Beware of the "Elon Musk Cult": An Experiment in Manipulating Human Nature

This article is from Chain News, original title: "Beware of the Spread of the 'Musk Cult'", author: Luo Yihang.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on social media that Tesla would suspend Bitcoin payments due to concerns about the environmental impact of the increasing frequency of fossil fuel use in Bitcoin mining and transactions. On that day, the prices of all virtual currencies plummeted: Bitcoin fell over 5% in a day, the "Dogecoin" that Musk had driven up in price crashed by 15%, and Ethereum also suffered a significant drop.

Once a staunch supporter of virtual digital currencies, Musk had, within a year, driven the prices of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu (shib), among other "air coins," to soar with just a sentence, a word, or even an emoji on social media, making countless people rich in the process. However, with a gentle press of the Enter key, he instantly evaporated the wealth of many who believed in his guidance. His ability to give and take away wealth is entirely a matter of whim; his capriciousness is solely at his own discretion—this is something that should make every mentally sound adult in this world break into a cold sweat.

Musk increasingly resembles a "saint," with every action appearing to possess immense legitimacy and foresight for the future: Tesla and SolarCity are creating a cleaner, greener world, SpaceX harbors humanity's Mars colonization plans and space dreams, and Starlink connects everything without limits, while endorsing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even Dogecoin as part of a "decentralized" profound revolution… Even this suspension of Bitcoin payments for Tesla cars is framed as part of a "human project" for environmental protection—Musk has been promoting Bitcoin for over a year, and when he was using Bitcoin to boost Tesla's stock price, he may have forgotten that Bitcoin mining and transactions generate significant fossil fuel emissions. He has also been making electric cars and solar panels for over a decade, and perhaps he still doesn't realize that the production of photovoltaic cells also causes considerable pollution… Anyway, what he says, if you believe it, becomes reality.

It's time to peel off the mask of Musk's cult.

Musk has, through social media, single-handedly manipulated the value and prices of various virtual currencies, as well as Tesla's stock price. He has made many people rich overnight and then stripped away the assets of many others in a single night. He tweeted "dogge," and Dogecoin surged uncontrollably; he said, "We are looking for a Shiba Inu," and Shiba Inu coin skyrocketed. He has rendered the common knowledge that "air coins have no value" obsolete, making himself the master of the value of all virtual currencies, with a group of people rushing to follow his lead, caught up in a frenzy. Then, with a calm statement, he drives the prices of virtual currencies down, causing these people to suffer losses or even lose everything. Will he continue to drive up the prices of virtual currencies? Probably. Because what he wants has never been merely to satisfy the desire to profit from harvesting the naive. He is conducting an extreme experiment to see how far he can manipulate his followers and believers to follow him into danger, and to what extent he can dominate the wealth, joys, sorrows, and even lives of a significant number of people in this world.

This is a dangerous experiment, and it is a terrifying experiment.

Undoubtedly, virtual currencies are the easiest bait for manipulating this terrifying experiment. Unlike traditional fiat currencies issued by nation-states, virtual currencies, typically referred to as alternative digital currencies (cryptocurrencies), seem to possess "decentralized" attributes; they are not controlled by any one country or government, thus appearing to have a certain "revolutionary" quality. However, unlike the "general equivalent" property of traditional currencies, the attributes of alternative currencies are largely based on social constructs—its distribution and trading forms are more akin to the dissemination of information through social media accounts and interpersonal relationships. This leads to a problem: it is easy for individuals with super social network influence to manipulate the prices of alternative currencies. If I say you are valuable, then you are valuable; if I say you will rise, you must rise; if I say you will fall, you will inevitably fall.

Currently, the manipulator is Musk. He has exposed the mirage of "decentralization" in alternative digital currencies as being so easily dispersed. Under Musk's effortless manipulation, the money, joys, sorrows, and lives of a group of people are treated as K-line charts for speculation. After several rounds of ups and downs, most people will become deeply entrenched and believe even more in Musk's "greatness," "prophet," and omnipotence. In this way, alternative digital currencies have completely become highly centralized tools—not centralized by a country or organization, but centralized around the will of one person. It is difficult for a mentally sound person to believe that this is a manifestation of human societal progress—except for Musk's loyal followers.

Yes, there is already a large group of Musk's loyal followers in this world—though some may be self-serving opinion leaders in the crypto space, using Musk as a "flag of innovation" to exploit others, the vast majority are kind-hearted and innocent, filled with beautiful hopes and visions for the future of humanity, firmly believing that the revolution of science and technology will infinitely expand the boundaries of human dreams and imagination. However, placing their hopes on Musk is a ruthless mockery of their kindness and beautiful visions.

Musk has been draped in the cloak of "inventor" and "dreamer"—labels that have been popular for him over the past decade. It seems he has indeed done many shocking things for this world; after all, Tesla cars are the best-selling electric vehicles globally, SpaceX has successfully launched many reusable rockets, and Starlink sounds exciting. After all, Musk is not a fraud who makes money through PPT presentations.

However, this does not mean that Musk is truly someone who has invented many new things and pushed his dreams to the extreme. Musk did not found Tesla, just as he did not truly found PayPal; he is an investor in Tesla who later ousted the founder to become CEO and then proclaimed himself the actual founder of Tesla. Electric cars did exist in the world before Tesla. Before Tesla's cars achieved mass delivery, BYD had already accomplished the same thing on the other side of the Pacific.

Musk is also not the first person to launch reusable rockets into space. The SpaceX he founded is the first private company to launch rockets into space, but this is not enough to prove SpaceX and Musk's achievements in aerospace technology. After all, each of SpaceX's rocket launches resembles a large-scale public relations marketing event. If a rocket explodes, the slogans of "believe in the future" and "believe in dreams" will sweep social media; if the launch is successful, merely the words "didn't explode" can make Musk's fans ecstatic. As the self-proclaimed "Iron Man" and "Martian" inventor and dreamer, Musk has been declaring plans to land on Mars for over a decade, yet the rockets successfully launched by SpaceX have always remained too close to Earth's atmosphere and too far from Mars. Fairly speaking, SpaceX's actual contributions to human space endeavors cannot be compared to NASA, the China National Space Administration, or the Russian space agency, yet it has garnered more flowers and applause on social media. Similarly, while Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, another private company launching rockets and spacecraft, receives far less applause, it has also been launching rockets.

After all, "building rockets" is a placebo for those pretending to love innovation, and Musk is the pharmacist of this placebo.

Unlike the true inventor and innovator Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, who passed away ten years ago, Musk's "inventions" are a combination of rare insights and muddy fragments. Jobs never gazed at the stars, but he was the inventor of personal computers and true smartphones, as well as the creator of the business model where digital music and software are purchased and traded in a store-like manner. Jobs never spoke of things unrelated to himself; he spent almost all his time inventing the next generation of products; he was even less inclined to create a buzz on social media about anything unrelated to Apple, preferring to engage in self-dialogue, meditation, and spiritual cultivation. Jobs had no intention of becoming an opinion leader, yet he became an undisputed opinion leader—this is the fundamental difference between him and Musk.

Musk's status as an opinion leader is something he has tirelessly pursued for many years. His rise to fame as "Iron Man" occurred in 2012. The death of Jobs at the end of 2011 created a "vacuum of idols" in Silicon Valley, which Musk filled overnight; this is hard not to be seen as the result of carefully orchestrated public opinion. As an ordinary programmer, Musk did not genuinely participate in the research and development of Tesla's batteries or the design of its body, nor did he have much substantial involvement in aerospace technology. The time he spends on social media and celebrity variety shows promoting himself is not much less than that of Trump, who lost the presidential election six months ago.

There is a common human tendency—people often emphasize qualities they actually lack while trying to conceal what they are most concerned about. From Tesla in the U.S. to Musk himself to Tesla's executives in China, they love to claim they are truly focused on the product and do not wish to engage in marketing. This actually provides a good perspective for observing what Musk and Tesla truly care about. After all, when the "Antennagate" incident occurred with the iPhone 4, despite Jobs insisting, "That's because you're holding it wrong," he quickly held a brief press conference to address the bug and immediately fixed the related issues. In contrast, Tesla has been obsessed with the notion that Model 3 global owners are "pressing the brake wrong," but has never attempted to make repairs or adjustments to the product, as this is not what it cares about.

Tesla will not apologize because it cannot apologize. Tesla cannot apologize because Musk cannot make mistakes. Musk cannot make mistakes because gods do not err.

For the past ten years, everything Musk has done has followed this path. Every action he takes seems to possess undeniable legitimacy and a sense of futurism; every idea he advocates appears to be filled with elements of innovation and dreams; every public appearance and performance he makes strives to prove he is a geek, a revolutionary dedicated to breaking all shackles. However, he is a speculator, an ambitious individual packaging manipulation of human nature and the minds of his followers as a dangerous game of innovation and dreams, a usurper cloaked in the guise of a 1960s American West Coast hippie.

When Bitcoin is linked to the payment method for purchasing a Tesla, and when Dogecoin is tied to the crowdfunding for SpaceX's Mars landing, many people will find it too cool, will be moved to tears, and will go crazy for it. However, Musk can casually dismiss the Bitcoin payment for Tesla with a stroke of his pen. The idea of using Dogecoin as the "cosmic currency" for the Mars expedition is even more of a game of whim. But Bitcoin rises and falls, Dogecoin rises and falls, and the game of manipulating human nature and crowd behavior has succeeded, all in the name of innovation and dreams. Those who see Musk as a prophet rather than an ambitious individual, those who view alternative digital currencies as tools for liberating humanity rather than equivalents to gold, and those who regard Tesla cars as sacred objects rather than mere transportation tools have all been captured by Musk.

Musk's actions today tell us that an individual with the characteristics of a "cult" leader can be packaged in the name of technology, innovation, and dreams, and many well-educated individuals who possess advanced scientific knowledge and are in advantageous positions in the distribution of social wealth cannot resist this "temptation"—in fact, intellectuals, businessmen, and scientists lacking faith have historically been highly susceptible to groups and individuals with "cult" attributes.

In China, we have even more reason to be vigilant against and curb the spread of the "Musk Cult."

Undoubtedly, Musk has already garnered a considerable number of "followers" in China—this even forms the basic support of Tesla's fan base in China. The degree to which Tesla has become "fan culture" in China is directly projected from Musk as an "idol." However, when an idol becomes a cult, things change.

If the "Musk Cult" spreads, the bizarre theory of "why can't China produce a Musk" will become rampant, the assertion that "Musk should teach Chinese entrepreneurs" will gain traction, and rumors that "Chinese new energy vehicles are besieging Tesla to drive it out of China" will circulate widely. Frankly speaking, China may indeed need a Jobs, but it does not need a Musk. China has too many people trying to become Musk, but their skills do not match Musk's "brilliance." Chinese entrepreneurs do not need Musk as a mentor; given Tesla's personnel turnover and internal governance issues, it is not worth emulating on any level. In China, no Chinese new energy vehicle company is deliberately trying to push Tesla out; Tesla's issues in China are merely an extension of its global problems, not new problems arising because of China. The re-emergence of rumors similar to "Baidu drove Google away ten years ago" in relation to Tesla carries profound implications.

Of course, China will not accept a "god" who is keen on manipulating the value and popularity of alternative digital currencies to hijack people's attention and faith, whether he is Musk or someone else.