Stephen Colbert And Elon Musk Had Opposite Views About Life On … – TheThings

Elon Musk is one of the most radical thinkers of our generation. One interview of his on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 is a prime example, as the pair disagreed on the potential of forming a human colony on Mars.

Colbert has been working in the late night scene for more than two decades, having started out as a correspondent on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show. This was in the programs Jon Stewart era.

With this kind of experience under his belt, Colbert has definitely endured many arguments with various guests. These have ranged from the most insignificant, to others which carried a lot of weight.

As an example, he once hosted fellow late night TV icon Bill Maher on his show. In their conversation, Maher admitted that the pair were complete opposites. Colbert is of course open about his adherence to religion, while his guest on the day is a self-proclaimed atheist.

Colbert has also clashed on the same topic with Ricky Gervais. While often taking more of a live-and-let-live approach, Gervais was not a fan of one particular question in their discussion, which led to a very lively debate between them.

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One of Colberts most uncomfortable interviews was with the actor T.J. Miller, at least according to fans. It wasnt quite the same level of weirdness with Musk, but their respective opinions on life on Mars were almost night and day.

Elon Musk has made a name for himself as an enigmatic entrepreneur and mastermind behind groundbreaking ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. Under the latter banner, he now has set his sights on a target that seems straight out of science fiction: terraforming Mars.

The richest person on earth according to Investopedia, Musk firmly believes that transforming an entire planet to make it habitable for human beings can become a reality in the not-too-distant future.

Terraforming is the process of deliberately modifying a planets environment to make it more Earth-like. The concept has been a topic of fascination for scientists and science fiction writers for decades.

The idea of turning Mars specifically into a second home for humanity has captivated the public imagination, but it is Musk who appears to have boldly stepped forward to champion the cause and bring it into the mainstream.

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Musks audacity can nonetheless overtake reality, at times. As far back as 2017, he was targeting to send people on trips to Mars by 2022.

Elon Musks global profile and success has multiplied many times over since he was interviewed by Stephen Colbert for The Late Show in September 2015. Even so, he was already known as something of an eccentric figure even back then.

As a matter of fact, the host compared him to outlandish Marvel character Iron Man / Tony Stark, and wondered whether he saw himself as a superhero or a super villain. In typical Musk style, he simply responded:

Well, Im trying to do good things.

Colbert was clearly skeptical from the beginning, implying that it was impossible for a billionaire to also try and do good things for the world. On the potential of the human race colonizing Mars, he questioned the feasibility of such a plan. Why do we want to go to Mars? he posed. Its uninhabitable. Its very inhospitable.

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In response, Musk responded by insisting that the answer was simple: terraforming Mars. One of the ways he suggested doing this was to nuke the planets atmosphere, which strengthened Colberts perspective of him as a super villain.

The debate between Elon Musk and Stephen Colbert in 2015 was mostly cordial. Whatever relationship might have existed between the pair appears to have since soured somewhat, however.

If nothing else, this could be evidenced by the fact that the multi-billionaire has never appeared on The Late Show again ever since. Some may argue that Musk is a busy man, but he has continued to feature on various talk shows, including Real Time with Bill Maher in late April 2023.

Colbert was also very openly and strongly critical of Musks buyout of Twitter in 2022. Speaking during a monologue, he said: The discourse in America is about to get way worse thanks to new Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

He also addressed a specific tweet by the mogul that he found in bad taste, and also used that particular occasion to take a jibe at his physical looks. Musk blaming [a] victim of violence. Thats not just awful, that is beyond the pale and so is Elon Musk, said Colbert. Look how wide he is... Not so much Moby, hes just a d***!

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Stephen Colbert And Elon Musk Had Opposite Views About Life On ... - TheThings