Elon Musk

Elon Musk at a conferenceImages, Getty. Elon Musk. 

I have had a plethora of talks with my grandfather before about the future of humanity and all of these ideas. Funnily enough, my family thinks he's off put on the guy standing next to him. I simply think that he has too much time on his hands to actively do stuff. But over my Christmas break, we had gotten him a book. A book simply entitled “Elon Musk”. During the usual Sunday phone call, he had praised how he had seen Elon Musk as one of his heroes who was at the forefront of humanity, doing all of this wicked technology breakthroughs. I often call him out with discretion on the fact that not everything today is technology and science. Though as I am writing this paper, he is right, Elon Musk can be truly seen as a hero. Although I may be delving into the humanities. I must acknowledge that Elon Musk is truly a hero in the sciences and me more than respect him for that to the point where I can somewhat call him “my hero” in regards to science and technology. I can confidently say this for he is astute, supportive of the future, and has a sense of humor.

To say that Elon Musk is rather smart would be doing a disservice to him. He is possibly one the smartest men in the world. To name perhaps one of his greatest successes as an inventor is that he is the chief engineer of SpaceX, the space company earlier mentioned. To be the chief engineer and founder of the company that is changing space travel surely signifies him as a man who clearly knows what and why he is doing what he does. It is this intelligence and prowess in the field of science that makes him a hero in my eyes. Somebody who is good at something can be seen as a hero in our lives. Somebody who can ignite the spark of change for good and the betterment of humanity can also be seen as a hero. It is these two abilities that are transparent in Elon Musk that truly make him a hero to me.

Perhaps one of my most favorite genres in the video games, movies, and books that I consume is science fiction. I always find myself in discord whenever I step out of the realm of the science fiction that I often delve into and back into the world that I inhabit. But when I hear the words “Elon Musk” now, I think of the future simply because he is an entrepreneur of that future himself. Cars that solely rely on electric power, albeit not flying like the ones in Bladerunner, it most certainly is a start towards something much greater than the current gas powered cars. The company that manufactures and designs these electric cars is Tesla Motors Incorporated which is owned by Elon Musk himself. His ownership of this car makes him a hero in my eyes for he has brought something new, something amazing. It is this new take on our technology that makes him stand out a hero. Somebody who looks at something and says “This is flawed, it needs to be better.” Then, they actually do make something better, a key component of change for good. Igniting the spark that would make the fire of change for the better soar into grand flames whose warmth would draw many and allure, even more, to do good for our world and technology.

Another example of one of his greatest contributions towards science and igniting the spark of hope is his company, SpaceX. SpaceX is responsible for developing advanced rocketry that enters the Earth’s orbit and perhaps in the near future, towards Mars. One of the greatest problems of space technology and rocketry is the cost. It is so expensive that before, rocket programs were state sponsored by the powers of the world during the Cold War era, Russia and the United States. Elon Musk, however,  has overcome the financial barrier and has developed efficient rockets that are clearly capable of entering Earth’s orbit. Though instead of paying enormous sums of money (still is regardless) he has actually lowered the cost of orbital space travel by 13,000 percent. The rocket is not the only thing igniting either. Elon Musk has ignited the spark of space travel. The spark of hope that first kindles the fire of change.

   His dedication towards the improvement of technologies that are in our everyday lives is unbound. It is often said that great men forge their opportunities rather than wait for them to come. It is clear that Elon Musk has forged the new opportunities for himself with his entrepreneurship and creation of these various companies that progress the technology that we see in our everyday lives. These means of bringing about change to the technology that we interact with on the road and in space has certainly made him a hero for me.

Elon Musk is the hero that we need, for his ingenuity and support for the future brings optimism and hope to a world where it is in dire need. A hero that looks towards the stars and sees hope yet, at the same time, he looks towards the Earth and sees that same exact thing. Such is an admirable trait of Elon Musk. I see it in so few people, that faint glimmer of hope burning inside of them. The faint glimmer of hope setting aside the heroes from the common, the people whose spark of hope has died. His support for the future is the largest part that defines him as a hero. It is a quality that humanity so desperately needs, simply support and hope for the future.

Though at the end of the day we all are still humans and we can't be machines. We need our-- human aspects in our lives, aspects that make us… Us. Elon Musk is no exception to this and he certainly shows it with his various kinds of jokes that are actually in nature of the companies he has founded and worked with. One such example of his joke is rather “puny” if you were to ask me. The company he had founded was the Boring Company which is a play on the words' double meaning. One of them meaning amusing and not engaging whereas the other meaning is to dig the earth and make a hole in it. This play on words is funny in its own way. The Boring company is aiming to produce massive underground tunnel networks that allow for quick and easy transportation from point A to point B at speeds at two-hundred kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour). If that was not enough for some comedic antics, the company had also sold hats that read “The Boring Company” and they had sold out. The page which had sold hats now has the song “Non, Je ne regrette rien” (No, I regret nothing) which is a subtle nod from both the company and Elon Musk about how peculiar yet funny the whole entire hat ordeal was. Though this was not the only case of the antics that he has done. Another such example of his antics was his one time that he had wished to send a midnight cherry Tesla on one of his Falcon rockets to Mars, all the while playing “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. This is frankly the epitome of antics from humankind that are hilarious in their absolute random nature. All of these antics make us laugh, enjoy each other, and really ease the mood most of the time. While Elon Musk had ignited the fires of change with his spark of hope, it is ultimately his sense of humor which keeps people around. It's this sense of humor that makes him a living, breathing human who is just like us (except smarter). I often find people who I look up to relatable in some way shape or form. Elon Musk is certainly relatable with his jokes, even if they’ re out of this world (metaphorically and literally).

With all of these, I can see why my grandfather sees Elon Musk as a hero. Heroes are people that we look up to in our everyday lives and Elon Musk is mine since he is astute, supportive of the future, and has a sense of humor. Though my grandfather may certainly have different reasons as to why he sees Elon Musk as his hero. At the end of the day, we all have our heroes for various different reasons for they reflect most often what we wish to see in people of our society.

Works Cited

“Hat.” The Boring Company, www.boringcompany.com/hat/.

Musk, Elon. “Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.” Twitter, Twitter, 2 Dec. 2017,

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript1292.html.

Mars., Its destination? “Elon Musk will send his Tesla Roadster to Mars on a giant rocket.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network,

money.cnn.com/2017/12/02/technology/elon-musk-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/index.html.

YouTube, YouTube, 28 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXrlRhYriN0.

O'Kane, Sean. “Elon Musk shows off the Tesla Roadster that SpaceX will send beyond Mars.” The Verge, The Verge, 22 Dec. 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/12/22/16811944/elon-musk-spacex-tesla-roadster-mars-falcon-heavy.