Elon Musk, Video Game King? Well, Maybe Not(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Elon Musk, Video Game King? Well, Maybe Not
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/technology/elon-musk-video-games-diablo-path-of-exile.html
36 comments
The man utterly lacks empathy:
> I see people posting that Elon was at Auschwitz this time last year - therefore, his recent "gesture" is not antisemitic. I was there, too. Last year. With Elon. I am embarrassed that I have photos of this on my phone. My love, Gidon Lev, was the "special guest" of this photo-op event. We thought, at the time, that it would be good publicity. But I would not share the photo today. I chatted with Elon Musk. I spent hours with him and walked with him through Auschwitz. I stood with him, looking at the nauseating heaps of hair, luggage, and shoes flooded with violet light meant to preserve it. Is Musk an antisemite? People, actually, it's worse - he doesn't care whatsoever. Elon, father of "little X" as he described his freezing cold son to me, literally does not care. He was unmoved by the experience. For Gidon, to be in the place where his father, Ernst, died on a death march - whether shot by the side of the road or having simply collapsed - was a huge deal. Elon did not care. He was about his press junket and his bodyguards. I was ten feet from him as he posed for the cameras of his entourage. He was utterly detached. He cared about how he looked. When he placed a wreath at Auschwitz and Gidon was overlooked, he walked away with the cameras whirring. This is Elon Musk. A sociopath, if ever there was one. To deduce, from this visit, that he is a friend of the Jews is desperately naive.
> I see people posting that Elon was at Auschwitz this time last year - therefore, his recent "gesture" is not antisemitic. I was there, too. Last year. With Elon. I am embarrassed that I have photos of this on my phone. My love, Gidon Lev, was the "special guest" of this photo-op event. We thought, at the time, that it would be good publicity. But I would not share the photo today. I chatted with Elon Musk. I spent hours with him and walked with him through Auschwitz. I stood with him, looking at the nauseating heaps of hair, luggage, and shoes flooded with violet light meant to preserve it. Is Musk an antisemite? People, actually, it's worse - he doesn't care whatsoever. Elon, father of "little X" as he described his freezing cold son to me, literally does not care. He was unmoved by the experience. For Gidon, to be in the place where his father, Ernst, died on a death march - whether shot by the side of the road or having simply collapsed - was a huge deal. Elon did not care. He was about his press junket and his bodyguards. I was ten feet from him as he posed for the cameras of his entourage. He was utterly detached. He cared about how he looked. When he placed a wreath at Auschwitz and Gidon was overlooked, he walked away with the cameras whirring. This is Elon Musk. A sociopath, if ever there was one. To deduce, from this visit, that he is a friend of the Jews is desperately naive.
How does the author know what Elon was thinking from 10 feet away?
https://archive.md/ayoEv
I wonder what HN's view is on the recent nazi salute of Elon ? All the relevant threads seem to become flagged very quickly. I think it would be a very interesting discussion, especially here.
I wonder what HN's view is on the recent nazi salute of Elon ? All the relevant threads seem to become flagged very quickly. I think it would be a very interesting discussion, especially here.
Pretty much any user can flag a thread and some did but there was much discussion.
300+ comments here for your entertainment
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42772995
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42773778
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42774621
I'm not sure it was that interesting though. This I found kind of interesting: Apparently his mum's parents were Hitler supporters and moved to South Africa from Canada as it was too liberal. Musk's dad talking about it: https://youtu.be/B6e1ES4MLD0?t=200
300+ comments here for your entertainment
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42772995
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42773778
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42774621
I'm not sure it was that interesting though. This I found kind of interesting: Apparently his mum's parents were Hitler supporters and moved to South Africa from Canada as it was too liberal. Musk's dad talking about it: https://youtu.be/B6e1ES4MLD0?t=200
I find it interesting. I love SpaceX. I used to like Musk quite a bit. Now that he has shown us his true stripes, I find the man abhorrent. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment. He should probably be deported or jailed, he does not belong in a free and just country. I doubt very few of us would be tolerant of Nazis and Fascists, and indeed we should be completely intolerant of Musk.
As a community member I wholeheartedly disagree. Hacker News is one of the few places I can go and not be inundated with the political pocket sand nonsense. In fact, I think this entire post is probably off topic. With respect, please get your politics out of here.
From the community guidelines:
On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic
From the community guidelines:
On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic
> unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon
Musk performing fascist salutes at a political rally is an interesting new phenomenon: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/20/trump-elo...
Like it or not, this is what's happening to the tech industry. So much of the tech sector is now precisely about politics and power.
You can't run away from it. You can't ignore it. And, if you're in the tech industry, you're responsible for it.
It's always best to see things as they are.
Musk performing fascist salutes at a political rally is an interesting new phenomenon: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/20/trump-elo...
Like it or not, this is what's happening to the tech industry. So much of the tech sector is now precisely about politics and power.
You can't run away from it. You can't ignore it. And, if you're in the tech industry, you're responsible for it.
It's always best to see things as they are.
I see your point of view, but I would argue that many hackers would find interest in the fact that an idolised tech magnate made such an extreme gesture.
In my (non American) point of view this transcends left vs right arguments, but this is exactly why I am curious what this community would have to say. It is an interesting topic, if only from an anthropological perspective.
In my (non American) point of view this transcends left vs right arguments, but this is exactly why I am curious what this community would have to say. It is an interesting topic, if only from an anthropological perspective.
it’s kinda obvious. The people that already like him would defend it and justify the act and the people that dislike him would do the opposite. I guess he might have lost a small % of people liking him here but I would not bet it to be much
The effect on society and the human psyche when political discussions are stripped away from forums is chilling. Internet forums and IRC channels, in their peak, welcomed discussions like these. If you didn’t like it then you don’t click on the clearly political topics. This is hurt even more by forums being turned into feeds that pander into a single category and into businesses where profit, and agreeableness, must come at all cost.
the problem is when "discussions like these" have 2k comments while great technical posts receives 2, 3 comments. If it monopolizes the forum attention, it is not good.
It might be a dumb question, but if HN was alive in the 1930s, at what point did it start talking about things? Is there a point in the 1930s or 1940s when it needed to voice some concern? I don't think we are anywhere near that point. I am generally curious about the question, as I struggle with this answer as a person. I hate the constant troll/media cycles we are stuck in, but at what point should I be concerned?
It might be a dumb question, but if HN was alive in the 1930s, at what point did it start talking about things?
Not a dumb question IMHO, but a hard one to answer. The closest thing to a 1930s-era HN might have been the classrooms and labs at places like Gottingen and Leipzig, where the 'hackers' of the day were watching the politicization of their profession nervously.
At some point it would have been too late for our counterparts with Jewish ethnicity to ask whether Ferdinand Porsche gave a Nazi salute or whether Wernher von Braun was giving speeches at Goering's favorite beer hall. They were too busy struggling with questions like, "When do I have to leave, where can I afford to take my family, and who will take us in?", bearing in mind that even the United States imposed ethnic quotas on Jewish immigrants at the time.
Those questions are the ones that crop up later, after polite society fails to pay enough attention to the earlier ones. The smart 'hackers' might have suspected what was coming, but it's always too soon to speak up, isn't it?
Not a dumb question IMHO, but a hard one to answer. The closest thing to a 1930s-era HN might have been the classrooms and labs at places like Gottingen and Leipzig, where the 'hackers' of the day were watching the politicization of their profession nervously.
At some point it would have been too late for our counterparts with Jewish ethnicity to ask whether Ferdinand Porsche gave a Nazi salute or whether Wernher von Braun was giving speeches at Goering's favorite beer hall. They were too busy struggling with questions like, "When do I have to leave, where can I afford to take my family, and who will take us in?", bearing in mind that even the United States imposed ethnic quotas on Jewish immigrants at the time.
Those questions are the ones that crop up later, after polite society fails to pay enough attention to the earlier ones. The smart 'hackers' might have suspected what was coming, but it's always too soon to speak up, isn't it?
Thanks for sharing this; they are good thoughts and nail what I am struggling with.
I just started reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to get a better handle on the history of things. I read a book on Mussolini last year to try to gain some perspective. They both seemed to have risen to power through flaws in those countries' democracy, which is slightly terrifying watching the USA, as it definitely has flaws. However, I am unsure if the flaws I can see are big enough to allow for a "soft coup" at some point (and I am not an expert on what can be abused).
I just started reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to get a better handle on the history of things. I read a book on Mussolini last year to try to gain some perspective. They both seemed to have risen to power through flaws in those countries' democracy, which is slightly terrifying watching the USA, as it definitely has flaws. However, I am unsure if the flaws I can see are big enough to allow for a "soft coup" at some point (and I am not an expert on what can be abused).
I suspect HN would have been squarely in the “you’re taking Hitler too seriously, he doesn’t _mean_ any of that stuff” camp (this was a real and common sentiment in the early days, _even in Germany_).
What's the point of being concerned? If the majority want their fascist leader they will have it.
If you have money look into getting a passport. Quite a few Dutch Jews found their way to the Carribbean.
Or join the resistance and end up like Sophie Scholl.
> What's the point of being concerned?
So you don't turn into Russia: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/how-has-state-owned-media-in-russ...
Authoritarian regimes rely on disengagement and nihilism to remain in power.
So you don't turn into Russia: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/how-has-state-owned-media-in-russ...
Authoritarian regimes rely on disengagement and nihilism to remain in power.
Many seems to think he is some sort of Car Steve Jobs.
Him being a nutty rightwinger doing nazi salutes should put at least some off.
I've heard so many people kinda denying to themself what Musk is. Like some sort of cope.
Him being a nutty rightwinger doing nazi salutes should put at least some off.
I've heard so many people kinda denying to themself what Musk is. Like some sort of cope.
Meaning no offense, it is quite naive to assume that the level of discussion about very controversial political topics on here will be any better than, say, on a random subreddit.
Sure, memes and one liners do not do well on Hacker News, but on the other hand, most "hackers" believe they are smarter and with better opinions than anybody else, which is often just a severe case of Dunning-Kruger. And the population of this site post Reddit fiasco is no different than Reddit anyway; how many Eternal Septembers have we gone through?
Your account has been created pre-COVID, so you must have witnessed that some topics should just be avoided for the sake of anybody's sanity, whether it's on HN or not.
In general, up/down vote systems just create echo chambers, not interesting and nuanced discussions.
I might be the stereotypical old man yelling at clouds, but I miss when this place was about startups, programming and Wozniak-tier hackers, not an Ars Technica with a Bay Area accent that attracts anybody calling themselves a "techie" to discuss the daily news.
Sure, memes and one liners do not do well on Hacker News, but on the other hand, most "hackers" believe they are smarter and with better opinions than anybody else, which is often just a severe case of Dunning-Kruger. And the population of this site post Reddit fiasco is no different than Reddit anyway; how many Eternal Septembers have we gone through?
Your account has been created pre-COVID, so you must have witnessed that some topics should just be avoided for the sake of anybody's sanity, whether it's on HN or not.
In general, up/down vote systems just create echo chambers, not interesting and nuanced discussions.
I might be the stereotypical old man yelling at clouds, but I miss when this place was about startups, programming and Wozniak-tier hackers, not an Ars Technica with a Bay Area accent that attracts anybody calling themselves a "techie" to discuss the daily news.
I'm genuinely curious why anyone cares about this.
1) it's really weird. He's the richest man in the world, and he's spending his time by pretending to be good at video games? Humanly, it's just darkly fascinating.
2) an important part of his public persona is that he's supposed to be genuinely super smart and capable at everything. Many employees and other related figures have attested to him having preternatural abilities at rocket and car engineering.
If he is willing to make under the table payments and shamelessly pass off other people's work as his own for such an insignificant feat as being good at video games, what does that say about his involvement with actually important things? The parallel is very easy to draw.
2) an important part of his public persona is that he's supposed to be genuinely super smart and capable at everything. Many employees and other related figures have attested to him having preternatural abilities at rocket and car engineering.
If he is willing to make under the table payments and shamelessly pass off other people's work as his own for such an insignificant feat as being good at video games, what does that say about his involvement with actually important things? The parallel is very easy to draw.
> Many employees and other related figures have attested to him having preternatural abilities at rocket and car engineering.
Do you have examples of this? In the past, I've looked for accounts of people who've worked with Musk praising his technical (not product, not sales/marketing) skillset, and I have been unable to find any firsthand accounts. Such an account would somewhat change my assessment of Musk.
Do you have examples of this? In the past, I've looked for accounts of people who've worked with Musk praising his technical (not product, not sales/marketing) skillset, and I have been unable to find any firsthand accounts. Such an account would somewhat change my assessment of Musk.
The worst part is I don't even know video games at all but just assumed someone else was playing for him when I first heard this.
All I know about video games is people play them 24/7. It was completely obvious to me he wasn't going to invest his time in something so stupid.
The idea the world's richest man who is trying to amass political power could be this delusional is deeply disturbing.
All I know about video games is people play them 24/7. It was completely obvious to me he wasn't going to invest his time in something so stupid.
The idea the world's richest man who is trying to amass political power could be this delusional is deeply disturbing.
> Many employees and other related figures have attested to him having preternatural abilities at rocket and car engineering.
I mean, one assumes that this is in the same sense that Kim Jong Un happens to be the world’s leading expert on whatever the factory he happens to be visiting does.
I mean, one assumes that this is in the same sense that Kim Jong Un happens to be the world’s leading expert on whatever the factory he happens to be visiting does.
It provides insight to the most powerful unelected man in the world
Nobody cares for people like me, but the consequences of the actions of this guy may now impact life of millions. Questionning his sanity, ethics, sense of priorities is always a matter of public interest. I don't know if HN is the place for that though.
Sheer curiosity. Good engineers and other technical people are often curious about how things fail. Elon Musk serves as one of the more interesting case studies in "How long can he possibly keep this up?!" since the late Howard Hughes.
Hughes's downward spiral occurred before most of us were old enough to watch it happen, so Musk is our next best chance.
Hughes's downward spiral occurred before most of us were old enough to watch it happen, so Musk is our next best chance.
In Hughes's case, it was likely syphilis...
I wish no one cared about the narcissistic shit head, but sadly he is top of the news 366 days a year.
Trust me I'm trying to dodge watching anything Musk but it ain't easy. The man becoming Rasputin doesn't help.
Because it's a dumb thing to lie about. This guy is part of the U.S. government now, so it's important to know if he's lying to us. This is something relatively inconsequential, but if he lies about more important things, well, that's not something you want in a government official.
Also, I'm bad at video games, but I don't care about that because they're fun to play. When you get someone else to do it for you you're taking all the fun out of it. I learned when I was younger that cheating ruins the experience. So if you're all about winning, that shows a lot of naivety.
Also, I'm bad at video games, but I don't care about that because they're fun to play. When you get someone else to do it for you you're taking all the fun out of it. I learned when I was younger that cheating ruins the experience. So if you're all about winning, that shows a lot of naivety.
This is very important, but it would be nice to get ELON, and Emperor Kim Dong Kong, to play a few rounds of golf in Florida, you know to make sure the Emperor does not have too much advantage playing on his own course in Peonyang, welll that is if ELON has any time off from the ultra MMA circuit cage fights,beating up the other social media owners,
strait up all money to money, uh, moneo a moneo, ah, whatever right!
"Elon Musk admits cheating in video game where he claimed world-class skills" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42817995
> Shivon Zilis, who has worked with Mr. Musk at several of his companies and is known to be the mother of three of his children, posted a video last week of Mr. Musk playing Diablo. In the replies, she recounted a memory of when he gamed for 17 hours on Christmas Day in 2023.
> “He took breaks for family meals and Xmas presents but was too excited for sleep, which is how he made both time with the kiddos and a 17 hour AoZ push work that day,” she wrote, referring to a challenge in Diablo. “Was a joy to see him having so much fun with it!”