Elon Musk: Idiot Savant

The enfant terrible of technology is a fetishized brat — and an industry titan

“Bright lights cast long shadows,” wrote Carl Jung, who understood that Taoist yin and yang is akin to the duality of our conscious and unconscious minds. Cooler than Freud and less sex-obsessed, Jung depicted the ongoing battle between our dueling inner selves not only as the source of mental illness, but the crucible of creativity and genius.

We’re each terrific at some things, terrible at other things. Old school self-improvement focused on trying to improve what we’re bad at, while the current and arguably more effective trend is to ignore our deficiencies, and concentrate on getting even better at what we’re naturally good at and like to do. The result is damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead as your best self.

More is more in our culture, so why hold back? The exuberant display of obnoxious individualism has blitzkrieged since Trump ascended to the Presidency, legitimizing and validating an ends-justifying-the-means morality that not only ignores perceived weaknesses and deficiencies, but elevates and inverts them into their own strengths. Up is down, down is up.

The logical and inevitable culmination of accepting inherent duality and indulging in what works best is shameless pragmatism. Today’s movers and shakers are often jaw-dropping terrific at some things, and alarmingly terrible at other things — and we not only take their contradictions for granted, but have come to expect nothing less from their success.

The result is infantilizing and celebrating terrible people who do terrific things, thereby normalizing their shadows and turning them into light. Our society has become so enamored by money and power and the people who wield them, that the rich and powerful have redefined not only the nature of wealth and influence, but the standards by which we judge all of society.

Down syndrome was named after the doctor who clinically diagnosed the condition in 1887, John Langdon Down, who also coined the term idiot savant — French for “learned idiot” — to describe it. Associated with spectrum disorders like autism and asperger’s, the oxymoron describes contradictory attributes within a complex, often perplexing person.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are idiot savants in that they are off-the-charts terrific at their respective jobs, while being similarly terrible in terms of the behaviors they exhibit while doing it. Both with enormous chips on their shoulders, being asshole trolls has become synonymous with their personal identities, professional branding, and modus operandi.

The key difference between Trump and Musk, however, is that the former President is all smoke and mirrors, and the real life Tony Stark has actually revolutionized three industries. One is all bullshit artist, the other is half bullshit artist, half-genius. That’s an enormous difference — and a confusing but meaningful one. The danger is treating them the same.

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Walt Disney were rabid racists and alarming antisemites, among other terrible things — look it up — and don’t forget Michael Jackson, a pedophile. In parallel, automobiles, light bulbs, Mickey Mouse — and moonwalking — have been terrific for the world, and as a society, we need to have the maturity to understand the difference.

In no manner does such a perspective absolve leaders of moral obligation and ethical accountability — I’m merely pointing out the ubiquity of human duality, and how ability often exacerbates the best and worst qualities of entrepreneurial mavericks. That said, the onus is on us to differentiate terrific from terrible, and appreciate the engines of perfect imperfection.

Within the BDSM world, a brat is a submissive who is an asshole to their dominant partner because they can, and because they expect a good spanking. Elon Musk is a fetishized brat who is terrific when a dominant in his areas of expertise (eCommerce, automotive, space), and terrible as a submissive where he’s weak (media, politics, punditry).

And like any brat, Musk is a whiny bitch with the ultimate intent of getting punished. Consider his acquisition of Twitter, now apropos X., and its loss of tens of billions in value. Or how about the unnecessary and ridiculous oscillation of Tesla value as a direct consequence of his big mouth — everything from conflict of interest to alienating huge consumer segments.

His political shenanigans are shamelessly hypocritical, unabashedly authoritarian, and deliberately unnerving. A self-proclaimed “free speech advocate,” Elon the brat jumps into bed with Donald the dom, suggesting the National Guard and Army should arrest anyone who disagrees with him, unleashing the cops in a national Purge to clear out the vermin.

Conversely, marvel at Musk’s astonishing accomplishments in space, culminating with this week’s science-fiction-come-to-life landing of the 23-story Starship booster back at its launch pad. Say what you will about his direct role in starting, leading, and managing PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, but this idiot savant is without a doubt also a savant, changing the world.

Jung reintroduced the Greek enantiodromia to describe the importance of empowering psychological opposites to run their course. Musk is both bratty troll and industry titan, annoying snotty jerk and real life Ironman. Affixing himself to Trump is the brat, landing on Mars will be the titan. Half bullshit artist and half genius, Musk is simply human, all-too human.