Jordan Peterson on meeting Elon Musk February 20, 2022 Jordan Peterson reflects on what struck him after meeting Elon Musk — a mind that jumps fluidly between the deepest engineering detail and the largest questions about humanity's future.
Jordan Peterson reflects on what struck him after meeting Elon Musk — a mind that jumps fluidly between the deepest engineering detail and the largest questions about humanity's future.
Transcript Chris Williamson
I saw you took a trip to the Tesla factory. What were your thoughts after meeting Elon Musk? Did you get to speak to him much?
Jordan Peterson
I wouldn't say much. We spoke probably for 20 minutes in total. Not purely privately because there was other people around, but, you know, that just barely gets you to know the surface of someone like Musk because he's an amazing person and God only knows what's up with him, all things considered. We saw his new truck. He was taking people out for a ride. I didn't. I didn't go out for a ride. The truck's an amazing piece of engineering. The factory is massive. You know, what do you say about someone who built a functional electric car, then shot it into space on a rocket? He's a singular person. But I thought it went very well. It was a very interesting evening, so I was pleased to be there. And, you know, we sort of walked around each other a bit, and it was just fine.
Chris Williamson
You guys interact a fair bit on Twitter.
Jordan Peterson
We seem to. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Williamson
What do you think that is? Why are you converging?
Jordan Peterson
I don't know. I don't know exactly. We're both well known, and I suppose to some degree that that increases the probability of that kind of convergence, but maybe he's aiming up me, too. Seems to be.
Chris Williamson
He's aiming at literally. He's aiming at very literally.
Jordan Peterson
Yeah, definitely.
Chris Williamson
Didn't he put a. Wasn't there a spaceman, a model of a spaceman in the driver's seat of the car that he put out into space?
Jordan Peterson
Oh, that. That's certainly possible. He's got a theatrical twist, there's no doubt about that. And a great sense of humor, because that's really funny. To shoot your own car out into space on a rocket.
Chris Williamson
That's needlessly.
Jordan Peterson
That's a pretty damn good joke.
Chris Williamson
What is it? What is it that's. Or why is it that someone like Elon has got himself to the stage where he can say things that almost every other. He's the richest man.
Jordan Peterson
I think he's got himself to that stage. I think he's always done that. And so now he still knows how to do it. I mean, you know, people think, I'll say what I have to say when I get to the point where I'm protected and secure. It's like, first of all, being protected and secure does not give you the courage to say what you have to say. That's a completely. That theory couldn't be more backwards. You think you're going to get braver and braver as you get more and more protected. You think that's how the world works. I mean, I've watched university professors think that at some point they're going to say what they think as they develop their career. But by the time they're protected and secure, they spent so much time not saying what they think that they aren't even who they were and they don't know what they think. So no, he says what he says because he's always done that and people who are like him are like that. And so Steve Jobs, I presume, was exactly the same way. I mean, I know people who knew him. He always said what he thought and he was pretty damn cut and dried about it. Which is why the Apple products are such miracles of technological mastery. He had an unbelievably canny design eye and was very. He cut whole projects without a second thought in some sense when they weren't working.
Chris Williamson
He did that when he came back to Apple the second time, refined the entire product line, got rid of a ton of different things and said it worked on this.
Jordan Peterson
Yeah, right, right. So that was proof. I mean, maybe it was fluke the first time, which it wasn't, but coming back and doing it again the second time showed pretty clearly it wasn't.
Chris Williamson
Same with Elon. Right. He's refined down what he does to a couple of very, very tight parameters
Jordan Peterson
he seems to have. Although his hit, the Enterprise he's put together is unbelievably high functioning. I mean to produce an automobile sub industry that's actually competitive and to bring down the cost of space exploration by a factor of 10 and to invent reusable rockets and to have developed this boring technology, it's. It's miraculous. It's probably an alien.
Chris Williamson
Yeah, probably, probably.
Jordan Peterson
There's only two probably A reptilian isn't.
Chris Williamson
American car companies, I think, that haven't gone bust. Ford and Tesla. And Tesla came very close a number of times.
Jordan Peterson
Yeah, it's an amazing accomplishment. So go Elon, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, he's a remarkable person.
Chris Williamson
What's happening, people? If you enjoyed that, then press here for the full unedited episode. And don't forget to subscribe. Peace.