“There is a definite possibility of the outbreak of World War III”: the main statements from Elon Musk’s interview with GQ. Musk opened up in an interview, talking about despair and loneliness. This is how people found out that he is also a man About the colonization of Mars

Time for cool translations. This time, what Elon Musk said at WGS 2017.

During a visit to the World Government Summit in Dubai, Elon Musk gave a detailed interview about his plans, views and aspirations. Surprisingly, it has not yet been translated into Russian. Thanks to Hello Robots, who corrected this misunderstanding and gave us permission to publish.

How did you get to where you are today? What is your life mission?

I'll answer. But first, let me thank you for inviting me to this summit. It is a great honor for me to be here. And the kids and I had a great time in Dubai. I advise everyone to visit this wonderful city, if you have not been here yet.

If we talk about motivation... This cannot be explained in a nutshell. Essentially: when I was a child, I wondered - what is the meaning of life, why are we here, why is it all? Then I came to the conclusion that the main thing is to ask the right questions. And the higher the consciousness of humanity, the more correct the questions will be.

In my opinion, there are several key things needed to ensure that our future is bright. In the long term, examples of such things would be green transport and green energy. And also the opportunity to become a space civilization, go to the stars and be an interplanetary species. This is strategically important for the survival of humanity. This is the first reason. Defensive argument, insurance. Preserving life as we know it.

But what is even more motivating for me is to create a sense of adventure. Let people feel interested in life. If we talk about two options for the future, one option is to stay on earth until some kind of catastrophe occurs, and the second option is when humanity will explore different planets, perhaps even go beyond the solar system. I think the second option is much more interesting and inspiring. You should be excited to wake up in the morning. Life cannot consist of just solving problems. Otherwise, why all this? There must be something you feel passionate about, something worth living for.

So what is life to you? We've already talked before. Is life an illusion or reality? Perhaps this is some kind of cinema in million format -D? What is life according to Elon Musk?

As I get older, I find the answer to this question more and more difficult, confusing and not obvious... If, in particular, you consider how video games have developed over the last forty years... The coolest game at that time was Arkanoid or Pong, when you had two rectangles on the screen and a dot symbolizing a ball...

I played this game...

Yes, me too! Exactly. Everyone played it. And at that time it was “wow!” It was quite an interesting toy. But today, video games are almost photorealistic, and millions of people play them simultaneously. You see how virtual reality and augmented reality are developing today. And if we extrapolate this trend into the future, no matter with what increase, even if it is one tenth of a percent per year, then, in the end, such games will be impossible to distinguish from reality. They will be so realistic that you will not be able to see the difference between such a game and reality as we know it.

How do we know that this didn't already happen sometime in the past? And that we are no longer in such a game?

Interesting…

Well, that is, it is possible...

Yes, everything is possible in this life...

After all, things inherently develop and strive for something.

If we look at the development of civilization in the last 100 years, we will see that progress is moving very quickly. And over the past 20 years, these rates have become simply mind-blowing. So what should we expect in another 20, 30 or 100 years? What will education be like? What will the transport be like? What is your vision?

I think this is a case where it is very difficult to make predictions. Take, for example, the first controlled flight of a powered aircraft. 1903, Wright brothers. And after just 66 years, we sent men to the moon. What I'm saying is that if you had asked people in 1900 what the chances were of going to the moon, they would have thought you were crazy.

If you tried to talk to someone about the Internet, you would not be understood at all. It would sound like complete madness.

But today, with a $100 device, you can have a video conference with anyone, even on the other side of the globe. With a Wi-Fi connection, you can essentially do this for free. You can establish instant visual communication with anyone, even a group of people, for free. Even with millions of people, if we talk about social networks. You can enter any question into the search engine. It's like an oracle of omniscience to which you can ask almost any question and get an answer instantly. These things would be extremely difficult to predict in advance, even in the very recent past. That is, in fact, the only thing we can be sure of is that no matter what forecast we make today, we will probably be wrong.

I think I can only try to outline the direction of what I would like, but not what will actually happen. But maybe I'm just wishful thinking.

I hope that we will end up on Mars, and perhaps further on the moons of Jupiter. Perhaps we will make regular flights within the solar system, and even prepare for flights to neighboring star systems. I think these things are possible in the next 50 years. It will be very exciting. I think we will see tremendous progress in the areas of autonomy and artificial intelligence. And by the way, the latter will happen much earlier.

I expect that in ten years, new cars that are not equipped with autopilot will be rare. Ten years.

In just ten years?

Yes, I think that almost all cars rolling off the assembly line in ten years will have an autopilot. Today, all Tesla cars produced have the necessary sensors for this, and their computing power is enough to pilot a car safer than a person. Essentially, it all comes down to the development and firmware of the necessary software. But even if the computing power is not enough, we can easily upgrade the hardware. And this applies to all Tesla cars produced since October 2016. And other manufacturers will follow us. Driving a car will be like riding an elevator. You simply say where you want to go, and the car transports you to your destination with the highest possible safety. And that will be okay.

It's like with elevators. Once upon a time, elevators were operated by elevator operators. There was a special person who manipulated the lever. But today we just walk into an elevator, press a button, and it’s taken for granted.

Autonomy will be a mass phenomenon. I think one of the most troubling issues of the future is artificial intelligence. I'm not talking about limited AI, which, for example, includes a car autopilot. It is limited to performing a specific function. I'm talking about deep, general artificial intelligence - this is when you have an AI that is significantly smarter than the smartest person on earth. And I think this is a dangerous situation.

But why, what is the danger? There are two opinions. Some believe that artificial intelligence will be a helper to humanity, but others argue that it will become a threat. Why is this so?

I think both theories are correct. On the one hand, if we were to imagine... Imagine that we are going to encounter an alien life form, a highly intelligent alien life form, say, in ten or at most twenty years. Superintelligent!

So you think that in twenty years we should expect a visit from aliens?

Well, what I'm saying is that a digital superintelligence would be like an alien life form.

Will he look like an alien?

Well, if I ask you, do you think there is intelligent life beyond Earth?

This seems likely. I think this is one of the great questions in physics and science in general - why don't we know about the existence of aliens? Perhaps they are among us, who knows? Some people think I'm an alien. Not true. Not true...

But what if we are aliens ourselves? All people? I mean that if you take Eastern civilization, then people believe that they did not come from Earth, but from somewhere outside. That Adam and Eve came to earth from another world. That is, all of us, all people, are, in fact, aliens. Do you think we will make contact with aliens in the next 50 years?

This is a difficult question, indeed. My point is that if there is superintelligent alien life somewhere, they are probably already studying us. And we simply do not have enough intelligence to detect their presence.

If we make a rough calculation, we can see that any superintelligent race that has set its goal to populate the galaxy can populate it very quickly. Even if settlement occurs at sublight speed, say 10 or 20 percent of the speed of light, it will take 10, well, maximum 20 million years. On an astronomical scale, this is essentially nothing.

You once said that you wanted to die on Mars? Why?

I would like to clarify. I don't want to die on Mars. It's just that we will all die someday, and if we had to choose a place for this, then why not Mars? If you were born on Earth, then why not die on Mars? This seems funny. That is, being presented with such a choice, I would say - why not? I would die on Mars. But this is not a mania. And if I’m going to die on Mars, I just don’t want it to be from hitting the surface.

Clear. Let's return to earthly issues. You tweeted that you are building a tunnel under Washington. Can you tell us about this?

Well, it's a secret plan... I can, but it has to stay between us.

Nobody knows about this?

Yes, exactly. And let's keep it a secret. This may sound stupid or trivial. I've been saying this for years, though. I believe that the key to solving the traffic problem in large cities lies in the development of a tunnel system. And I'm not talking about a flat two-dimensional network of tunnels, but about multi-level solutions. In fact, it is easier to extend structures in depth than in height. The deepest shafts are deeper and have more vertical characteristic than the tallest buildings. That is, the tunnel network can have 20, 30, 40 or 50 levels. In fact, there can be an arbitrarily large number of levels. And this opens up opportunities for overcoming the congestion of the streets of any, even the busiest city in the world. The only question is a drilling technique that will allow it to be done quickly, at low cost and with the highest level of safety. That is, having learned to drill tunnels quickly, inexpensively and safely, we will soon completely resolve the situation with traffic congestion in cities. That's why I attach such importance to this issue. Washington, DC, Los Angeles, in fact, every big city in America and around the world suffers from traffic jams. This is largely due to the fact that the buildings in these cities are elongated in height, they are three-dimensional, while the road network remains two-dimensional, it is one-level. And people tend to leave buildings at the same time. And this is how traffic jams form.

Let's get back to your plans for Dubai. Last time we met in your officeSpace X July 4, 2015. I asked you if you intend to enter the UAE market. And you answered that China is your priority now, and that it is possible, but not in the near future. Almost a year and a half has passed, and now we see you here. Do you think it's time for the Emirates?

Well, I think we're doing pretty well in China. After some organizational issues related to the service network and charging stations, we have established our business in China... Now the moment seems right for a full-scale entry into this region, and we are starting with Dubai.

In your opinion, what will be the next big technological breakthrough?

New technology?

Yes, what will radically change our way of thinking, our way of life, our way of doing business?

Well, the next big game changer from a technology perspective will be autonomous driving. I would say this will happen much faster than most people suspect. Autopilot cars are very convenient. On the other hand, there are many people in the world who make a living from this. If... I think that driving in various forms is the area in which the largest number of people are employed. It is the largest source of jobs. Therefore, we need to reconsider the role of these people, what they should do, because this will be a big shock and will happen very soon.

I need to be clear about what I mean when I say “soon.” After all, different people understand the word “soon” differently. There are now 2 billion vehicles in the world. And this figure is heading towards 2.5 billion cars and trucks. The total global vehicle production capacity is 100 million units per year. And this is logical, since the life cycle of a car is on average 20-25 five years.

The emergence of a fully autonomous autopilot will not immediately lead to massive social upheaval. It will take time to produce enough self-driving cars for unemployment to become a serious issue. And this question will become truly relevant in 20 years. However, 20 years is not a long time, after which 12 to 15 percent of workers will lose their jobs.

This is the largest summit of governments of different countries. We have officials from almost 140 states gathered here. If you had three pieces of advice for those in power to prepare for the future, what would they be?

The first piece of advice would be to pay close attention to the development of artificial intelligence. We need to be very careful about how we implement artificial intelligence and make sure that dedicated scientists don't go too far. Because developers sometimes get so caught up in their work that they forget to control the consequences of their actions. That is, I believe that this is a matter of public safety. Governments must monitor artificial intelligence and ensure that it does not pose a risk to the public.

The second thing I would say is the need to reconsider transport as such. There is the direction of electrification of vehicles, renewable transport, but again, these things are a little more long-term. This is expected later than self-driving cars. A complete transition to electric cars should be expected in 30-40 years, not earlier. This will entail a dramatic increase in the need for electricity. Today, if we talk about the world's energy needs, one third is heating, one third is transport and another third is electricity. Over time, almost 100 percent, the vast majority of energy will exist in the form of electricity. The demand for electricity will increase threefold over time. And this is a big question. How can such an increase in electricity production be ensured?

Well, it looks pretty simple. That's it, no more challenges for the public sector?

Well, these things are interconnected... There is a threat of mass unemployment. This will be a big problem for our society. Eventually we will have to establish something like a universal basic income. I think that we will simply be forced to go for it.

Universal basic income?

Universal basic income. I think it will be necessary.

So, does this mean that unemployed people will be supported by states all over the world?

Because there simply won't be work for them? Because machines and robots will do all the work?

Yes, there will be very, very little work that robots cannot do better than humans.

I want you to understand me correctly. It's not something I wish for, it's just something I think is likely. And if I'm right in my assumption, and this actually happens, then we need to figure out what we're going to do about it.

My conclusion is that some kind of universal basic income will be needed. Next, the production of products and services will be extremely intensive... Automation will lead to redundancy. Almost everything will become very cheap. I think we will eventually come to a universal basic income, it will be necessary. But this will entail an even bigger problem, the problem of meaning in life for people. After all, many people actually don’t think of themselves outside of their work. But if you are not needed, if there is no need for your work, then what to do then? What's the point? How to avoid feeling useless? And this problem is much more difficult to solve.

And then, how do we make sure that the future turns out to be what we want? I have a potential solution…. Although we are already beginning to delve into futurism, science fiction or some highly scientific matters... Nevertheless, I see a kind of merging of biological intelligence with artificial intelligence.

We are already, in a certain sense, cyborgs. For example, as I already said, take at least Google or other search engines, where you can instantly get an answer to any question. Therefore, we all already have a digital superstructure over our nervous system. We can say that the limbic system is the first level. It is responsible for reflexes common to all animals. Then comes the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for thinking and planning, this is the second level. And the third level is your digital identity. And in fact, when a person dies, he leaves behind this digital ghost in the information field. Emails, posts and photos on social networks - they continue to exist. That is, over time, I think, the interaction between biological and digital intelligence will become increasingly closer. And it will be as dense as the speed of the data exchange interface between the brain and the digital superstructure will allow, especially the speed in the direction from the biological level to the digital. Moreover, there is no particular progress observed today, rather, on the contrary. We used to use keyboards, but now on phones and tablets we type with one or two fingers. Computers can exchange trillions of bits of data per second, but your finger can only handle ten bits per second, let alone a hundred bits. Therefore, a broadband interface connected to the brain, in my opinion, will contribute to achieving a symbiosis between man and machine intelligence, and perhaps this will help solve the problem of control and the problem of meaning.

Yes, these are questions bordering on the esoteric.

Nothing, it almost fits into the theme of the conference... You always think outside the box. You have very ambitious plans. You wanted to explore space, and you did it. You wanted to make a reusable rocket, and after numerous failures, how many were there - seven, eight?

I attribute four serious launch attempts to such failures...

Where do you get these ideas? After all, many of them simply go beyond human capabilities.

Well, I just start thinking about what kind of technological solution is required to achieve a certain goal, and I just try to make as much progress as possible in this direction. For example, for space flights, a critical point, without which there will be no progress, is their complete reusability. Like for airplanes. We understand that if the planes were disposable, there would be practically no people willing to use them. After all, a Boeing 747 costs 250 or 300 million dollars. In addition, you will need two planes to fly both ways. But no one will pay millions for a flight. But since the plane can be reused tens or hundreds of thousands of times, the cost of the flight is reduced dramatically. This is also true for rockets. Our rocket costs approximately 60 million dollars. That is, for a one-time use, the launch cost is $60 million.

But if it is used a thousand times, then the cost of launch will be 60 thousand dollars. And if there are a large number of passengers in the rocket, then the cost of a space flight per person will not be so different from the cost of an air ticket. And this is a really fundamental thing.

Since the gravity well on Earth is quite deep, making a reusable rocket is much more difficult than making a reusable airplane. It is for this reason that rockets with complete reusability have not yet been made. But if you use the best materials, the most advanced design methods, and do it right, you can achieve complete reuse of the rocket. We are lucky that the Earth's gravity well did not turn out to be, say, ten percent deeper, since even with such indicators reusability would be unattainable.

To implement ideas you need a good team. How do you choose the people you work with? What is your choice based on?

I think I mostly go with my gut feeling. When I interview someone, my main question is always the same...

And what is this question?

I ask a person to tell the story of his life. Talk about the decisions you made and why you made those choices. And I also ask you to tell us what the most difficult problems this person faced and how he solved them. This is an important question because problem solvers know and remember everything, down to the smallest detail. And people who only pretend to solve problems may know at a superficial level, but when they go into deeper detail, they fade away.

What was the hardest test for you personally?

Biggest challenge?

There were no tests?

No, there were a whole bunch, I'm just trying to figure out which was the worst.

Everything depends on time. One of the hardest things is maintaining corrective feedback and not letting it erode over time as people tend to tell you exactly what you want to hear. It's very difficult.

Our time is coming to an end. I'll just have one final question. Here, at the world summit of governments, there are people, young people from all over the world. Would you like to give them any parting words? Young people who want to be like Elon Musk?

I don't think they should dream of being like me. I think it sounds better than it is.

OK.

Yes, it's not that much fun.

Is it true?

Definitely. No, it’s probably not the worst option, but I’m not sure I would want to be myself! But….

My advice to anyone who wants to achieve something... I think physics is the best basis for developing analytical thinking. I would recommend understanding the very way of thinking inherent in physics. Not only equations, although they are important, but thinking itself in the categories of physics is the best basis for comprehending things that are not intuitively clear.

One of the biggest mistakes people make, myself included, is wishful thinking. That is, when you want something to be true even if it is not true. And you begin to close your eyes to the truth because of this self-deception. This trap is difficult to avoid. And I also sin with this... Therefore, it is important to adhere to the position that you are mistaken in some way, but strive to be less mistaken. And you should seek critical feedback, especially from friends. Those who love you want the best for you. And they don't want to upset you. That is, you have to tell them that you want to hear the real truth, and then they will tell it to you.

Thank you very much!

Translation -Hello Robots, adaptation - Peter and Mazepa.

Interview with Elon Musk. Although on the same day it became known about another organization for the development of artificial intelligence, supported by an entrepreneur, OpenAI, the conversation was not about it, but about the interplanetary ambitions of the head of Tesla Motors and SpaceX. TJ selected the main points from an extensive interview.

About the colonization of Mars

For Musk, the Mars colonization project is something like backing up the human form of life from Earth to other planets. “We make a backup of our hard drive. Why not backup our lives too?

The reusable rocket on which SpaceX plans to deliver future colonizers to Mars and return them back is what Musk himself calls the “Big Fucking Rocket” (BFR). According to him, the term came from the name of the fictional weapon BFG 9000 from the universe of the video game Doom.

Musk is now 44 years old, but he plans to send the first rocket to Mars before his sixtieth birthday. Such a rush is associated with the entrepreneur’s fears that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the start may be delayed if the technologies necessary for this disappear - as happened with the Egyptians and their pyramids or the achievements of the Roman Empire.

For a short or long period of time, there will be a window of opportunity in which we can establish an autonomous base on Mars - before something brings the technological level of the Earth to a state where this is no longer possible. Will the base become autonomous before spaceships stop leaving Earth? I mean, I don't think we can dismiss the possibility of World War III.

You know, in 1912 it was argued that a new era of peace and prosperity was coming, they say, a golden age, the war was over. And then the First World War began, followed by the Second World War, and then the Cold War. I think we need to understand that there is a definite possibility of World War III breaking out, and if it does break out, it will be worse than anything before it.

Let's imagine that they use nuclear weapons. I think there may be a very powerful social movement against the development of technology. Religious extremism is growing. Well, like, the Islamic State is growing?

Speaking about the suitability of Mars for life, Musk once again recalled the method of influencing the ecosystem of the red planet using thermonuclear bombs. However, whether it is worth interfering in the life of Mars and whether this will not disrupt possible life on its surface will be decided by the Martians themselves - this is what the head of SpaceX calls future colonizers.

About self-driving cars

In October, Tesla released its tenth major firmware update, which made it possible for car drivers in the United States to turn on Autopilot. Later he was seen on the streets of Moscow using an American car.

Talking about the upcoming release of the update (the interview was conducted in early October), Elon Musk spoke about intelligent autopilot as some kind of ordinary function and quoted the American science fiction writer William Gibson: “The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.”

For Musk, it is already obvious what should appear in the next firmware updates: the car should be able to independently drive itself into the garage, and also come when called to the owner - if both of them are on private property.

I think this will be an interesting thing for people. In fact, autonomous systems will drive orders of magnitude better than humans themselves. The number of accidents per kilometer will be much lower. From a technological point of view, I think we're three years away from full [driving] autonomy.

Elon Musk, head of Tesla Motors and SpaceX

Musk was reminded of his words that in the future, perhaps, people will be prohibited from driving themselves, since this will be much more dangerous than using autopilot. The head of Tesla Motors explained: perhaps this will happen, but he himself does not advocate such a change in legislation.

Even a 99% stability level of the autopilot is not enough for safe movement, Musk noted. Tesla Motors is aiming for 99.99%, and even then, at certain critical moments, the car must manage to transfer control to the driver.

About the confrontation with Apple

In 2015, the first rumors about the development of a car by Apple. Journalistic investigations indicated that Tim Cook's company was luring specialists from other companies, including Tesla Motors, to work on the project. The personnel war is also going in the opposite direction: Musk is luring Apple employees to join him.

On April 1, Tesla Motors made fun of Apple by publishing a humorous press release about the release of the Tesla W watch, which “not only shows the time, but also the date,” and therefore will be revolutionary. “This is in no way a response to what some other company is doing,” the post said at the end.

In early October, Musk gave an interview to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, in which Apple was “Tesla’s graveyard”: “They are hiring the people we fired. If you can't work at Tesla, you go work at Apple, and I'm not kidding." In his opinion, Apple is taking on the creation of a car because it cannot achieve significant success with creating a watch or a stylus for the iPad Pro, but such a large-scale development is a much more complex project: “You can’t just go to a supplier like Foxconn and tell them: make I want a car."

In an interview with GQ, Musk has already changed his tone, asking not to perceive his jabs at Apple as a “press release”: “I have no interest in attacking Apple.” However, in a conversation with GQ journalist Chris Heath, he again touched on this topic when it came to comparing Musk to the genius of Steve Jobs.

I point to the emergence of something of a popular stereotype around the figures of Jobs and, more recently, Musk: on the one hand, they are perceived as visionary geniuses, but on the other hand, their personalities are full of vices.

Musk replies: “Of course. The only time I met Steve Jobs, he acted like an asshole. And all my friends who met him...” Here he stops and declares that he would like to take back his words: “Sorry. Wait. The last thing I want is more..."

There is certainly some reason for this kind of doubt, given the media storm over the last week over his remarks about Apple - but before I ask him that question, I press him a little on the answer about the meeting with Jobs. Musk explains that he was introduced to Jobs by [former Google CEO] Larry Page at a party, and that Jobs didn't know who Musk was at the time, so it wasn't a personal thing. “I can’t talk about anything other than my personal perception. That was [the only meeting with him].” To be clear, Musk has expressed his admiration and respect for what Jobs accomplished many times over the years, and he reiterated that he didn't want to talk about it now: “The last thing I want to do now is stir up hostility, you know. This won't help."

Chris Heath, GQ journalist

About the spacesuit of the future

In January 2015, Musk said that by the end of the year he will show a spacesuit of the future in which astronauts will go to Mars. The spacesuit has not yet been presented, but a GQ correspondent managed to look at it.

According to Musk, existing spacesuits have a number of ergonomic problems. For example, the suit used in the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft had a very protruding rear part: the head of SpaceX noted that this suit was almost always shown from the front - so that it was not visible how the astronaut’s fifth point protruded.

The spacesuit of the future needs to “look cool” - at least because the future generation needs to be inspired to discover new planets, and it is difficult to imagine that the SpaceX suits in which astronauts will go to Mars are not elegant enough. According to a GQ journalist, the company managed to get rid of the problem of the “protruding” back of the spacesuit.

They look a little like the space suits from the movies. If you've seen advanced suits in movies, then [our design] looks something like this. Unfortunately, these things [from the movies] don't work. They only work in Hollywood.

Elon Musk, head of Tesla Motors and SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) became the first private company to have its Dragon spacecraft dock with the ISS. Therefore, its founder Elon Musk can be considered a pioneer of private space flights.

This year has been very successful for entrepreneur Elon Musk. Both his companies, Space Exploration Technologies and Tesla Motors, achieved epoch-making milestones this year. SpaceX became the first private company to independently build and launch a spacecraft into space, and successfully carry out its flight from start to finish, including docking with the International Space Station. Meanwhile, Tesla introduced the world's first premium sedan with an all-electric powertrain, and the electric car earned positive reviews in the press at a price of $49,900.

As a private citizen, Elon Musk has every reason to be concerned. At the age of 41, this billionaire originally from South Africa found himself in a rather precarious position. All his funds are invested in a business that could radically change the shape of our future - or burst with a bang. After creating and selling the online payment system PayPal, Musk turned to activities that he believed promised to expand humanity's potential: electric cars and affordable space travel.

But Musk remains quite calm. Seated at his desk at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, he calmly told the editors of Popular Mechanics how he planned to carry out his plan to save and/or escape the planet.

How has your experience starting a software company influenced the way you approach large-scale engineering projects?

In my opinion, in the field of high technology, any innovations are adopted very quickly. This is the way of business in Silicon Valley: either you move forward very quickly, taking every opportunity to improve your design or your process, or you lose to the competition. I try not to deviate from these principles. I have experienced many moments when my company was on the verge of death. This has happened as far back as my first company, Zip2 (which developed online publishing software and was acquired by Compaq's AltaVista division in 1999 for over $300 million), and with PayPal.

If problems arise with the Dragon spacecraft or sales of the Model S electric car are not so successful, the companies that produce these vehicles will be doomed to death. Does the experience of managing previous companies that were “on the verge of death” help us not to be afraid of a similar future?

I wouldn't say that I'm not afraid. I would be glad to get rid of fears, because they distract from business and wear out the nervous system. Yes, I am constantly haunted by this stupid feeling that something terrible is about to happen, that all our space flights will fail, that Tesla will go bankrupt, that SpaceX will go bankrupt. These fears never leave me, even this year, although it has been very successful. I am always afraid of something, but nevertheless I work.

You once said that you want to organize a space transportation company that would allow humanity to settle on other planets. Why?

Firstly, for security reasons. Humanity's chances for a long life will increase significantly if it spreads across several planets. We can imagine many disasters that could destroy life on Earth: there are both natural disasters and man-made disasters. But I'm more inspired by other aspects. Imagine an autonomous base on Mars - this is a fantastic, exciting adventure. Personally, I dream of such a future. And I am sure that many people besides me dream about it, especially among Americans.

Why do you think that Americans should be considered the bearers of such an impulse?

The American people by their very nature are bearers of the spirit of inquiry. People came here from a variety of countries, so America can rightfully be called a country of pioneers. I'm sure many Americans feel annoyed and disappointed by the fact that the peak of the most exciting space exploration occurred in 1969! In many souls the dream of space travel has almost died. SpaceX is committed to reviving that dream.

When are you going to Mars?

If I have good enough reasons to believe that my company can cope without me, if my children have time to grow up, then I will sign up for the first crew going to Mars. Of course, Mars will first be colonized by robot forces. Spacecraft must prove their ability to reliably land and take off from this planet. Autonomous robotic miners must accumulate raw materials to produce rocket fuel directly on the surface of the planet. In order to organize a permanent settlement on Mars, millions of tons of cargo and a million contingent of colonists must be sent there. To set up such a large-scale operation, we must have a reusable transport system for Earth-Mars cargo transportation.

Unlike other players in the automotive and aerospace research sectors, your companies prefer to manufacture many components in-house. Why?

While establishing the work of SpaceX and Tesla, we ordered almost everything we needed from third-party companies, but over time we began to increasingly produce parts and components in-house. By using outsourced components, you inevitably inherit your supplier's cost constraints. Additionally, you will have a hard time designing a product that works as one harmonious system. But if you develop all the elements yourself, immediately keeping in mind their correct interaction, you have a better chance of creating something beautiful - both technically and aesthetically.

Were you absolutely sure that Tesla would be able to launch the Model S on the market this year, and even at the promised price?

I’m not completely sure, but I thought we could do it. I understood that we were required to build something in the price category of Mercedes, BMW or Audi cars, but of better quality.

Tesla is often accused of taking advantage of government subsidies.

I believe that government economic intervention in private business should be minimal. But if there is some problem (for example, high CO2 emissions into the atmosphere), and the state does not want to raise taxes by including them in the price of goods and services, there is only one way left at its disposal - economic support for those initiatives that will protect us from the above-mentioned problems. But I want to emphasize that even if our company had not received financial injections from the Ministry of Energy, we would still be close to the current situation. Government support accelerated our development, but was not the answer to the fundamental question “to be or not to be.” They helped us, but this does not mean that we became dependent.

You have said more than once that you would not mind spending the last years of your life as a retiree on Mars.

Well, yes! You need to retire long before you fall into senile insanity, otherwise you will end up doing a lot of harm to your business. And then think how great it is to be born on Earth and die on Mars!

Elon Musk vs:

In 1998, Musk co-founded PayPal. The company has developed a reliable platform for online money transfers. Customers were not bothered by the complexity inherent in traditional forms of credit card payment. There were no customary fees, and the new system quickly democratized this type of commerce such as online auctions. In 2002, Ebay bought the system for $1.5 billion.
Since the mid-1990s, Musk has dreamed of developing electric vehicles. In 2003, he and his partners founded Tesla Motors with an authorized capital of $37 million. This small startup became a pioneer in the use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. Major automakers soon followed in its footsteps, such as General Motors with the Volt electric car.
As the shuttles faded into history, NASA began looking at which aerospace companies could design and build spacecraft for future exploration. Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies came up with rockets and spacecraft that turned out to be significantly cheaper than any technology ever used by NASA.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, spoke about how much pain the breakup with actress Amber Heard caused him, and admitted that he is very unhappy if no one is near him at night. The engineer even asked the journalist what he should do, and now social media users know for sure: Musk is still a human being, just like the rest of us.

Journalist Neil Strauss from Rolling Stone interviewed Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla. Strauss began with a question about the new Tesla Model 3 electric car, the presentation of which took place on July 28, 2017. The journalist wanted to know what Musk felt while being on stage and presenting the most inexpensive Tesla, which the company had been preparing for the release for so long.

But Elon does not answer the question, but instead asks the journalist for permission to go out for a few minutes.

You know, can I go to the restroom? And then I ask you to repeat your question. (Long pause). I need to free my thoughts.

The inventor is gone for a long time, and his assistant leaves after him. When Musk returns to the room, the journalist offers to reschedule the interview, but he refuses. Elon answers Strauss's initial question about how he felt during the presentation, but not quite in the way one might expect.

I just broke up with my girlfriend (actress Amber Heard) on the eve of the presentation. Although it would be more correct to say that she broke up with me. I loved her very much and it hurt me a lot. So to answer your question: the presentation of the Tesla Model 3 was unexpectedly terrible for me, I was upset about it, but I could not control this feeling. I've been in a lot of pain these past few weeks. Very.

It is worth noting that the couple’s breakup became known back in August of this year. Musk and Amber told the media that they remain in close and friendly relations, and distances and a very busy schedule are to blame for their breakup. After this, Musk's fans around the world were ready to replace Heard, as they did after his

But a few days after the breakup, the couple was even spotted sitting together near a cafe in Australia.

While news of his split from Heard was not new, Musk had never before admitted how deeply he was truly hurt by the end of his year-long relationship with the actress.

I need more time to get into the usual rhythm. It took every ounce of my willpower to be able to prepare the presentation of the new Tesla without looking like the most depressed guy. I walked around gloomy most days. I had to force myself to pull myself together: drink a couple of Red Bulls, communicate with positive people, and then tell myself: “All these people depend on you. Come on, do it!

Before the presentation itself, Elon had to meditate in order to concentrate, which the businessman does not do very often, as the journalist writes in an interview. We hope so.

Even the choice of the song to which Musk drove the Tesla was not accidental. Did the inventor choose the track R U Mine? by Arctic Monkeys, where they sing about how the hero goes crazy when his beloved is not around.

Having already quite shocked the journalist interviewing him with his confession, Musk went even further and asked him for advice:

Do you have anyone in mind that I could date? It's so difficult for me to get along with people. - He swallows and explains, stuttering slightly. - I'm looking for a long-term relationship, not a one-night stand. I would like to find a real life partner or soul mate, something like that.

Strauss was not taken aback and replied that committing himself to another relationship immediately after a breakup is not a good idea. Elon, according to the journalist, needs to figure out why all his relationships never worked out: his marriage to writer Justine Musk, marriage to actress Tallulah Riley and now his relationship with Amber Heard. But Musk replies that he tolerates loneliness very badly.

If I don't love someone, if I don't have a companion next to me, I'm unhappy. When I go to bed alone it kills me. I know what it's like when you're alone in a big empty house and the sound of footsteps echoes in the hallway, no one is there, no one is on the pillow next to you. Crap. How can you even be happy in such a situation?

If you haven’t taken out your tissues yet while reading the inventor’s revelations, then it’s time.

“When I was a kid, I said the same thing all the time,” Musk admitted. His voice sounds firm, but the sparkle in his eyes and the trembling of his lips betray a wave of emotions trying to break through. - I never want to be alone. That's what I said. - Musk’s voice turns to a whisper. - I never want to be alone. His eyes turn red, his gaze is directed forward, and he sits, frozen in his silence.

As the journalist notes, this was the first time he had seen Elon Musk like this. At that moment, he said, the inventor looked like a child who was afraid of being abandoned. But nothing like Elon Musk, whom the whole world knows as a person who does .

Elon Musk

A little later, after discussing the inventor’s new projects, Musk returned to his childhood and could no longer hold back his tears. He said that he grew up in South Africa in the family of an engineer and a nutritionist, whom he saw very rarely. The housekeeper looked after little Musk. But Elon only miraculously did not lose his fingers while making rockets, and in his free time from experiments he read books.

Musk's parents divorced when he was very young. The other two children stayed with their mother in Canada, but Elon felt sorry for his father, and he stayed with him, which he later regretted very much.

He was practically a genius, but he was a very bad person. No, he never physically raped me, but emotionally, yes. Every bad thing you can imagine, he did.

After this phrase, Musk could not hold back his tears and cried, according to him, almost for the first time in a very long time. But now Internet users suddenly realized: Musk is just like the rest of us.

November 22, 2013 at 00:13

Interview with Elon Musk. Part 1 - about how he wanted to become a physicist, but became an entrepreneur

• Biographies of geeks

• Translation

Elon Musk, founder and co-founder of companies such as PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, studied physics at the University of Pennsylvania. In Part 1 of Musk's interview with Elena Levin, a columnist for the American Physical Society's APT News, he talks about how he uses principles-based thinking, the benefits of studying physics, and why he's proud to call himself nerd.

Levin: In an interview recently, you advised people who want to get into innovative businesses to “study physics and learn to think in terms of principles, not analogies.” Can you tell us more about what you meant?

Musk: Physicists have been forced to develop a way of thinking that allows them to understand counterintuitive elements of reality. Things like quantum physics aren't very intuitive, and to get ahead in their study, physicists have created a way of thinking that allows them to get the right answers, even if they're not at all obvious. And this requires enormous mental effort. In everyday life you cannot be guided by principles all the time; this will require too much mental energy. So most of your life you have to act by analogy, simply copying the behavior of other people with minimal variations. But if you're trying to be a pioneer, to invent something truly new, then you'll have to adopt a principles-based mindset, identify the most fundamental truths in your industry, and derive your thinking from there. It takes a lot of brainstorming, and I can give you a couple of examples of how it helps in rocket science.

Levin: Let's.

Musk: Any technology in rocket science is evaluated by how much it reduces the cost of space transportation. But if you study the history of rocket launches, you will see that this cost is practically constant, and in the United States it even increases over time. If you think in a stereotyped way, by analogy, you will have no choice but to admit that such is life. But that's not true. If you think based on principles, then the first thing you need to do is find out what rockets are made of and how much these materials cost. When we did this, we were very surprised - the materials are only a few percent of the cost of the rocket. There's definitely something wrong with this, and we're doing something very stupid. If we were smarter, we could make rockets much cheaper.

Levin: How is your day going? Do you constantly use this method of thinking, or at some point do you have to stop because it requires too much effort?

Musk: I would love to say that I think in principle all the time, but unfortunately I have too many things to do and I save my mental energy for only the most important ones, such as achieving some technological breakthrough, or some serious bottleneck in business that requires a creative solution. Sometimes it happens by itself - I wake up and suddenly an insight comes to me in my soul (laughs). This sounds cliché, but it happens often. I think my brain works on a problem on a subconscious level, and the next morning the solution pops into consciousness.

Levin: Why did you decide to study physics?

Musk: I was very interested in understanding how the Universe works. And physics does just that - it tries to understand how the world works at the most fundamental level. At some point, I seriously thought about a career as a physicist, I thought about some physical problems, but looking into the future, I began to fear that I would get bogged down in bureaucratic delays with some collider, and then the project might be closed altogether, as was the case with Superconducting Super Collider, and it's going to suck. This just gives up.

Levin: So you decided in advance that you love physics, want to study it in order to know how the Universe works, but are not going to work as a physicist?

Musk: For a while I wanted to be one. Somewhere between 12 and 13 I had an existential crisis, I was trying to understand what this was all about, why we were here, whether there was meaning in life and all that stuff. I have come to the conclusion that the best that can be done is to improve the scope and scale of consciousness and achieve higher insight, which in turn will allow us to ask better and better questions, since it is clear that the Universe is the answer, The main thing is to ask the right question. It's all about questions.

Levin : It turns out interesting - you decided to study physics in order to understand how the Universe works, but at the same time you began to study economics, that is, did you think about business education from the very beginning?

Musk: When I was trying to decide what I wanted to do in life, I was convinced that if I didn't study economics, I would have to work for someone who did (laughs), and they would know all sorts of special things that I didn't know. It didn't look very nice, so I wanted to make sure that I knew all this too (laughs). Frankly speaking, I cannot say that I felt like I belonged among the economics students. I preferred hanging out with my fellow physics students. I liked people from the arts and science departments better. I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t publish this? (laughs) Yes, I was not happy with the company of business students, I preferred artists and scientists.

Levin: Do you consider yourself a “nerd”?

Musk: I was definitely a nerd, and in many ways I still am. If someone made a list of everything that real nerds are supposed to do, it would turn out that I did everything right according to it. I spent many hours rolling dice in D&D.

Levin: And did you dress up in character costumes?

Musk: (laughs) Yes, it happened a couple of times, but not at home, but at D&D tournaments. It was cool. I loved it all. I grew up in South Africa and there was a very small community there, I had few opportunities to share my hobbies with anyone... Among my peers, no one was interested in programming at all. I had to almost force them to play D&D. Some liked it, but the rest had to be persuaded for a long time, because a team of four people was needed to participate in the tournaments. I played computer games, wrote software, and had pants with drawstrings. (laughs) In general, life was not easy for me. The girls didn’t want to go on dates with me... And I did a lot of other things - collecting radios, making rockets. In South Africa they were not sold in stores, so I had to figure out the composition of the rocket fuel myself, pound the ingredients in a mortar, fill the rocket and launch it - with unpredictable results.

Levin: Yes, perhaps it’s true - everything is according to the list of a real nerd.

Musk: (laughs) Level 80 nerd.