Not only is Elon one of the greatest innovators of our time and a legit meme lord, but he’s also insanely insightful. Paying attention to what he says about business, innovation, AI, and even philosophy can really offer a unique perspective on a variety of problems and situations.
Without further ado, here’s a collection of our top 10 favorite Elon quotes!
1) “I’ve had so many simulation discussions, it’s crazy. In fact, it got to the point the point where basically every conversation was the AI/simulation conversation…and my brother and I finally agreed that we would ban such conversations if we’re ever in a hot tub, cause that really kills the magic…it’s not the sexiest conversation…”
Who in the world said simulations weren’t sexy hot tub convo material? Apparently enough women that Elon thought it wise to invoke the “no hot tub” rule for those discussions!
2) “The strongest argument for us being in a simulation is the following: 40 years ago we had Pong—two rectangles and a dot—that is what games were. Now, 40 years later, we have photo-realistic 3D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously, and it’s getting better every year. And soon we’ll have virtual reality, augmented reality—and if you assume any rate of improvement AT ALL…video games will become indistinguishable from reality. Even if that rate of advancement drops by 1000 from what it is right now. Then you just say, OK—let’s imagine 10,000 years in the future, which is nothing on an evolutionary scale. So, given that we’re clearly on a trajectory to have games that are distinguishable from reality, and those games can be played on any set-top box or PC or whatever…it would seem to follow that the odds we’re in base reality is one in billions.”
Well, Elon—when you put it like that, it seems you’ve got a point. Logically speaking, this is pretty solid (and a bit scary). Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a momentary existential crisis after hearing him say this…come on…we know we’re not the only ones.
3) “The percentage of intelligence that is not human is increasing, and eventually we will represent a very small percentage of intelligence. I tried to convince people to slow down—to slow down AI, to regulate AI—this was futile; I tried for years.”
If this quote doesn’t evoke Terminator-like fears, we don’t know what does. Hopefully Neuralink can save us…because the future’s not looking all that bright when it comes to AI in the context of this quote.
4) “Usually they’ll be something, some new technology that will cause damage or death—there will be an outcry, there will be an investigation, years will pass, there will be some sort of insight committee, there will be rulemaking, then there will be an oversight committee, eventually regulations. This all takes many years—this is the normal course of things; this timeframe is not relevant to AI. You can’t take 10 years from the point at which it’s dangerous…it’s too late. One thing is for sure—we will not control it.”
Ladies and gentlemen—this is called foreshadowing. Well, hopefully not in the strictest sense of the word, and hopefully it’s still a fate that we can avoid. The so-called “AI apocalypse” is definitely something that we should be actively working to prevent. Because, as cool as it may sound sometimes, who really wants to live in The Matrix?
5) “Depending upon how well you want to do, and particularly if you’re starting a company, you need to work super hard. So, what does super hard mean? Well, when my brother and I were starting our first company, instead of getting an apartment, we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch, and we showered at the YMCA, and we were so hard up we had just one computer—so the website was up during the day and I was coding at night—7 days a week, all the time. And I sort of briefly had a girlfriend at the time, and in order to be with me, she’d have to sleep in the office. So, work hard, like every waking hour…that’s the thing I’d say particularly if you’re starting a company. If you do the simple math—say if somebody else is working 50 hours and you’re working 100, you’ll get twice as much done in the course of a year as the other company.”
This is some of the best free advice anyone has ever given with respect to starting a company or just plain having a good work ethic. Yes—it’s simple math, and 100-hour work weeks really suck sometimes, but it’s without a doubt one way to pull ahead of your competition in any arena on the sheer basis of brute force math.
6) “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
As amazing as Tesla is, some people forget this. The actual purpose of Tesla is not to make cool fancy electric cars (although they are quite cool and fancy). The purpose of Tesla is to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable form of energy and away from petroleum (more on that in the next quote).
7) “We’re taking billions of tons of carbon that’s been buried for million of years and adding it to the carbon cycle. We’re really playing a crazy game here, with the atmosphere and oceans. We’re taking vast amounts of carbon from underground and putting in the atmosphere…this is crazy…we should not do this. This is an insane experiment…this is the dumbest experiment in human history.”
Science, yo! Really—the problem is a scientific one, and we’re running, as Elon says, “the dumbest experiment in human history.” In order for us to stop this crazy experiment, we need to find a way to wean ourselves quickly off of petroleum. At Find My Electric, we are car guys through-and-through—we love motorcycles and all things with wheels, but we also realize that electrification of automobiles and a transition to solar energy is a great direction to be headed!
8) “It became obvious to me that in the future, any car that does not have autonomy, would be about as useful as a horse. Which is not to say that there’s no use, it’s just rare and somewhat idiosyncratic if somebody has a horse at this point. It’s obvious that cars will drive themselves completely, it’s just a question of time. And if we did not participate the autonomy revolution, then our cars would not be useful to people relative to cars that are autonomous. An autonomous car is arguably worth 5-10x more than a car that which is not autonomous.”
Can’t say we disagree with this—it’s only a matter of time before cars (electric or otherwise) are fully self-driving. Remember watching Star Trek and seeing the futuristic touch screens and hand-held communicators? Well, that’s been a reality for over a decade now, and self-driving cars aren’t far behind.
9) “So, essentially buying a car (Tesla) today is an investment in the future. I think the most profound thing is that if you buy a Tesla today, I believe you are buying an appreciating asset, NOT a depreciating asset.”
Some people disagree with this, and others think that Elon is really on to something with the value of self-driving vehicles. Regardless of which side you’re on, it’s going to be sooooo cool when it happens—it’s hard to hold back the excitement on this one!
10) “There is still, in 2019, no car that can compete with the Model S of 2012…it’s seven years later. Still waiting…”
So, so true. Harsh? Yes. Correct? Absolutely. From the gorgeous looks to the range and acceleration, other electric car manufacturers are truly struggling to keep up with the Model S of 2012. Yes—Tesla really is that far ahead.
If you’re looking for a 2012 Model S or a different type of used Tesla, you’ve come to the right place! Find My Electric is the most comprehensive and capable used Tesla marketplace on this carbon-filled planet. So poke around, find a Tesla, and go electric today!