Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Muskis a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, engineer and inventor...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth28 June 1971
CityPretoria, South Africa
CountryUnited States of America
car definitely hard people safe super
We could definitely make a flying car - but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy.
people
Here in the West, people often don't like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.
billion consciousness four half human maybe quite
From an evolutionary standpoint, human consciousness has not been around very long. A little light just went on after four and a half billion years. How often does that happen? Maybe it is quite rare.
chance sending stuff
If we're going to have any chance of sending stuff to other star systems, we need to be laser-focused on becoming a multi-planet civilisation.
people rocket starting
I had so many people try to talk me out of starting a rocket company, it was crazy.
breaks giant growing might nurture point seeds stop stops sure work
If you want to grow a giant redwood, you need to make sure the seeds are ok, nurture the sapling, and work out what might potentially stop it from growing all the way along. Anything that breaks it at any point stops that growth.
affect change future interested technology
I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'
I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.
bad current happen mean technology
If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way. And it could be that there are a whole lot of dead, one-planet civilisations.
cannot cures current genes identify needs next precisely somebody turned
With DNA, you have to be able to tell which genes are turned on or off. Current DNA sequencing cannot do that. The next generation of DNA sequencing needs to be able to do this. If somebody invents this, then we can start to very precisely identify cures for diseases.
continues trying
I'm trying to construct a world that maximises the probability that SpaceX continues its mission without me.
basically since
I usually describe myself as an engineer; that's basically what I've been doing since I was a kid.
attract critical either failed finish further line mass money possible ran solution success technical unable
If you look at space companies, they've failed either because they've had a technical solution where success was not a possible outcome, they were unable to attract a critical mass of talent, or they just ran out of money. The finish line is usually a lot further away than you think.
almost died dream human mark people space travel
I think a lot of the American people feel more than a little disappointed that the high-water mark for human exploration was 1969. The dream of human space travel has almost died for a lot of people.