I hate Elon Musk. But when I see people who idolize him, I sometimes think of 'Dune.' Among the criticisms of Dune is the argument that it's contradictory to portray Paul Atreides as such a cool superhuman and then tell the audience not to admire him. The critique of superhuman worship failed.
In Dune, Paul is gifted and extraordinary. He appears as the center of prophecy, as a liberator to the oppressed Fremen, and in both the film and the novel, he's just too cool.
The problem arises when one human rises as a superhuman figure, and around them, aspirations, grievances, and all sorts of things coalesce at once, creating an order that no one can control.
In Dune, Paul is truly special. It's too easy to say we shouldn't worship a human with no charm and no abilities. But people yearn for him to be their savior because he's handsome, special, and disrupts the existing order.
Many critics say, 'Don't believe in superhumans because they eventually become monsters.' But a superhuman might become a monster, or they might remain flawless to the end. However, the moment the world is reorganized around them, even if the individual is virtuous, they cannot stop the mob's rampage. The moment the yearning for freedom and the anger against oppression attach themselves to a single figure, that person is no longer a person—they become a symbol.
When we face a human who seems truly remarkable, who seems capable of shaking up a corrupt world, who seems to see further and decide more strongly than we do, can we hand over the reins of history to them? I think that's the message of Dune.
I think Elon Musk is a charlatan, but he has actual achievements. People don't project the Kwisatz Haderach onto a fraud who can't do anything.
Musk is genuinely special. He focused the electric vehicle transition agenda on himself, carries the image of making humanity a multi-planetary species with SpaceX, and has the goal of breaking through human cognitive limits with Neuralink.
One person is imagined as the answer to too many future problems. Maybe my thinking of him as a charlatan is just envy, but many people around me think of him as a Kwisatz Haderach.
And in the end, when we hand over the reins of judgment to Elon Musk, this is the result. And when I see articles like this, I feel good because it seems to justify my hatred.
But the hard-to-bear truth is that worship of Elon Musk and hatred of Elon Musk feel like mirror images of each other. The worshippers around me see him as humanity's savior; I see him as the source of all problems. Both sides are assigning excessive historical meaning to one person.
And the media encourages this, and I just get angry as the media tells me to. I think of myself as an autonomous person, but whenever I see these articles, I realize how easily swayed and fragile I really am.
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[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 17.8 ms ] threadIn Dune, Paul is gifted and extraordinary. He appears as the center of prophecy, as a liberator to the oppressed Fremen, and in both the film and the novel, he's just too cool.
The problem arises when one human rises as a superhuman figure, and around them, aspirations, grievances, and all sorts of things coalesce at once, creating an order that no one can control.
In Dune, Paul is truly special. It's too easy to say we shouldn't worship a human with no charm and no abilities. But people yearn for him to be their savior because he's handsome, special, and disrupts the existing order.
Many critics say, 'Don't believe in superhumans because they eventually become monsters.' But a superhuman might become a monster, or they might remain flawless to the end. However, the moment the world is reorganized around them, even if the individual is virtuous, they cannot stop the mob's rampage. The moment the yearning for freedom and the anger against oppression attach themselves to a single figure, that person is no longer a person—they become a symbol.
When we face a human who seems truly remarkable, who seems capable of shaking up a corrupt world, who seems to see further and decide more strongly than we do, can we hand over the reins of history to them? I think that's the message of Dune.
I think Elon Musk is a charlatan, but he has actual achievements. People don't project the Kwisatz Haderach onto a fraud who can't do anything.
Musk is genuinely special. He focused the electric vehicle transition agenda on himself, carries the image of making humanity a multi-planetary species with SpaceX, and has the goal of breaking through human cognitive limits with Neuralink.
One person is imagined as the answer to too many future problems. Maybe my thinking of him as a charlatan is just envy, but many people around me think of him as a Kwisatz Haderach.
And in the end, when we hand over the reins of judgment to Elon Musk, this is the result. And when I see articles like this, I feel good because it seems to justify my hatred.
But the hard-to-bear truth is that worship of Elon Musk and hatred of Elon Musk feel like mirror images of each other. The worshippers around me see him as humanity's savior; I see him as the source of all problems. Both sides are assigning excessive historical meaning to one person.
And the media encourages this, and I just get angry as the media tells me to. I think of myself as an autonomous person, but whenever I see these articles, I realize how easily swayed and fragile I really am.