In the first few paragraphs, I’ll respond to the question, “Is Elon Musk a genius?” Then I’ll respond to the second question, “Is Elon Musk bonkers?”
Is Elon Musk a Genius?
The criterion I like to use in the definition of genius is provided by philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer who famously observed, “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.” First, we look at Elon Musk’s precociousness. When he was 11 or 12 years old, Elon acquired a Commodore computer that came with a 60-hour course in the BASIC language. During a three-day period of relentless study, he mastered the course and became fluent in BASIC. He subsequently taught himself two higher level computer languages, Pascal and Turbo C++. By age 13, he had created a computer game named Blastar consisting of 123-lines in BASIC and Assembler for the IBM PC/XT. He sold Blastar for $500 to PC and Office Technology magazine who featured it on the cover of their December 1984 issue. Now let’s look at the targets that Musk has hit, some of which no one else thought were attainable.
Early in 1995, Elon (age 24) and his younger brother Kimbal conceived an interesting idea. Now that the internet was becoming ubiquitous, why not put list all businesses on line together with a street map to that business. This would mean that someone looking for a local dog groomer could go on line, get a map and zipto that location. They presented their idea to a senior executive of the Toronto Star newspaper. At that time the Toronto Star published the giant book called The Yellow Pages that listed the telephone numbers of all businesses. The senior executive merely tossed a copy of that tome on the table, stating, “Do you honestly think you’re ever going to replace this?” A few months later, they incorporated a company they called Zip2. By 1997, Zip2 was leasing their software to 140 newspapers, including The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and even the former naysayer, the Toronto Star. In January 1999, less than four years after Zip2 was incorporated, Compaq Computer purchased Zip2 for $307 million. The executive of the Toronto Star later apologized for not seeing the target that the Musk brothers had seen.
Elon, himself had a series of remarkable achievements of which most people are aware, so I won’t explain them in detail in this post. They include:
• Founding X.com that merged into PayPal.
• Founding SpaceX in 2002, that discovered a way to launch and recover rockets on land for re-use.
• Investing in and managing Tesla Inc., bringing it to a net worth exceeding GM, Ford, and Toyota combined.
• Founding OpenAI to expand artificial intelligence and make it accessible to all people.
…and a host of other companies including, The Boring Company, Neuralink and Solar City.
It seems that Elon Musk qualifies for the term “genius” as it is defined above.
Now the second question, ”Is he “bonkers?”
Elon Musk displays all the characteristics of people suffering from a bipolar disorder, involving mood swings between mania and depression. During a manic phase, Elon, infused with overwhelming energy, is highly creative, intense and unrelenting. In a post-launch interview on February 6, 2018, after the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy, a relieved Musk said:
“I didn’t expect to be emotional about it, but I was. There’s something about it that I couldn’t describe. It was so hard. It was so difficult to get to that point.”
On May 30, 2020, when the Dragon capsule atop the Space X Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched, a jubilant Elon Musk announced, “I’m really overcome with emotion; it’s been 18 years working towards this goal, so it’s hard to believe that it happened.”
But these manic moments are often followed by dark moments of depression and sometimes anger. Elon, like his father, Errol, can transition from a goofy fun mode into what some call his “demon mode.” When in this dark mode, he is distant, withdrawn and sometimes combative. In interviews, he has spoken about his mental health struggles, including depression and burnout. His mood can shift from elation when observing progress to deep frustration with failure. During these times, his interactions with others can be unpredictable and he is quick to berate or fire an employee.
In many ways the personality of Elon Musk is similar to that of Henry Ford. Ford was bipolar, maniacally driven to achieve his goals, and autocratic, almost always believing he was right and therefore, intolerant of dissent.
Elon, himself, has suggested that he has the autism-spectrum disorder known as Asperger’s, preventing him from sensing subtle social nuances in conversation, such as sarcasm or exaggeration. He usually takes statements literally and responses without any concern about the emotional impact of his statements. In short, he has no people-friendly filter. This is one of several personality anomalies, that derive from Elon Musk’s Asperger’s as well as from his early experiences living with his father’s devastating mood swings.
Deciding whether Elon Musk is “bonkers” depends on how you define “bonkers.” If it means eccentric or weird, then he may be “bonkers” in that sense, but we must remember that brilliance comes with anomalies, and normalcy is often a characteristic of mediocrity. When Time Magazine named Elon Musk Person of the Year in 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted, “Let’s change the rigged tax code so the Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else.” Musk cogently responded, “If you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year. Don’t spend it all at once …oh wait, you did already.” There are, indeed, times when it’s appropriate for intelligent people to dismiss the mediocre, even if they are accused of being insensitive or “bonkers.”
Nikola Tesla is said to have had a strange relationship with a pigeon and Nobel Laureate, John Nash (featured in the movie: A Beautiful Mind) required insulin shock therapy to return to normalcy. However, as many psychologists have observed, “You have to be different, to make a difference.”
