Check out this interview with Elon. Elon Musk Captured by Rainn Wilson! - Metaphysical Milkshake - YouTube
One of the interesting questions he posed to Elon was "Can science and religion co-exist"? Probably not. Which begs the question ... we've had a lot of question on this forum about people's background ... socio-economic background, profession, political leaning (even indirectly) ... wonder if it would be too provocative, not PC to ask what peoples religious outlook are? As in a poll? As we are bucking the tide, it would not surprise me if there were a lot of so called "independent thinkers" lurking?
Happy playful interview for sure. - - - Updated - - - I personally would rather not be burned at the stake. Or stoned with rocks...
I've told a few people that I feel that I've joined a movement, and Elon is the soul of this movement (not necessarily the leader). He really puts other corporate heads to shame. There's a short list of business leaders and/or entreprenuers that are anywhere near as bold or visionary - Branson, Jobs, Gates. Reach on man. Reach on...
It hasn't stopped anyone from adopting Facebook.... or toasters, cars, airplanes, light bulbs, computers, blenders, dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves, oh I could go on but why bother. I mean basically the invention of computing that realistically powers our entire lives of almost every human need was invented by a gay atheist. (Alan Turing) What you are suggesting is an "emperor has no clothes" situation. I say no thanks, tell him he's naked. Elon is doing fine IMHO. Let him ruffle some feathers, it's a good thing.
Love, tradition, family, access...? I agree that Elon is not the most elegant speaker. Here's something I see as an ugly thorn in our society, which is eluded to in your post: There is great mainstream prejudice against atheists. If he said he were Christian, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran or Jewish, no problem. Muslim - some ignorant people may take issue. Scientologist - may not be good for press. Atheist - trouble? discrimination? Concerns about damage control, deal breaking, and adoption blocking? Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster may raise fewer eyebrows. One can basically, in labeling ones own religion with any one single word, say that the Earth is 10k years old, woman was made from man, the Earth was made in 7 days, the dead have been raised, many fish from few, rivers have been parted, one human elected man is infallible, magic underwear is to be worn at all times, etc... and they are considered normal. Yet, if someone says they are of a non-God/non-Bible/etc based belief system, and work within what can be proven... things known as facts, science, history, etc... they are discriminated against. Elon Musk is in the ranks of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Thomas Edison, Richard Branson, and Steve Jobs - innovators that do not subscribe to what the West views as mainstream religions.
In the video: "Can I borrow $1.3 billion?" This shows such a limited understanding of what it means to say that Musk is "a billionaire." They aren't liquid funds. His wealth is mostly invested in companies whose worth fundamentally depends on his own ongoing participation as leader. Thinking of it as "Oh, he just has a lot of money" misses the whole point. He doesn't "just have" it, and many who have much more do much less.
So moving back on topic to Tesla, I don't think it will have any material impact on Tesla's survival. People that think forwards will buy the car, people that have muddled thinking - having their cake and eating it too (for whatever that really means) will buy the car as well using their same muddled thinking. I don't think keeping it PC is going to do anything to help a John Broder or a climate change skeptic go out and buy the car. As Elon Musk stated, the goal of the company is to usher in the new era, he's not going to do this by pandering to certain groups. We have enough people. IMHO this interview was the best yet, and I've probably seen them all.
That part of the video made me chuckle. While Musk is very wealthy and probably has (hundreds of) millions in actual accounts he also is a paper billionare.: Paper Millionaire Definition | Investopedia Scores of employees of technological companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Google are also paper millionaires. I also like that Elon chooses to utilize his talents and wealth to attempt to change the world for the better.
Please note...that this was a comedy video... and that they did not actually visit Mars, despite a Martian making appearances in the film
Elon did not say atheist. He just said "probably not" to the question can science and religon coexist? "Science has nothing to do with Christ, except insofar as the habit of scientific research makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself, I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation. As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities." "an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind." Charles Darwin I consider myself to be a devoutly committed agnostic.
"probably" was sarcasm, look again. Wanting to make humanity multi-planetary in case of disaster among other things is operationally atheist. Little need to trifle the rest.
I don't see how wanting humanity to be multi-planetary is atheist. I am fairly religious and I really want humanity to travel to, and colonize, Mars and other planets. I find it interesting that most people jump to "he's an atheist" because Musk said he doesn't pray or worship. I have a feeling Musk would have flat out said "I'm an atheist" if he indeed is one, as such he could very well be agnostic. FWIW, I enjoyed the whole thing and thought it was a nice change of pace from the usual interviews.
Posts discussing belief systems and lack thereof have been moved off-topic to http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/15043-Atheists-Agnostics-Religion-and-Spirituality-oh-my . Let's continue the discussion there. (Apologies to innocent bystanders, I did my best to split out what needed splitting out. It was imperfect.) - - - Updated - - - Wow. About 20+ posts just poofed along the way, perhaps caught up in a time warp. I suspect they'll show up shortly.