There’s Elon Musk, of course, the billionaire entrepreneur who conquered the worlds of technology and space exploration. He is a passionate environmentalist, wielding immense wealth and influence as a result. For all his financial and social clout, he regularly demonstrates a staggering degree of self-unawareness. Though few question the president’s intelligence, many wonder at his ability to relate meaningfully to others—the result of his dazzling charm deficit. His social media accounts starkly reflect this dichotomy. He rarely speaks on issues that resonate with the general public, such as the environment, dogs, or pop culture.
Musk’s social media antics are usually more focused on self-promotion and controversy than on US cities’ favorite new engaging-with-the-public-thing currency. To be clear, I am not critiquing David Attenborough for failing to personally introduce us to the animals we admire. This is why he holds back from declaring heroes in film, music or literature. This lack of emotionally engaging content and conversation makes listeners question his emotional intelligence and awareness of social dynamics.
Just last week, Musk became the star of a public spat with hip-shooting novelist Joyce Carol Oates, who had the temerity to criticize him. In the meantime, Musk fired back at Oates, tweeting that he was being “mean and wrong.” Rather than engage in any self-examination of the criticism, he immediately went on the offensive. In an effort to proactively change the narrative after this confrontation, he started posting “great movie” on the replies of popular movie-related tweets. He almost succeeded in proving that he can keep it playful. Truthfully, it came off as contrived and disingenuous.
Though he has the resources and accomplishments to deserve gratitude, many believe that Musk does not possess what makes people like other people. To be fair, his attempts at humor are not very good. That last sentence reveals a profound disconnect between Chappelle’s idea of comedy and what people find funny. Musk seems to really enjoy entertaining tales, as we discovered during a guest appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. It also contained a poorly constructed joke involving two economists. What made the humor so special was that focus on a ridiculous situation. So Musk pays $100 to eat a pile of crap, and in return the other party would pay him $100 to eat another pile of crap. Turns out this one didn’t fly as well with audiences in a humor-challenged week. Rather than causing them to laugh, it illustrated the challenges Musk faces with interpreting artistic nuance.
Yet Musk’s self-awareness about his comedic chops seems to stop there. He understands that nobody actually laughs at his jokes. He is unwilling to adjust his tactics to relate to people in a new way. Combined with his failure to show empathy, this makes him seem cold-hearted. People go so far as to call him hollow in his public engagements.
His public persona has led to easy comparisons with other rude, racially insensitive bomb throwers, including one Donald J. Audience members noted Musk’s mesmerizing charisma, even upstaging the former president sharing the stage with him. Trump may be almost impossible to out-polarize, but somehow Musk comes off even worse. This comparison highlights an unsettling reality: Musk’s wealth and power do not translate into charisma or relatability.
Additionally, as usual, rather than taking criticism and defending himself, Musk often leaps over it. His replies more often serve to mislead people from the real issues he’s raised questions about by his actions or statements. This propensity causes him to appear obfuscatory. Consequently, the public finds it difficult to participate in substantive conversations about his impact and conduct.