13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

The book I read was “Elon Musk” by Ashlee Vance. This book focuses on the world renowned entrepreneur of our time. What had surprised me the most about Elon was his ability to remember 2 encyclopedias using his photographic memory as a child. What I most admired about the Tesla founder was his overall goal when pursuing anything in life. Musk’s overall goal is to save humanity and preserve the life of mankind. What I least admired was how the company Tesla is known for making consistent negative profit every year, needing government funds to stay afloat. When Elon was a child he faced problems both at home and at school. While his parents had a toxic relationship which would affect him emotionally, he would be bullied by his peers at school. His solution was to turn to reading and that is what helped grow the great mind we know today.

            Elon Musk has a competency to always strive for progress. Progress in technology, culture, and the way people interact with each other. He also is quoted to say that success is only possible through determination, which he shows example of through his first company Zip2, which he later sold for over 300 million.

A part of the book that was confusing to me was how his company “The Boring Company” ties into his goal of saving humanity. While I know he explained that it was for creating things for the hell of it, it does take time away from more important projects, of which he always needs more time for.
           
            If I could ask Elon Musk two questions, I would first ask him if he believes extraterrestrial life exists since he has a lot of focus on space travel and finding new planets for mankind to continue evolving. The second question would pertain to South Africa. Since Musk had left his home country at a young age to avoid military service I am curious about whether he would one day want to return and live again in South Africa, or what circumstances there would make him want to. This question is because apartheid ended in 1994 and it is the reason Musk did not wish to serve for the country.

            Elon Musk is the epitome of hard word. He believes that success is accomplished through determination and continually making progress. Being a person who believes in always moving forward and not hanging on to the past, I agree with Musk’s belief that society cannot thrive if progress cannot be made.

Comments

  1. Jeremy AguayoOctober 13, 2019 at 11:04 PM

    Hi Carlos,

    I also chose to read about Elon Musk for my first reading assignment. It is amazing that his Tesla brand is so popular, yet he is consistently losing money every quarter. However, it’s not due to the cars not being in demand. Maybe if he were to delegate some of his duties to others or even focus only on one project, Tesla or Space X, then possibly one of them would begin to progress much quicker.


    https://jeremyaguayo.blogspot.com/

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