A Young Elon Musk Discovered A Critical Business Insight In This Sci-Fi Classic
It didn't help.
"We happened to have some books by [Friedrich] Nietzsche and [Arthur] Schopenhauer in the house, which you should not read at age 14," Musk told Fresh Dialogues. "It is bad; it's really negative."
Then he came upon "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the interstellar romp by Douglas Adams.
It changed his whole perspective.
"['Hitchhiker's Guide' is] quite positive I think," he said, and "it highlighted an important point, which is that a lot of times the question is harder than the answer."
Amazon
How long did the calculations take?
Just 7.5 million years.
And the answer, after all that waiting?
The number 42.
An unsatisfying answer, but one that's illuminating in its own way.
The computer - which can talk - admitted that "the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
The lesson stuck with Musk.
"If you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part," he explained. "So, to the degree that we can better understand the universe, then we can better know what questions to ask."
So if you ever have a meeting with Musk, don't just come with answers. Bring questions.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- FSSAI in process of collecting pan-India samples of Nestle's Cerelac baby cereals: CEO
- Indian economy remains in bright spot: Ministry of Finance
- A surprise visit: Tesla CEO Elon Musk heads to China after deferring India visit
- Unemployment among Indian youth is high, but it is transient: RBI MPC member
- Private Equity Investments
- Having an regional accent can be bad for your interviews, especially an Indian one: study
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market