minds and strengthen connections.
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@anders_von_hadern With this particular "idol", it seems all you need to to is give him enough rope and he'll do it himself.  Especially people who are still alive, you have no idea what they will do or become. Or what they have already done and you didn't know about. @FediThing Even those who aren't, honestly. People are people. They're messy and complicated. You can celebrate the accomplishments of some, sure, but hero worship is always a bad move. Agreed. Even accomplishments can be unclear with perspective. The invention of the steam engine was a great breakthrough but if we don't tackle global warming it may be seen as taking us down a bad path. I guess lesson is not to idolise anything, except maybe very general principles. @dubiago Ultimately, I think it ends up as much the same thing. It’s worth noticing that every billionaire with a large enough collection of fans ends up trying to influence government policy. Eventually the rich all try to become oligarchs. |
It also strengthens this bizarre impression that Musk is the "cool" billionnaire. No one names stuff after Bezos or Branson in fiction. But somehow, the idea that Musk is worthy of mention just entered popular consciousness and hasn't left. It's likely this has helped to embolden his own horrifically large ego and his legion of fawning fanboys.