Going from PayPal, I thought: ‘Well, what are some of the other problems that are likely to most affect the future of humanity?’ Not from the perspective, ‘What’s the best way to make money?’
Don’t do this.
Also, I want to be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don’t buy one. Unless you like fun.
Buy an overpriced Boring Company fire extinguisher! You can definitely buy one for less elsewhere, but this one comes with a cool sticker.
[The Flamethrower] May not be used on Boring Company decorative lacquered hay bales or Boring Company dockside munitions warehouses.
Why is there no Flat Mars Society!?
Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.
My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180 million. I put $100 million in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.
You should take the approach that you’re wrong. Your goal is to be less wrong.
You get paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of problems you solve.
I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior. I’m just trying to think about the future and not be sad.
I take the position that I’m always to some degree wrong, and the aspiration is to be less wrong.
They were building a Ferrari for every launch, when it was possible that a Honda Accord might do the trick.
Constantly think about how you could be doing things better.
One of the biggest mistakes we made was trying to automate things that are super easy for a person to do, but super hard for a robot to do.
One of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask. Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy.
If you’re not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea.
I really like computer games, but then if I made really great computer games, how much effect would that have on the world.
When I was a little kid, I was really scared of the dark. But then I came to understand, dark just means the absence of photons in the visible wavelength – 400 to 700 nanometers. Then I thought, well, it’s really silly to be afraid of a lack of photons. Then I wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore after that.
When I was a child, there’s one thing I said: ‘I never want to be alone.’ That’s what I would say.
If you buy a ticket to hell, it isn’t fair to blame hell.