Hero vs. vilain real life storytelling is something we see too much of, and I'm always amazed that otherwise smart people partake in this without seeming to realize. Is it just me or hasn't everyone been taught that idolization (and it's reverse) is generally not good?

Musk played into the hero narrative for years, endeavoring to make people believe he was the literal savior of humanity. He's spent years encouraging people to have extreme characterizations of him. Neither a great hero nor a great villain is a nuanced character, and therefore one can easily become another when the context changes.

He may or may not have done this, the responsibility to fall for hero worship still lies with yourself.

He certainly did it, every time he said that SpaceX's purpose was literally, not figuratively, to save humanity. He was positioning himself and Tesla in the same sort of way; 'buy my EV to save the planet.'

In any case, I have no hero worship to apologize for. Not with regard to Musk anyway.

Blame is often less useful than people think. Is it the audience's fault for falling for it? Or is it Musk's fault for encouraging it? I'm not sure that it really matters. The lesson should be clear, though. CEOs can't save the world, and people who have been successful previously may still be foolish in the future.

> yes, the CEO has an impact on things, but probably not as much as some people think.

Considering the fact that he is the CEO of at least 3 huge companies, and that he has the same 24 hours/day as the rest of us, many of which he spends shitposting on Twitter, it’s clear CEO is at best a part time job (at least the way Musk does it).

The guy expects his workers to put in 80 hours a week at their jobs. At best completely foregoing sleep, he can do the same for 2 of his CEO roles, meaning that one is going completely neglected according to his own standards.