The Perched Eye blog is 12+ years old, from 2009 with President Obama's election. Our focus has been eclectic ... the styles and directions of American politics and culture, with an occasional comment on the impact of new technologies. Our observations sometimes attract a critical eye, but the 'pen' remains unblunted.
The recent Elon Musk-Twitter ‘fiasco’ was expected by some who have noted Musk’s ‘Twitter-troubles’ and moved on, but to many MSM readers this latest MSM ‘reveal’ has been a titillating new flavor experience to those who are programmed to be fed the latest MSM uncovering on just about anything, but especially juicy-ness about public notables of whatever kind...as noted in the following article:
Twitter brings Elon Musk’s genius reputation crashing down to earth
Nevertheless, the ‘roilings’ from Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media giant, Twitter, has drawn attention from even investors and techie observors to ‘Musk the person’ behind ‘Musk the inventor’.
‘Elon Musk the inventor’ seems to mask something we did not fully expect, except for some who have worked with him. That revealed ‘something’ about Musk is enlightening, yet also a bit off-putting for a ‘businessman’ who has attracted the attention of the globe, and billions of investment from Wall Street and the American defense world… as is discussed below.
Musk’s Twitter ‘chapter’ reveals he is not a business Superman, but nevertheless he still stands out in ways that should retain Wall Street’s interest, and preserve Musk’s reputation for major innovative thinking (and influence.) Musk‘s technical talents are definitely special but his marketing of them is enhanced by public and investor perceptions and mystique…which have suffered by his erratic ‘leadership’ of Twitter.
That Musk is shown to be part perception-mystique shouldn’t alarm investors or the world at large. Musk can reliably be expected to keep generating new, innovative and world-shaping ideas, products and projects-with-spin-offs. But after Twitter’, the world sees there are border fences to the Musk ‘genius’… that Musk’s investor and staff ‘dependents’ should be aware of in order keep Musk within his skill areas…for the best interets of everyone.
Musk’s interaction with Twitter - with its internal clockworks, especially with Twitter’s human gears, etc — show he is not a people person. This is a serious gap for someone whose business pattern has been to exercise near-complete control over his projects.
That Musk is not a people-person is not a new ‘discovery’, but it hasn’t been significantly mentioned in the public media except as a somewhat amusing aspect of a recognized ‘genius’ (now seen more as a ‘savant’ with psychological overtones.)
After Twitter (and speaking as a layperson), Elon Musk seems a ‘Spectrum’ listee (DSM-5) — a tech innovator/savant overlaid with bi-polar, sociopathic ‘flavors’. (Disclaimer — this writer is not a professional mental health professional and reference is given of DSM-5 purely as background for serious reading.)
’Pre-Twitter’, the public tides generated by the newness of Musk floated his boat well above its waterline, i.e., Musk demonstrated a skill in cultivating a ‘mystique’ and using it to influence the public, the media and funding sources.
But the newness of Musk in the investor world seems to have worn off, as is historically natural, as investor needs for the ‘different’ has leaned to boredom. Musk’s Twitter flop has definitely led to investor shyness as witnessed by the resultant drop in Wall Street indices for Musk companies and projects as noted here:
Tesla gets downgraded on Wall Street over Elon Musk’s Twitter antics, banning of journalists.
But, Musk’s innovativeness is real and still stands, e.g., the ‘Tesla’ electric car and associated sub-industries (e.g., battery technology), Space-X and coming cyber products.
Musk appears to have one clear ‘flop area’, people skills — where, it seems that he has a ‘less-than’ average ability to communicte except by intimidation and non-verbal cues that are ‘understood’ by his longest and closest associates (and a few employees).
‘Elon Musk’ is no longer an enigma, it’s just that total awe of Musk has settled into seeing where he excels, and where he is just ordinary (and prone to flop just like any entrepreneur).
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