Ask Musk
Highlights from the AMA session with Elon Musk by HackClub
*This is not what it is, this is what I think it is 😜*
It was half-past one in the morning when I forced myself to sit in front of the blurred screen of my 5-year-old laptop. The last time I was awake this early, Croatia just lost to France in the FIFA world cup final. And there I was, one year later, to meet my superhero- Elon Musk. I thought it would be best to start with an introduction to who Elon Musk is, but then I decided that if you don’t know who Elon Musk is, you don’t deserve to read my blog. And before I start, let me convey my gratitude to the team of Hack club for providing this opportunity for millions of deities to meet their God. A huge shoutout to the founder of Hack club- Zach (I hope you remember the photo I took with you) 😊. It started kind of slow- had to wait a bit to get the first glimpse of Elon. And as he appeared on the screen, he was messing with his hair. There he was- Elon Musk. Apart from the frequent glitches on the screen, it was as if he was with me there. The conversations were a bit unclear, but I was fine with it, as long as I can see his lips move. However, here are some of the stuff I have taken home from this one hour Youtube live.
It was Zach, who started off the program with an introduction. The way he proudly proclaimed that he dropped out of school in ninth grade, made me want to revisit my childhood and fail my matriculation test. Elon must have been impressed, but it didn’t show on his face. The AMA session was hosted by a 17-year-old nerd in glasses(no offense) 🤗.
Theo was the one who posed the first question; his opinion on cryonics. Elon pointed out that the brain is physical and that it is spontaneously amazing but less mysterious than we think. His words reflected that there is a lot of scope in the field and that the maze of the brain can be solved.
Another interesting question came up next, about his first hack. Elon showcases one of his classic giggles and responded that revealing a lot might get him into trouble. But he said that he started with school-related hacks, like the lab computers, library and so on…
One other interesting thing that I noticed was that the average age of the group was probably 17 or 18, and that too with Zach to pull up the weights. So, this question seemed relevant to me- “What role would high schoolers play in the future-tech?”. Elon went back to his roots, told us about the time he was into video games, and how he was inspired to do it for the rest of his life. He further advocated the need to do the things that we are interested in- work, that doesn’t feel like work.
Another question arose from the imagination of Jacob, who asked Elon if the world was a simulation, what would be the cheat code?
Elon: Find out other civilizations, maybe in planets far away, understand more about the universe. For all questions, the universe is the answer.
The next query was something that I wanted to ask him myself: “You said you are not that much into advertisements. But you are still a popular figure, what is your take on public representation of making things?”. His answer was as simple as ‘believe in yourselves and try out more ideas”.
He was then posed the question of the big C- capitalism. Elon said he believed in capitalism with certain rules and limits. He further redefined the government as ‘a corporate with a limit, having a monopoly over something.
The host interrupted the session and asked the participants to speed up a notch as the allotted time was almost up. But Elon assured them that he was willing to stay a little longer if they’re OK with it.
Next was a fun question by Jamsheer, “recently, a song you wrote and performed became trending in the community. Do you have a plan for another and if yes, when is it dropping out?” A reddish shade splashed on Elon’s face as he responded, “It wasn’t planned. It happened while I was working on something. And it was my girlfriend who recorded it first. Then we gradually made it out into production. That is how it happened.” He giggled for the next 40 seconds- classic Elon!
He later explained how he transformed himself from time to time to suit the different contexts he gets involved in. He frequently had to switch between SpaceX, Tesla, Neurolink, and his personal life.
After about 30 minutes into the program, Zach took the center stage again. Zach: “Tabs or space?”
Elon: “I use both. But when coding fast, I prefer to use the former.” The answer was followed by a big boo from Zach as he was more of a ‘space’ person.
Zach: Emacs or VIM? Elon: “I usually adhere to the basic text editors. I believe that we should put more effort into compilers, it should catch memory leaks”.
Zach took things a bit more to the fantasy realm with his next question: “ Say, when you were called into this meeting, instead of getting into google meet, you found yourself teleported into 500 BC, where you are the dictator of the world. And there are 3 identical worlds- one in which you are in (500 BC), one in 2020, and the other 2500 years from now. These three worlds are about to go for a war, of which only one survives. What would you do to ensure the victory of your world?”
Elon: “ Seems like a video game. Well, I would try to increase the rate at which technology develops- possibly to the fastest phase possible”. The conversation between the two was surely something to watch. As they discussed the importance of bringing people together to work on problems, Elon said: “ It is important that we set a common goal for people so that they can work in harmony. And it is equally important that we have some fun along the way”.
The recent memes with Elon and his Tesla cyber truck were popular even among people with no knowledge about Tesla or Elon. The next bullet was shot by Melody: “What was going on in your mind when Cyber truck window shattered” Elon: “It was quite shocking. It was all working during practice. And I was startled when it didn’t then. However, it turned out to be good, as it got a lot of attention”.
The next question was, “How do you know if AI has gone too far, and what would be your solution if AI took over?” Elon: “There is a possibility that AI be used with bad intentions. And there are AI designed with this exact goal, which might lead to a global crisis. But we can counter such uprisings by effectively using AI, by detecting such potential threats and eradicating them when they are young and vulnerable”.
The final question of the AMA session came next, “You have your hands in a lot of ventures. How do you communicate your visions and ideas with your team?”
Elon: “There is always a big gap between the idea that one comes up with initially and it’s the most ideal form. The goal is to make this idea less wrong each day. And everyone has to follow this approach. It is often said that we shouldn’t question the experts. But I believe it is wrong. What matters is the logic behind the questions, not the status of the person it is posed to. Everyone is wrong sometimes.” With this, the session came to an end. Elon Musk emphasized that he don’t deceive others by his praise and that he was impressed with the team.
If you got this far, a big shout out to your patience. Gratitude to the team at HackClub, HackClub India, and my neighbor who helped me stay awake throughout the session. I apologize in advance if there are any errors in the transcription. I blame it on my normal lifestyle- Going to bed at 10 and getting up at 7. I hope there comes a day when I can converse with Elon Musk offline, face to face 😎.
If you want to watch the session, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riru9OzScwk&feature=youtu.be
If you want to know more about hackclub, go to their website. https://hackclub.com
credits: JZL (editor), HackClub and the IST😅
