No, I rather like the fact my kids all have the same father, and all in wedlock, too.
Having lots of kids with different women is very common, especially in the lower classes, and not much of an achievement.
My dad has lots of half-siblings from three different mothers in total, and accordingly grew up without a father, and I very much did not want that for my own kids. Not even if it carried wealth and fame. I think you'll find if you ever have your own kids, two present parents cannot be wholly replaced with money.
Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.
Even among farm animals, it's the alpha that gets to impregnate most females. Other males probably just choose to watch. Human animals uses words like farm animals to justify their obvious failure to reproduce with a multitude of females.
if you want to measure success by how genetically varied your offspring is, go for it man. just a pretty fringe view. to most people, it's just extremely comical to use in this context.
No. You can measure it through various lenses. This being one. Ideally you want to maximize the measurement across various lenses.
The only reason people find it funny is because most people can't afford to have kids with multiple women. Financially and time management wise. And probably the bar for women to have kids with someone who already have kids with many other women is also high. So by default 99.999 % of the men can't do this not because they choose not to. But they can't even if they want to.
So to protect you from this obvious failure psychologically, the body triggers a funny, absurd reaction when someone points it as a win musk has children with multiple women. It's okay.
Strangely his children are all white. The continent of Africa has more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined. Seems like he's not picking the mothers very well if he's maximising "genetic diversity" of his offspring.
I imagine you would also applaud fertility doctors who fraudulently use their own sperm and end up with 100+ children? Maybe they're winning at making a genetic impact, but it doesn't seem very admirable to me.
Having all the facts about Musk clearly available now, the people who he got rich with, is clear evidence we perhaps chose to not see, or didn't yet see, the edgelord he always was.
Anecdotally, the number of Telsas that have popped up in my deep red state is astounding. My own brother bought a Tesla Y a few months ago, then my father bought one just this month. I go to the gym and can pretty reliably count 15+ Teslas in the parking lot. I see cybertrucks almost daily now, whereas a year ago, I had never seen one in person. I am also planning on buying a Tesla next year, after I get my solar system up and going. We republicans may not do these things because we're worried about global warming or climate change, but I can tell you we certainly care about air quality and cool technology, at least where I'm from.
> We republicans may not do these things because we're worried about global warming or climate change (…)
Hilarious every way I turn it. The consequences of global warming are ever more clear, but for the time being cooler cars prevail. I’m not trying to moralize here, just pointing out that the reasoning here is very funny. If I ever catch you recycling plastic I’ll be sure it’s only because it involves cool technology.
I can't speak for all republicans, because we are a diverse group. But if you care to understand why I am not bending backwards at every turn to try and fix global warming, it's very simple. I believe God created this world for His children, and that He will return to it in due time. That's it. I understand that may appear as though I don't care, but that's not true. I certainly don't go out of my way to pollute the earth. I always leave a campsite cleaner than when I found it, etc... this rhetoric that Republicans only care about number one couldn't be further from the truth though.
To judge one's actions is to judge one's beliefs, because beliefs drive action. I go to the gym because I believe it'll make me healthier. I eat beef because I believe it to be one of the most beneficial foods on the planet. I teach my kids to think critically, because I believe it will serve them well in life. I act in accordance with my beliefs, and you act in accordance with yours. Actions are dictated by beliefs.
> I believe God created this world for His children, and that He will return to it in due time. That's it.
Taking your beliefs as stated here at face value, I don't see how that would be relevant either way: you clearly live in a world where evil deeds are physically possible, where your god (for whatever reason, free will or otherwise) does not intervene to prevent it. Pollution just seems like another one of those things — a death by a thousand cuts, where (if you will excuse the mixed metaphor) you can't tell which straw broke the camel's back.
Fair enough. I think the difference is that any issue that falls into the "save humanity" category, such as colonizing other planets, or saving the earth from global warming, do not feel urgent for me, because of my perspective. For the Earth to be uninhabitable due to global warming would mean that it could no longer serve its intended purpose, and thus God would wrap things up before that point in time. Now it's perfectly fair to ask "What if you're wrong?" I don't believe I am, but I am willing to do my best to take care of the Earth the best I can. It is after all God's beautiful creation, under our stewardship. But I have to balance that with many other things that may be more important. For example, having a strong economy with the help of fossil fuel, so that families can support having children, etc...
People ditching Teslas because they don't like Elon is political though. If you want to nut-pick between the two sides, we are going to be here a long time.
No they want big trucks modded to blow extra smoke so they can own the libs.
People on twitter told Elon he was nuts the very first time he started toying with conservative ideas. Just jam that whole hand in your mouth and bite the wrist that feeds you. Great idea bud. He’s a fucking idiot for having not listened. Which any of his dozen children also could have told you.
It's pretty amazing how much they really like Elon (enough to put him on a billboard with Trump) but they'll still shit talk EVs and solar power with abandon.
It's really not. You don't have to like everything someone does to support them or accept their support. Purity tests are toxic, and it is a large problem on the left side of the aisle.
it's amazing/funny (not surprising) because it demonstrates that they are more interested in culture wars than science or technology, which i think is embarrassing for them
Isn't it the opposite? If they had flipped their views of electric cars based on the politics of who made them that would demonstrate they were more interested in culture wars than science or technology, but they didn't: their views on the merits of EVs remained the same.
The article on the other hand is about that exact inversion happening in (parts of) Hollywood, showing that they care more about Elon's tweets than the environment. This indicates they care more about culture wars than science and technology.
no, it's not the opposite. they should have flipped their views to be in line with reality. they are celebrating the culture war while ignoring science.
the people in the article likely care more about elon's tweets and the environment than they do about buying tesla cars. i suspect they will prefer other electric vehicles.
I tend to agree, however I'm going to reserve opinion for 3-4 years because I think there's a risk to this opinion aging badly as aggressive cost cutting continues, and electric vehicle usage expands beyond fairly left leaning people to the general populace. The chance of a surprise bounce back and expansion of sales as prices go down to areas where competitors are deeply unprofitable but tesla can still be profitable combined with a significant minority (if not an actual majority) of the populace agreeing with many of the things he has said that tesla's current quite far left customers find so detestable may lead to a surprise here.
Many of these cars don't pass western safety standards and can never be sold in Europe.
There are some that are Tesla competitors, but it is widely believed (there is not enough evidence to show conclusively) that none of the Chinese manufacturers make money on selling EVs.
The situation is similar to that of Rivian or VW. The Rivian is a spectacular car but it is expensive to make that Rivian loses 10s of thousands everytime they sell a car. VW is also losing money on every EV they sell. If you buy one you're getting a good deal, but edging the company closer to bankruptcy at the same time. Buy the car avoid the stock.
BYD refuses to give financials on their pure EV profit numbers. They sell a ton of hybrids and ICE cars and eek out a very small profit. Anyone who pays attention to the space must ask themselves why they don't boast about their pure EV margins? It's likely because they are losing money.
Tesla on the other hand has positive gross margins on their cars and have since the day they started selling the Model S. That is the reason why the stock value is so high, because Tesla is the most efficient EV maker on earth by a significant margin. They can lower prices further than any competition and remain profitable.
Chinese EVs are not concepts or prototypes. they're in mass production already.
outside of China, yes, they're probably a rare sight. in Chinese cities however, from what I saw, a double digit percentage of cars are their EVs - which is a lot of cars in a country with 1.5 billion people.
don't take my word for it, there are probably plenty of videos on youtube that show and discuss Chinese city roads.
I can testify that Chinese EVs are starting to pop up in Europe. Not a lot, but if you do a lot of driving, you can spot one or two a day.
Given their price and performance, I think we'll be seeing more of them in the future. The two downsides (that I was told of) are build quality (at the same level as tesla) and obsession with large screens (same as tesla).
Somewhat impeded by weak dealer networks, and dubious marketing (for a couple of years, ORA was trying to sell something called a Funky Cat, though they’ve recently rebranded it as something more boring) but they’re a thing.
Until it reaches the most important and greatest market in the world (Midwest US) it's hard to take these cars seriously. The variety and diversity of terrain is the real test of a car's longevity - until then, they are simply toys.
I took a few DiDi rides in China when I was there December last year, and most of the black car drivers used BYD electric cars that were really nice. I met some new friends at a wedding there and they showed me their car which had voice controlled windows that worked really well, it was a party trick for sure but cool. I came home wanting a BYD car and then I was sad to find them unavailable in the US.
My Tesla Model Y is the best thing I've ever bought. There's nothing else close on the market. The other options are really poor. Most other EVs are ugly, clunky and lame, have poor driver assistance features, charge slowly, or have other major drawbacks.
I know many people who have Tesla vehicles and think they are excellent products. However, Elon Musk's descent into mean, angry, offensive, lazy, factually incorrect and incoherent right-wing idiocy has made every one of us uncomfortable with continuing to support the company. Most of us are actively considering other, worse brands for our next car. Many people I know or have talked to won't even consider a Tesla now.
It's also no longer exciting to talk about the company or the products. It used to be exciting to talk about the future, electrification, technology. Now it's all mired in the muck of angry MAGA politics.
It's a real problem. I think Elon Musk is (was?) probably the best entrepreneur and businessperson since Steve Jobs, and his reputation has been permanently stained by his actions in the past couple years.
Unfortunately, I think the same brain thing - stubbornness, singlemindedness, grit - that made him able to build unusually incredible companies like Tesla and SpaceX are going to cause him to continue doubling down on his current self-destructive path.
Dumping what you find to be the best vehicle for your needs / technical enjoyment based on either a personality in the company, the fear of other’s impression of you for driving it, or both.
Buying an expensive product from company headed by a tyrannical loonie throws long-term support into question. Will a software update brick my car on the highway? Will the company try to shove self-driving “functionality” down my throat? Will Musk remotely disable my car because I said something mean about him on Twitter? How much competent staff is Tesla retaining these days?
I tend to not give a flip about personalities of people behind things. If you make the best widget and I need a widget, you do you and I’ll get to widgeting. Practical outcomes are the priority.
Yes, but this is wider trend. EV sales are flat to down last quarter. This is pretty much exclusively due to sales of Teslas slumping. All pretty much all of the other EV manufacturers have sold record volume.
See the Notes For Editors section: "The market decline is affecting many brands, including and beyond ACEA members, across the board (ACEA August car registration data)"
All other EV manufacturers have short records compared to Tesla. I also think Tesla is suffering from its own success. People are getting tired of the same designs and want to try something different. If not for extensive government BS, almost nobody would be buying EVs at all because they are impractical for most consumers.
That might depend on what you value. I recently learned what it takes to open the door of a Tesla, in the case you crash and the doors lose power. Obviously there's an emergency door opener, but I wouldn't trust that my kid could find and use that on their own. That alone would keep me from buying a Tesla.
For me, Teslas have a number of what I consider design flaws, but which are sold as features.
> but I wouldn't trust that my kid could find and use that on their own
I’m not sure how old your kid is, but you’re making something that is very simple in reality into something that is very complicated in your mind.
It’s a lever. People who don’t know to press the button pull it up all the time. It’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I will also add that “kid-proof catastrophic car crash back up door opening options” rarely rate high on make or break features for cars.
If anyone takes this concern seriously, I strongly recommend you take a test drive and check it out for yourself. There is a ton of FUD around teslas that largely seems to be spread by folks who have little or no actual experience with them.
I own a model y. It’s not perfect, but the imperfections are rarely the ones you read about on HN.
In the backseat of the model Y it's a wire, hidden in the door compartment under a mat and a piece of plastic you need to pick up with your fingernails.
I think there are plenty of other competent alternatives on the market now that match the price points of Teslas. Their supercharger network with free or cheap access was their main competitive advantage. I don’t think it’s as relevant now for a purchasing decision.
I mostly agree. Tesla cars have been surpassed quality-wise for quite some time now by the established manufacturers from Europe and Asia. But Tesla's charger network is still a boon. Charging on the road is really a hassle with all the different networks trying to lock you in. In Europe AFIR [1] is going to change that, but it is going to take some time.
Maybe Elon is infiltrating the Republican party to further his long term goal of saving the world from climate change. Fortunately he's not eligible to run for President.
> further his long term goal of saving the world from climate change
Elon doesn’t give a shit about climate change. If he did, he wouldn’t be such an egregious polluter and opponent of public transit. Cards Against Humanity just sued him for what he did to their preserved land.
And if they got in the news for their connection to Tesla, they'd also be relevant.
Musk's greatest strength is his biggest weakness: being a showman who grabs most of the limelight was critical to getting enough people, buyers and investors, interested in electric cars before the charger network was there; now all that is working against him (and all his companies), especially in the absence of a dedicated PR team.
I am the last person who would defend Elon or Tesla. They have enough sycophants in this thread alone.
But when you are an employee, especially in current market conditions, you may be subject to working for companies you personally despise. I know I have.
Regular people have rent to pay and mouths to feed, they may not have the luxury of damaging their own well being to defy the retarded billionaire in charge.
Elon’s sacrifice and protection of free speech on the internet has motivated me to support him financially, not only by paying for x.com’s premium+ but I am currently waiting for the CyberTruck to become available in Europe. I admire Elon a lot, not just for purchasing Twitter, not just as business man, but for what he has achieved with SpaceX: successful where long time aeronautical companies like Boeing have failed.
