https://www.youtube.com/@Thunderf00t

I considered hard weather this really belongs in Technology, but came to the conclusion that exposing a scammer that is considered a tech genius, does belong here. Because debunking a technology company is as important as showing it, when it's considered valid.

That said, I believe most people here are already aware that Musk is not to be trusted blindly. But just how bad it really is, may be news to some.

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[–] 204 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Someone mentioned this and it always stuck with me - never trust someone who makes failure collective ("we dug our grave”), but success individual.

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  • [–] 50 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    You should look for Last Week Tonight's segment on Elon. I think John Olivers take was fair.

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  • [–] [S] 23 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

    It seemed a bit too fair to Elon Musk IMO. It felt like John Oliver held back the punches.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago

    Oliver completely neglected to cover the fact that Hyperloop was a scam to defraud the Californian taxpayer out of high speed rail. (Elmo wins doubly: through the government grant in Hyperloop and through Tesla car sales.)

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    Yeah, I was hoping he'd mention more of his "promise X by this year" schtick that he does over and over and never delivers on. Or like showcase the robots being supported by cables walking stifly.

    I've seen every Elon video by thunderfoot, I just thought it be helpful to see someone else's critique that is a bit more positive of Elon but cautious.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago

    Very measured take on the man and his contributions, both good and bad. I appreciated that he drew attention to the fact that once people have decided you're a net positive, they just explain away anything bad about you.

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  • [–] 44 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Thunderf00t

    Hard pass. Anyone who decided that the shithead reactionary bigots were the side of gamergate they wanted to support isn't getting views from me, thanks.

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    Remember Thunderf00t may open himself to lawsuits making these claims publicly. But I'm sure he considered that first, and came to the conclusion, that everything he says, he can document is true. I've run into his material from time to time already from about 15 years ago, and he is 100% a VERY smart guy, that knows what he is talking about.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (13 children)

    Except about SpaceX, I'm not going to dig though the threads right now, but he's been hilariously wrong about SpaceX in the past. Though not as bad as common sense skeptic though if I'm remembering right.

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  • [–] [S] 12 points 2 years ago (12 children)

    How is he wrong about SpaceX? As far as I can tell, he is spot on. If a NASA program had as many failures as SpaceX has, it would be closed down. And the economic claims Musk make for SpaceX are insane.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    I think it was the comparisons to other launch vehicles that were very apples to oranges. But as I said, I'd rather not dig through the Reddit threads to find them. I think they were on SpaceX lounge a few years ago? Common sense skeptic commented, but I don't think thunderfoot did.

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  • [+] [S] -15 points 2 years ago* (6 children)

    Are you aware he is a chemist, and has worked in areas related. Not 1 in a thousand understand as well as he how a rocket actually works.
    So my guess is that almost everybody else, myself included, who speak on those issues know less.
    Have you seen actual experts contradict what he said?

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

    Yeah I know he's a chemist. I'm an engineer. Some of the other people in the thread were engineers too. Anyway, it was just Wikipedia level incorrect information sort of stuff more than deduction of chemistry.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I’m an aerospace mech

    OK, then you know more than me, I'm just not aware of the apples to oranges comparison you mention. And his recent claims he posed on YouTube are spot on IMO.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago* (1 child)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago

    I admit already that first point about 10% being more like 20% doesn't look good. I viewed the video, and it seems he may have done that on purpose to facilitate a kind of wordplay between 10 times and 10%, which would be dishonest. Haven't got time to view the rest now, but you made your point.

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  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [–] [S] 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    Starship is a very ambitious program, really pushing the boundaries

    Oh boy! Do you mean kind of like Hyperloop and Full Autonomous driving? Or maybe the laughable Human/Robot AI program, where Its stated goal is "to understand the true nature of the universe"?!?! How do you not see Musk is a narcissist, if he believes his own idiocy, he is an idiot, if not he is a con man, there is no between.

    declaring it doomed based on the test flight results so far is really premature.

    I don't, I just don't believe the economic forecast Musk is claiming. Just like when he in 2019 claimed buying any other car than a Tesla would be stupid, because only Tesla would have full self driving next year.

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  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago

    Full Autonomous driving is definitely also a very ambitious project. I do think it is in principle feasible, and has great potential,

    Problem is he promised it was basically ready in 2016, and would be available for customers "next year". Yes "we" will eventually get there I think, but it will probably not be Tesla.

    I do think Musk is a narcissist, I don’t think he is an idiot.

    I agree, He is mostly an idiot because he can't help being a narcissist, it makes him behave irrationally with over confidence.

    I also don’t think he is a genius, more like someone with decent amount of technical competence

    Exactly, obviously he has some sort of competence running a business, but you can be both competent in one way and an idiot in others at the same time.

    I don’t think that takes away much from the actual achievements of both Tesla and especially SpaceX however.

    Yes I admit the success of Tesla is a huge achievement, and I too defended Musk for making the electric car cool and also show it was feasible. When the critics began. I still admit that's a significant achievement, but today as ThunderF00t says, just because he may have been a net positive, doesn't mean we should look the other way when he does harm later.

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  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago*
    [+] -18 points 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Post nothing of value at all, get blocked. Such a nonsense comment.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Lol, I love how some people think posting comments in threads they don't want to see doesn't simply help engagement.

    I feel this person's frustration, but yeah... That comment was self-defeating. Elon has enough money and influence to buy our attention. We really can't afford to ignore this asswipe. That's where we're at. The same is true for Trump.

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