Elon Musk Brings a "Pragmatic Futurism" to Our Energy Challenges

Here’s a “TED Talk” recorded just last month featuring Elon Musk, the driving force behind PayPal, then Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and Solar City.  What a wild ride it is to listen to a guy who thinks at this level.  He really didn’t have a ready answer to the question: “How do you think in a way that is different from other people?  In other words, how do we train ourselves — and our children in their schools — to think as freely and creatively as you do?”  The best he could manage is that he thinks from the principles of physics and works his way up, rather than laterally, making small variations on what other people are already doing. 

I find it interesting that some of these arenas require far more creative thought than others.  I’m not sure I see that in PayPal (wasn’t someone going to become the standard in online payment systems?) – or in Tesla (isn’t a Ferrari-like electric vehicle a fairly obvious development?) – or even Solar City, as its business model has been in place for decades).  But SpaceX?  A re-usable rocket that will make humankind space-faring and multi-planetary?  Wow – that’s big.

Of course, the main thing that makes Musk’s thinking so important and compelling is that it’s aimed at the over-arching problems confronting our species.  As a child, he realized that we need to replace fossil fuels as the source for all our energy-related applications — including transportation — and simply moved from there to ask: If you accept that, what should you do?  

My hat’s off to you, sir.