It goes without saying that the man has changed the world for the better. He’s reinvigorated the American space program. He popularized electric cars. His solar panels cover the roofs of countless homes, his batteries save electricity for emergencies, taking pressure off overwhelmed grids, his satellites supply wireless internet where it’s desperately needed. And this is to say nothing of the payments company which has processed billions of payments.
Yet these days the reputation of Elon Musk is not what it once was. The brilliant and disruptive entrepreneur has, in a relatively short span, managed to upset not only many of his supporters (and fanboys) but also upset many of the people who were excited about his acquisition of Twitter. He’s gotten into petty fights, insulted disabled employees, spread misinformation and propaganda, he’s attacked journalists, gave preposterously bad takes on current events, weighed in on people’s private medical decisions, and like a lot of people, been sucked into the culture wars.
Marcus Aurelius, as a leader, understood that the more opinions one has, the more likely they are to cause unnecessary conflict at home or in the world. Having strong opinions about how your children should live their lives, weighing in on every piece of gossip or news (especially before these matters are settled), publicly airing your disagreements with employees or subordinates–this is a recipe for misery. And also chaos. And also exhaustion.
This isn’t to say that a Stoic has no opinions–that’s not only impossible but also far too disengaged for an active participant in the world. It’s that the Stoic ignores what doesn’t matter, what is largely outside their control, so they can focus solely on what does matter, where they can have impact, what their unique talents and resources suit them for.
