Still courtesy of Tesla/Vimeo
Elon Musk has been lauded as one of the most visionary minds in Silicon Valley. He champions electric cars, renewable energy and the colonization of Mars (dont get me started on that), and has been positioned as the modern Steve Jobs. Robert Downey Jr.s depiction of Iron Man is loosely based on Musks billionaire genius playboy archetype.
Yet for all his brilliance, he seems to have a very hard time accepting the physical limitations of geometry, and for that his employees have suffered.
Recent photos of the parking lot of the Tesla facility in Fremont, California, provide a concrete example of the result of this mindset. You may have seen these images when they went viral recently: workers vehicles crammed into the too-small factory parking lot, and cars ignoring the painted lines and filling the roads around the facility. One wonders if Musk reimburses his employees for how his failed parking lot is damaging their cars.
This isnt the first piece of evidence that Musk is geometrically challenged. Last year, Jarrett Walker critiqued his plan to move everyone out of public transit and into driverless cars as a disaster that would be fine for low-density outer suburbia and rural areas but that would not work in cities.
Why? Because space is severely limited in cities, and taking everyone out of public transit and putting them in individual self-driving pods would require vastly more space to transport the same number of people. Beyond inefficient, Musks vision would put more cars on the road and create a lot of pissed-off drivers who have to wait in traffic. The issues in the Tesla parking lot would be transplanted into major cities.
Walker blames Musks ignorance of geometry on the mindset that dominates the tech industryits marketing departments in particular, which cater to the whims of the elite. But society can never be sustainable if everyone lives like those at the top, and its pretty clear that elite lifestyles are core to the visions of Musks companies.
Teslas first car was the Roadster, an expensive sports car that sold the idea that an electric vehicle could be cool and powerful but that, at $109,000, was available to a wealthy few. Now Musk is taking electric cars to the masses (at least the upper-middle-class ones) with the $35,000 Model 3. Still, merely switching everyone from gas to electric cars would not be a sustainable solution; healthy cities require fewer cars overall, as anyone who has tried to drive in car-choked San Francisco can attest. For cities to remain good places to live, citizens need to be able to move around them efficiently, which means fewer cars and more public transit, cycling and walking.
There are similar problems with Musks other company, solar-system installer SolarCity. Its technology works great for large single-family homes in suburban and rural areas, but its pretty tough for city dwellers to affix solar panels to the balconies of their high-rise condos and apartments. With Tesla and SolarCity, Musk is pushing for a version of a green future that works only for rich people like him or in areas that arent densely populated. Its not a lifestyle that can be adopted by the masses.
And you could even say the same thing about SpaceX, Musks rocket company, which, according to him, will one day lead the way in colonizing Mars. Yet his vision of how the colonization of Mars could happen is predicated entirely upon the ability of rich tourists to pay their way there. Similarly, it is more of a vision of Elysium than Athens.
Essentially, as the world undergoes a rapid urbanization, Musk is pitching solutions that work only for a small (and shrinking) percentage of the population. Yet he seems either oblivious or indifferent to this fact. On the basis of his statements, it seems more like hes indifferent. Why? Tunnels.
Because Musk doesnt like sitting in traffic himself, he announced that he plans to simply bore a series of tunnelsup to 40 levels of them in some areasthat would magically fix the traffic problem. This could be seen as mere ignorance, since it has been proven time and time again that building more roads makes traffic worse, but it seems quite clear that he was mainly looking out for himself. If he ever does start boring tunnels commerciallyand I dont think he ever willyou can be absolutely certain they wont be open for everyone like public roads and highways are. And just think about the engineering that would be involved. Are we really going to build 40 levels of tunnels below our cities just so we can all drive (or be driven in) individual vehicles, or will we finally eject cars from our cities and embrace means of transit that are not only more efficient but also healthier for us? It seems like an easy decision.
Theres no denying that Musk has executed some brilliant ideas, even if hes tried to downplay how reliant his companies are on government subsidies, but his elite vision of a future based on a nostalgic revival of cookie-cutter postwar suburbs with a sustainable twist simply does not fit the trend toward dense mega-cities where personal vehicles are a wasteful luxury. Instead, solutions must be focused on improving quality of life for as many people as possible while using the smallest amount of space.
Musks evacuated-tunnel rapid-transit-system concept, Hyperloop, may be the most promising of his ideas in such a future, yet its also been criticized as a pie-in-the-sky idea that serves only to distract from the more achievable high-speed rail. Musk also hasnt even shown much personal interest in pursuing the project. Not flashy enough, or not enough subsidies? We may never know.
Original post:
For All of Elon Musk's Brilliance, He Can't Grasp This Fundamental Concept - thebolditalic
- White People Are Going to Colonize Mars, and Other Fears From Today's Campuses - Tablet Magazine - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Bizarre yogurt experiment could be key to colonizing Mars but there will be disgusting consequences, say... - The US Sun - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- SpaceX Must Build 1,000 Starships In 10 Years To Reach Mars Goal. So Far, 0 Starships Have Made It To Space - Jalopnik - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- A Science Fiction Writer in Space: Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke - tor.com - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Increase your crypto portfolio performance 10X in 2023 with ... - Analytics Insight - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Happy Birthday Elon Musk: Spotlight on the Remarkable Life of a ... - Transcontinental Times - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Jony Ive's latest gig is the seal for King Charles's space project ... - AppleInsider - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Top 5 Technologies That Will Make Mars Habitable - Jumpstart Media - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- 10 Best Paradox Interactive Games - TheGamer - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Hanwha propels Nuri rocket project - The Investor - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Do Androids Dream of Terrible Streets? | Compact Mag - Compact Mag - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- All about Mars colonization and news 2023 - From Space With Love - March 4th, 2023 [March 4th, 2023]
- New NASA Nuclear Rocket Plan Aims to Get to Mars in Just 45 Days - January 23rd, 2023 [January 23rd, 2023]
- Mars - Wikipedia - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Mars Gives Snow an Alien Twist - The Atlantic - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Will China's Zhurong Mars rover wake from worrying hibernation ... - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- A Mars rover scientist is about to scale carbon-oxygen batteries - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Next Mars Orbiter - Wikipedia - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Occupy Mars: The Game on Steam - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Life on Mars - Wikipedia - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Coeur dAlene student selected to be on the first high school-aged team to train in the Mars Desert Research Station - KREM.com - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Marscoin - October 23rd, 2022 [October 23rd, 2022]
- How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It's Been a Minute - NPR - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- New ghost tour unearths the grisly side of Old Montreal this Halloween season - The Suburban Newspaper - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Competing in the new 'Space Race' - Royal Aeronautical Society - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- The Martian (film) - Wikipedia - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Racing To Colonize Mars, He Says This Will 'Destroy All Life On Earth' - PayPal Holdings (NASDA - Benzinga - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Origin of the Hollow Earth Theory - History of Yesterday - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Why sending a Native American into space is a big deal - WBUR News - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Going to Space Will Not Save Us - Jezebel - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Its Science Over Capitalism: Kim Stanley Robinson and the Imperative of Hope - The MIT Press Reader - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Dubais space center to simulate life on Mars in the Metaverse - Al Arabiya English - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Cosmic Cowboy is a space odyssey for 2022 - The Boston Globe - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Trump pushed for nuclear testing on the moon during final months of presidency - Salon - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Whitest Kids U Know Wrapping Production on Animated Movie Mars, Final WKUK Project After Trevor Moores Death - Variety - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- NASA has created oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars, will the dream of colonizing now come true? - News84Media - News84Media.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Here Are The Top 7 Space Organizations Of The World! - Jagran Josh - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Frank Drake's Legacy, Or: Are We All Alone In The Universe? - Hackaday - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Deliver Us Mars Tugs on the Heart Strings in New Story Trailer - Push Square - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- New water map of Mars shows potential landing spots on the planet - TNW - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Stranded: Alien Dawn is the next game from the Surviving Mars devs - Shacknews - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Launches: Life in Venus clouds? Rocket Lab to check - EarthSky - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- How Europe's Space Industry Could Blast Off - Center for European Policy Analysis - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- STARMUS V: Lunar dust allergy, alternatives to planet Earth and how the festival came to Armenia - ARMENPRESS - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- When will the first baby be born in space? - Buffalo News - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- 20 Best Xbox One Space Games To Explore The Great Unknown - Gameranx - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Japanese craft brewery and tech company to simulate making beer on Moon and Mars - SoraNews24 - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- The Moon Archive Meant To Preserve Life On Earth - Twisted Sifter - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Fireside Chat With Everdome CEO Robert Gryn on the Nurturing of the Metaverse in a Hyperrealistic Format - Tech Times - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- More People Need to Watch The Best Sci-Fi Show on Prime Video - CNET - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- The CAPSTONE Mission Launches A New Era In The Colonization Of The Moon - Science 2.0 - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Bedu announces its second curated art drop - My Startup World - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Mykhailo Federov wishes Elon Musk on his birthday, says 'whole world has chance to live' - Techstory - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- From Autonomous Cities to US Presidency: The Future Is Now Film Shows What Blockchain Leaders Think About Governance - Geeks World Wide - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Plans To Launch Thousands of 394 Feet Tall Rockets To Mars - Wccftech - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- For All Mankind season 3: everything we know - What To Watch - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- 5 Up-and-Coming DOGE Projects that Might be Worth Your Money - NewsBTC - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- My idea for a new era: The town hall from TED2022 - TED Blog - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Sounds Alarm Over 'Population Collapse' Again - Benzinga - Benzinga - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Star Wars: How The Movie Would Have Changed With George Lucas's Original Script - Zyri - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- LongHash Ventures Partners With Protocol Labs to Launch the Third LongHashX Accelerator Filecoin Cohort - Crypto Briefing - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Why we should colonize Mars (and other planets and the satellites too) - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- Chinese rover makes surprise discovery about liquid water on Mars - Big Think - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- The apocalypse after the apocalypse - newframe.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- OPINION: The 'good old days' are what we make them - Anchorage Daily News - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- A new stage for Mars: Web3 colonization of Mars has begun - Digital Journal - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- WATCH: Apple TV Plus Releases Trailer For Season 3 Of 'For All Mankind' - We Got This Covered - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- 30 Of the best fried foods around the world - KAKE - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Crypto.com Spent Its Way to the Top. Then the Market Crashed. Now What? - GQ - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- The US And England Will Never Agree On These Foods - Mashed - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Could Lunar Soil be the Key to Reaching Mars? - The National Herald - May 20th, 2022 [May 20th, 2022]
- NASA will use the metaverse to build VR scenarios for Mars missions - Interesting Engineering - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- 10 Best New Teen Movies of 2022 Most Anticipated Teen Movies 2022 - Seventeen - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- SpaceX mission returns to Earth | WORLD - WORLD News Group - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Wealthy nations are carving up space and its riches and leaving other countries behind - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- All Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets revealed with disasters that turned into blazes - The US Sun - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Introducing the 'Mobile Gantry' 3D printer that could facilitate the future colonization of Mars - 3D Printing Industry - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- The Billionaire Space Race: Should We Be Worried? - New University - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Martian rocks may give insight into the Red Planets violent history - BGR - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Galactic Civilizations IV: Core worlds, colonies, and colonization guide - PC Invasion - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]