Elon Musk, according to some online chatter, is a “cultural Christian” and finds that Christianity has some good points (particularly, being fruitful and multiplying). Jordan Peterson, among others, has pressed Musk on questions related to meaning, faith and, in particular, Christianity. What does the world’s richest, but not most insightful, man, think?
Walter Isaacson is a good place to start. He is a masterful biographer, which is proven again with his book, Elon Musk. Isaacson offers exhaustive research, along with a knack for insightful observations. Isaacson is always careful to limit his commentary; rather he simply paints a picture for readers to draw their own conclusions. He makes few comments to condemn or disparage the business tycoon--he lets the voices of Musk and related parties do it themselves.
The picture of Elon Musk is that he has few redeeming qualities outside of a galactic drive for innovation. He engages in illegal activities, makes unfounded accusations of others, apparently lacks compassion, doesn’t invest in relationships, and makes unrealistic demands—and those are his strong points. If he were not so successful, he would be a very lonely man.
But what does he make of the deeper things in life? The clips from surface interviews online are dwarfed by Isaacson’s exhaustive research. Isaacson’s book reflects two years of shadowing Musk. In 670 pages a discussion of meaning and existential matters takes up about 1% of the material—which may reflect the amount of time Musk thinks about these topics.
The germs of Musk’s reflections on meaning in life began in adolescence. Isaacson describes the adolescent “existential crisis” of Musk. His mother took him to Sunday School—but it did not go well for Musk or his mother. Isaacson notes that “Elon came to believe early on that science could explain things and so there was no need to conjure up a Creator or a deity that would intervene in our lives” [30].
So, he believed in scientism—the religion of science—early on. But his saviour came in a different form. Isaacson explains that “he was saved by science fiction, that wellspring of wisdom for game-playing kids with intellects on hyperdrive” [30].
The science fiction book that most influenced his early years was the cult classic by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Musk says the book, “helped me out of my existential depression, and I soon realized it was amazingly funny in all sorts of subtle ways” [31].
The story involves a human named Arthur Dent who is rescued by a passing spaceship seconds before the earth is destroyed by an alien civilization that is building a hyperspace highway. Along with his alien rescuer, Dent explores details of the galaxy, which is run by a two-headed president (somewhat prescient). The denizens of the galaxy are trying to figure out the “Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” [31].
They build a supercomputer that after seven million years spouts out the answer: 42. Yes, that’s the answer. But the book posits a core conundrum: people don’t necessarily know what the question is that they should be asking. What stuck with Musk? “I took from the book that we need to extend the scope of consciousness so that we are better able to ask the questions about the answer, which is the Universe” [32].
Musk developed “a lifelong fascination with the tantalizing thought that we might merely be pawns in a simulation devised by some higher-order beings” [32]. “As Douglas Adams writes, “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened” [32].
Musk’s interest in AI also informed his sense of dealing with the mysteries of the universe. Musk wanted to ensure that AI “developed in a way that helped guarantee that human consciousness endured. That was best achieved, he thought, by creating a form of artificial intelligence that could “reason” and “think” and pursue “truth” as its guiding principle” [606].
As with many spiritualists, his views on the meaning of life are not tied to an ethical code, or into any response by humans, including himself, in terms of what might constitute appropriate behaviour. Musk, true to his lack of moral bearings, has lived an unhinged life, as extensively documented by Isaacson, devoid of any virtues such as honesty and integrity.
However, when pressed by Jordan Petersen and others, Musk will acknowledge the beneficial aspects of Christian teachings. Otherwise, the starting point of meaning—the origin of the universe—is simply a cosmic riddle.
Someday Musk hoped that a supercomputer would be able to take on these existential questions. “It would care about understanding the universe, and that would probably lead it to want to preserve humanity because we are an interesting part of the universe [606].
In short, Musk offers positive lessons regarding innovation (not covered in this short blog post, but well documented by Isaacson), but his views on meaning in life offer minimal insight..