# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 130
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2582 "2023-01-08T23:43:23Z")
Or a submarine to rescue people that is too big for the hole. Genius. Or “invented” the subway. But worse. Genius. And so on. Musk owes everything to Peter Thiel. No Thiel and PayPal would have failed under Musk’s “leadership”, and Musk would be a nobody. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2583 "2023-01-08T23:45:02Z")
The question was “Is an electric rocket possible,” not can it be used to get spacecraft into orbit. This is exactly what I said you were doing, giving him the most charitable interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2584 "2023-01-08T23:46:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That means he’s heard of ion thrusters, not that he’s closely familiar with them. But at least he realized that his original quickie answer was incomplete and looked daft, probably a result of Tweeting While Baked, and sort of clarified what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2585 "2023-01-08T23:51:01Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > How a guy that thinks trucks require bullet-proof windows, that aren’t even rock-proof, but not the ability to actually pull a fully loaded trailer isn’t a child escapes me.   Exactly. The Cybertruck is a great example of a product that’s had “input” from Elmo, in the sense of “do it the way I want or you’re fired”. Which has resulted in the most outrageously ugly vehicle I have ever seen, with “features” like allegedly bullet-proof body panels, supposedly unbreakable windows that break, and the promised ability to function as an amphibious landing craft, a “feature” that no one wants or needs and that probably won’t work either. Elmo kind of reminds me of Jordan Belfort at the peak of his wealth and drug-crazed mania. At one point he bought a super-expensive exotic sports car. Not satisfied, he had it customized with an assortment of ridiculous working accessories taken directly from James Bond movies, the end result being a super-expensive exotic sports car so lumbered with stupid junk that it couldn’t actually be driven. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2586 "2023-01-08T23:56:42Z")
Genius. /s ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2587 "2023-01-09T00:38:26Z")
My guess is that Tweeting While Baked™ and Managing While Baked™ explains a lot of things about Elmo’s antics. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2588 "2023-01-09T00:48:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think we covered that upthread, with the resurrection of the _Arnold_ Amendment as the _Election Laxity for Musk is Okay_ Amendment. Yeah, I’d lost track. The way things are going, it may be considered quite acceptable by large swaths of the US population to deep-six the Constitution altogether. (I’d guess that a lot of Musk’s fanbois are in the ‘who needs that stupid old Constitution?’ camp, just by general disposition and inclination.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2589 "2023-01-09T01:32:30Z")
I am not a Musk fanboy. If you go back and look, I was probably the first and harshest critic of Hyperloop on this board. It was, and remains, a stupid idea. I also think the Cybertruck is ugly as sin, shows no understanding of truck buyers and their needs, and will likely fail in the market if they ever release it. On the other hand, the other Tesla cars are wildly successful. SoaceX is revolutionizing space access, Starlink is helping to save Ukraine and is likely to be a huge boon to Africa and other impoverished places with poor communications infrastructure. Of course, you can always blame Musk for the design of Cybertruck but give him no credit for the successes of other products, without any knowledge of what he actually did and didn’t do to contribute. My take on Musk is that he is an eccentric genius who swings for the fences, and sometimes misses. This is common to such people. Buckminster Fuller was a genius who wasted a good part of his time on the Dymaxion car, a terrible vehicle that had no chance in the market. Tesla himself was a genius who wasted huge chunks of time on transmitting power by radio around the world. Paul Moller is a good aeronutical enginerr who wasted most of his life on the Moller Skycar - a design that had no chance of certification or being priced anywhere near reality. The problem with successful geniuses is that once they get told, "That’s dumb’ and then are proven right after all, the next person to say "that’s dumb’ may be ignored even if the idea actually is dumb. And when they get rich they accrue lots of people around them willing to tell them that every utterance is genius. That causes them to lose their filters and sometimes their judgment. Another thing about eccentric geniuses is that they sometimes have terrible social skills. Musk’s tweets can be very funny, but they can also be stupid or terse or miss the point. He’s probably on the spectrum, was a ‘nerd’ in school and probably says a lot of stuff without thinking it through. If Tesla or Edison or Hughes were around today, they’d probably be even worse on Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2590 "2023-01-09T02:09:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Buckminster Fuller was a genius who wasted a good part of his time on the Dymaxion car, a terrible vehicle that had no chance in the market. (just a parenthetical that comparing Musk to Fuller, who achieved essentially nothing other than self-aggrandizement, is actually an insult to Musk)(please carry on) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2591 "2023-01-09T02:20:09Z")
Well, he had 28 patents including the geodesic dome, but yeah, I’m not a huge fan. But there is no doubt that he was smart as hell. He was just a name I picked out of the air when trying to remember some people who were geniuses with some dumb ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2592 "2023-01-09T04:29:15Z")
Even the great Steve Jobs had some ideas that were stinkers. The Apple Lisa. Macintosh TV. The Apple III. The Powermac g4 cube. But it doesn’t matter because his successes far outshone his failures. I don’t think Elmo is anywhere near the “genius” of Jobs (he was really more of a salesman than a creator), but he’s going to need to come up with some more hits to overshadow his misses. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2593 "2023-01-09T05:36:25Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think we covered that upthread, with the resurrection of the _Arnold_ Amendment as the _Election Laxity for Musk is Okay_ Amendment. I must say, I love that it’s abbreviated as the _ELMO_ amendment. But I’m so glad that it doesn’t exist, and that there’s a concrete reason that I don’t have to worry about “Prez Musk”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2594 "2023-01-09T05:42:03Z")
But what if it’s ~~Kang vs Kodos~~ Musk vs Lindell? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2595 "2023-01-09T18:53:48Z")
The new thing from Elon and his mother is they were poor welfare recipients who never owned an emerald mine, until somebody pointed out that he himself said they had an emerald mine. [![](https://i.redd.it/hj19rtr890ba1.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/hj19rtr890ba1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2596 "2023-01-09T19:24:13Z")
^^^ That’s hilarious! The minimum requirement to be a good liar is to at least have sufficient wits about you to be reasonably consistent. Elmo apparently can’t even do that. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2597 "2023-01-09T19:48:10Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The minimum requirement to be a good liar is to at least have sufficient wits about you to be reasonably consistent. There is also an element of the Mormonism problem here. It’s not that its myths are any more implausible than any other religion, but FFS have the wit to set your legends in the distant past, where it’s more difficult to _prove_ that they didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2598 "2023-01-09T20:07:11Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > His follow-up tweet: He followed up to a January 8, 2023 Tweet on January 26, 2015? Forget I ever called him stupid: this motherfucker’s invented time travel. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2599 "2023-01-09T20:22:57Z")
I never saw that date. Sorry about that. I saw the comment in a thread that also had recent comments and didn’t see it. But it makes the point stronger - if he knew about ion engines in 2015, he surely knows about them now. I posted that to refute the notion that Musk is just a stupid rich guy who got lucky and actually doesn’t know much about his own technologies and just takes credit for what his engineers do. Specifically, that he’d never heard of ion engines when he said you can’t make a rocket powered only from electricity. A better explanation was that a ‘rocket’ is generally considered to be something that launches from something else, while ion engines are used on deep space probes and satellites because they have very low impulse and need to run for a long time to generate velocity. In fact, Musk was correct because a ‘rocket’ is defined as a cylindrical object that uses the exhaust of burning fuel to move. So now, you can’t power a rocket with electricity. > **[rocket](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/rocket)** > > 1. a large cylinder-shaped object that moves very fast by forcing out burning… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2600 "2023-01-09T20:27:44Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I never saw that date. Sorry about that. I saw the comment in a thread that also had recent comments and didn’t see it. But it makes the point stronger - if he knew about ion engines in 2015, he surely knows about them now. I don’t think it makes it a stronger point at all, unless the point it makes is completely _missing_ the point. Instead, I think it shows that you and Elon are both not paying much attention to the Tweets you’re discussing. Elon knows about ion drives (I mean, c’mon, I don’t think anyone seriously thinks he’s never heard of them), but his arrogance is keeping him from thinking seriously and respectfully about people before responding to them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2601 "2023-01-09T20:33:43Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In fact, Musk was correct because a ‘rocket’ is defined as a cylindrical object that uses the exhaust of burning fuel to move. So now, you can’t power a rocket with electricity. As for this, [take it up with NASA](https://www.facebook.com/dorian.hart/posts/pfbid0AEs9xTMtb1hxKtxTrnuaB1ACinueZ7Jy2dVL8wn8LcdtqpFZB8e7rSgaxRa2UuAml): > [@](#): > > The NASA Glenn Research Center has been a leader in ion propulsion technology development since the late 1950s, with its first test in space— the **Space Electric Rocket Test 1** — flying on July 20, 1964. (emphasis added) Musk’s “LOL no” is a stupid and obnoxious response, when the term “Electric Rocket” has been in use since before he was born. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=129) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=131)