“You would not want to be me.” — Elon Musk
Yesterday I argued Dario Amodei is the most interesting man in America because he acts like a human being in public. Elon Musk is the opposite. He has the balls but what’s missing is the human-being. Or perhaps he’s all-too-human, which explains why so many of us loathe him. Charles Steel has written The Curious Mind of Elon Musk. Rather than a hagiography, it’s an attempt to explain why both his admirers and the Hate-Elon crowd misunderstand him.
Steel finds three traits: hyper-rationality, existential angst, and belligerence. Musk read Nietzsche and it compounded his crisis. Probably because Nietzsche was warning us about philistines like Musk. I suggested he’s trapped in a Hobbesian state of nature — frozen alone, unable to read other people, normalising narcissism. This self-serving worldview is often childishly indefensible. Nietzsche might, like his contemporary disciple Peter Thiel, have called him the Anti-Christ. He’s certainly the anti-Dario.
Five Takeaways
• Musk Is the Anti-Dario. Amodei acts like a human being in public. Musk has the balls but what’s missing is the human-being. Or perhaps he’s all-too-human.
• Steel’s Case Is Harder to Dismiss. Childhood bullying, autism, abusive father. Nietzsche compounded the crisis. Probably because Nietzsche was warning us about philistines like Musk.
• Three Traits. Hyper-rationality, angst, belligerence. The scientific method as secular religion. Wokeness as the enemy. Self-serving but consistent.
• Trapped in a State of Nature. Frozen alone, unable to read other people, normalising narcissism. This is what’s most dangerous about Elon.
• The Anti-Christ and the Anti-Dario. Nietzsche might have called him the Anti-Christ. He’s certainly the anti-Dario. The contrast is the story of 2026.
About the Guest
Charles Steel is a London-based investor and writer. His book The Curious Mind of Elon Musk is out now.
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction: I'm not a great fan of Elon Musk
00:02:05 Is Musk on the spectrum?
00:03:56 The meaning of life and the philosophy of curiosity
00:05:58 Childhood bullying, an abusive father, and Musk as casualty
00:06:53 “You would not want to be me”
00:08:38 Hobbes, the state of nature, and Musk as pre-social man
00:10:29 Should we try to be less normal?
00:12:15 Racism, empathy, and the missing human attributes
00:14:14 Goebbels comparison: when does curiosity become offensive?
00:15:52 Why is it always the right? Musk and wokeness
00:17:18 The curious mind as mirror of our age
00:20:00 X, free speech, and the scientific method as religion
00:22:20 Is Musk’s mind machine-like or all too human?
00:24:59 Should we trust Musk with the fate of the planet?
00:29:07 Camus, Sisyphus, and the question Steel would ask Musk