Vollständiges Transkript: Joe Rogan Erfahrung #1169 - Elon Musk

Joe Rogan Erfahrung #1169 - Elon Musk

: Ah, ha, ha, ha. Vier, drei, zwei, eins, bumm. Ich danke dir. Danke, dass du das machst, Mann. Ich weiß es wirklich zu schätzen.

: You’re welcome.

: It’s very good to meet you.

: Ich freue mich auch, Sie kennenzulernen.

: Und danke, dass Sie diesen Ort nicht in Brand gesetzt haben.

: You’re welcome. That’s coming later.

: How does one, just in the middle of doing all the things you do, create cars, rockets, all the stuff you’re doing, constantly innovating, decide to just make a flamethrower? Where do you have the time for that?

: Well, the flame, we didn’t put a lot of time into the flamethrower. This was an off-the-cuff thing. It’s sort of a hobby company called the Boring Company, which started out as a joke, and we decided to make a real, and dig a tunnel under LA. And then, other people asked us to dig tunnels. And so, we said yes in a few cases.

: Also, wer...

: And then, we have a merchandise section that only has one piece of merchandise at a time. And we started off with a cap. And there was only one thing on, which is BoringCompany.com/hat. That’s it. And then, we sold the hats, limited edition. It just said, “The Boring Company.”

: And then, I’m a big fan of Spaceballs, the movie. And in Spaceballs, Yogurt goes through the merchandising section, and they have a flamethrower in the merchandising section of Spaceballs. And, like, the kids love that one. That’s the line when he pulls up the flamethrower. It’s like, “We should do a flamethrower.” So, we-

: Does anybody tell you no? Does anybody go, “Elon, maybe for yourself, but selling a flamethrower, the liabilities, all the people you’re selling this device to, what kind of unhinged people are going to be buying a flamethrower in the first place? Do we really want to connect ourselves to all these potential arsonists?

: Yeah, it’s a terrible idea. It’s terrible. Don’t buy one. I said, “Don’t buy this flamethrower. Don’t buy it. Don’t buy it.” That’s what I said, but, still, people bought it.

: Ja, ja.

: There’s nothing I can do to stop them. I did not stop them.

: Wenn Sie es bauen, werden sie kommen.

: I said, “Don’t buy it. It’s a bad idea.”

: Wie viele hast du gemacht?

: It’s dangerous. It’s wrong. Don’t buy it. And, still, people bought it. I just couldn’t stop them.

: Wie viele hast du gemacht?

: 20,000.

: And they’re all gone?

: In drei - ich glaube, vier Tagen. Sie waren in vier Tagen ausverkauft.

: Werden Sie einen weiteren Lauf machen?

: Nein.

: No, that’s it?

: Ja.

: Oh, ich verstehe.

: I said we’re doing 20. We did 50,000. 50,000 hats, and that was a million dollars. I thought, “Okay. Well, we’ll sell something for 10 million,” and that was 20,000 flamethrowers at $500 each. They went fast.

: Yeah. How do you have the time? How do you have the time to do that though? I mean, I understand that it’s not a big deal in terms of all the other things you do, but how do you have time to do anything? I just — I don’t understand your time management skills.

: I mean, I didn’t spend much time on this flamethrower. I mean, to be totally frank, it’s actually just a roofing torch with an air rifle cover. It’s not a real flamethrower.

: Which is why it says, “Not a flamethrower.”

: That’s why we were very clear, this is not actually a flamethrower. And, also, we are told that various countries would ban shipping of it, that they would ban flamethrowers. So, we’re very — To solve this problem for all of the customs agencies, we labeled it, “Not a flamethrower.”

: Hat es funktioniert? War es effektiv?

: I don’t know. I think so. Yes.

: Bis jetzt.

: Ja.

: Nun, aber Sie...

: Weil sie gesagt haben, dass man keinen Flammenwerfer versenden kann.

: Aber du machst so viele verschiedene Dinge. Vergiss den Flammenwerfer. Wie macht man den ganzen anderen Scheiß? Wie will man den Verkehr in LA regeln, indem man Löcher in den Boden bohrt? Und an wen wendet man sich damit überhaupt? Wenn man diese Idee hat, mit wem spricht man dann darüber?

: I mean, I’m not saying it’s going to be successful or something, you know. It’s not like asserting that it’s going to be successful. But so far, I’ve lived in LA for 16 years, and the traffic has always been terrible. And so, I don’t see any other, like, ideas for improving the traffic. So, in desperation, we’re going to dig a tunnel. And maybe that tunnel will be successful and maybe it won’t.

: I’m listening.

: Yeah. I’m not trying to convince you it’s going to work.

: Und sind die Leute, die Sie...

: Ich meine, oder irgendjemand.

: But you are starting this though. This is actually a project you’re starting to implement, right.

: Yeah, yeah, no. We’ve dug about a mile. It’s quite long. It takes a long time to walk it.

: Yeah. Now, when you’re doing this, what is the ultimate plan? The ultimate plan is to have these in major cities, and anywhere there’s mass congestion, and just try it out in LA first?

: Yeah. It’s in LA because I mostly live in LA. That’s the reason. It’s a terrible place to dig tunnels. This is one of the worst places to dig tunnels mostly because of the paperwork. You all think it’s like, “What about seismic?” It’s like, actually, both tunnels are very safe in earthquakes.

: Warum ist das so?

: Earthquakes are essentially a surface phenomenon. It’s like waves on the ocean. So, if there’s a storm, you want to be in a submarine. So, being in a tunnel is like being in a submarine. Now, the way the tunnel is constructed, it’s constructed out of these interlocking segments, kind of like a snake. It’s sort of like a snake exoskeleton with double seals.

: And so, even when the ground moves, the tunnel actually is able to shift along with the ground like an underground snake, and it doesn’t crack or break. And it’s extremely unlikely that both seals would be broken. And it’s capable of taking five atmospheres of pressure. It’s waterproof, methane-proof, well, gas-proof of any kind, and meets all California seismic requirements.

: Wenn Sie also diese Idee haben, wem bringen Sie sie nahe?

: I’m not sure what you mean by that.

: Well, you’re implementing it. So, you’re digging holes in the ground.

: Ja.

: Du musst es zu jemandem bringen, der es dir erlaubt.

: Yes. There are some engineers from SpaceX who thought it would be cool to do this. And the guy who runs it, like, day-to-day is Steve Davis. He’s a longtime SpaceX engineer. He is great. So, Steve was like, “I’d like to help make this happen.” I was like, “Cool.” So, we started off with digging a hole in the ground. It’s got like a permit for a pit, like pit, and just dug a big pit.

: And you have to tell them what the pit’s for, or you just said, “Hey, we just want to dig a hole.”

: Ich habe gerade dieses Formular ausgefüllt.

: That’s it?

: Ja, es war eine Grube auf unserem Parkplatz.

: Aber müssen Sie ihnen eine Art Blaupause für Ihre endgültige Idee geben? Und müssen sie es genehmigen? Wie funktioniert das denn?

: Nun. Wir haben gerade mit einer Grube angefangen.

: Ja.

: A big pit. And, you know, it’s not really — You know, they don’t really care about the existential nature of a pit. You just say like, “I want a pit.”

: Richtig.

: Yeah. And it’s a hole in the ground. So then, we got the permit for the pit, and we dug the pit, and we dug it in, like, I don’t know, three days, two to three days. Actually, I think two, 48 hours, something like that because Eric Carr said he was coming by for the Hype. He’s going to attend the Hyperloop Competition. which is like a student competition we have for who can make the fastest part in the Hyperloop. And he was coming.

: The finals are going to be on Sunday afternoon. And so, Eric is coming by on Sunday afternoon. He’s like, “You know, we should dig this pit, and then like show Eric.” So, this was like Friday morning. And then, yeah. So, it’s about a little over 48 hours later, we dug the pit. There was like wind 24/7. Oh, 24. 48 straight hours, something like that. And dug this big pit, and we’re like, “Show Eric the pit.” It’s like, obviously, it’s just a pit. But, hey, a hole in the ground is better than no hole in the ground.

: Und was haben Sie ihm über diese Grube erzählt? Ich meine, du hast gerade gesagt, dass dies der Anfang dieser Idee ist.

: Ja.

: We’re going to build tunnels under LA to help funnel traffic better.

: Ja.

: And they just go, “Okay.” But we’ve joked around about this in the podcast before to like what if a person can go to the people that run the city and go, “Hey, I want to dig some holes on the ground and put some tunnels in there,” and they go “Oh, yeah, okay.”

: Er ist nicht der einzige, der ein Loch im Boden hat.

: But it’s a-

: Die Menschen graben ständig Löcher in den Boden.

: Aber meine Frage ist: Ich weiß, wie viel Zeit Sie mit Ihrer Tesla-Fabrik verbringen müssen. Ich weiß, wie viel Zeit Sie für SpaceX aufwenden müssen. Und trotzdem haben Sie immer noch Zeit, in L.A. Löcher in den Boden zu graben, sich diese Ideen auszudenken und sie dann umzusetzen. Wie-

: Ich habe eine Million Ideen.

: I’m sure you do.

: There’s no shortage of that. Yeah.

: I just don’t know how you manage your time. I don’t understand it. It doesn’t seem — It doesn’t even seem humanly possible.

: You know, I do, basically — I think, people, like, don’t totally understand what I do with my time. They think, like, I’m a business guy or something like that. Like my Wikipedia page says business magnate.

: Wie würden Sie sich selbst nennen?

: Ein Geschäftsmagnet. Kann bitte jemand meine Wikipedia-Seite in Magnet ändern?

: They’ll change it for you.

: Bitte ändern.

: Right now, it’s probably already changed.

: It’s locked. So, somebody has to be able to unlock it and change it to magnet.

: Irgendjemand wird das schon schaffen.

: I want to be a magnet. No, I do engineering, you know, and manufacturing, and that kind of thing. That’s like 80% or more of my time.

: Ideen, und dann die Umsetzung dieser Ideen.

: Das ist Hardcore-Engineering...

: Ja, ja.

: ... Dinge zu entwerfen, wissen Sie.

: Richtig.

: It’s structural, mechanical, electrical, software, user interface, engineering, aerospace engineering.

: But you must understand there’s not a whole lot of human beings like you. You know that, right? You’re an oddity-

: Ja.

: ... für Schimpansen wie mich.

: We’re all chimps.

: Ja, das sind wir.

: We’re one notch. One notch above a chimp.

: Some of us are a little more confused. When I watch you doing all these things, I’m like, “How does this motherfucker have all this time, and all this energy, and all these ideas, and then people just let him do these things?”

: Because I’m an alien.

: That’s what I’ve speculated.

: Ja.

: Then, I’m on record saying this in the past. I wonder.

: It’s true.

: I mean, if there was one? I was like, “If there was, like, maybe an intelligent being that we created, you know, like some AI creature that’s superior to people, maybe it’s just hanging around with us for a little while like you’ve been doing, and then fix a bunch of shit.” I mean, that’s the way.

: Vielleicht habe ich eine Mutation oder etwas Ähnliches.

: Sie vielleicht. Glauben Sie, dass Sie das tun?

: Wahrscheinlich.

: Do you wonder? Like, around normal people, you’re like, “Hmm.” Think, “What’s up with these boring dumb motherfuckers?” ever?

: Nicht schlecht für einen Menschen, aber ich denke, ich werde der KI nicht das Wasser reichen können.

: Sie haben mich zu Tode erschreckt, als Sie über die KI zwischen Ihnen und Sam Harris sprachen.

: Aber sicher.

: I didn’t consider it until I had a podcast with Sam once.

: That’s great.

: And he made me shit my pants. Talking about AI, I realized, like, “Oh, this is a genie that once it’s out of the bottle, you’re never getting it back in.”

: Das ist wahr.

: Sie haben ein Video über einen dieser dynamischen Boston-Roboter getwittert.

: Ja, ja.

: And you’re like, “In the future, it will be moving so fast, you can’t see it without a strobe light.”

: Ja, genau. Das können Sie wahrscheinlich sofort tun.

: And no one’s really paying attention too much other than people like you, or people that are really obsessed with technology, all these things are happening. And these robots are — Do you see the one where PETA put out a statement that you shouldn’t kick robots?

: It’s probably not wise.

: Zur Vergeltung.

: Ihr Gedächtnis ist sehr gut.

: I bet it’s really good.

: It’s really good.

: Ich wette, das ist es.

: Ja.

: Und es wird jeden Tag besser.

: It’s really good.

: Sind Sie wirklich ernsthaft besorgt darüber? Ist AI eine Ihrer Hauptsorgen in Bezug auf die Zukunft?

: Yes. It’s less of a worry than it used to be, mostly due to taking more of a fatalistic attitude.

: So, you used to have more hope, and you gave up some of it. And, now, you don’t worry as much about AI. You’re like, “This is just what it is.”

: Ziemlich genau. Ja, ja, ja.

: War das nicht so? Ja und nein.

: It’s not necessarily bad. It’s just it’s definitely going to be outside of human control.

: Nicht unbedingt schlecht, oder?

: Yes. It’s not necessarily bad. It’s just outside of human control. Now, the thing that’s going to be tricky here is that it’s going to be very tempting to use AI as a weapon. It’s going to be very tempting. In fact, it will be used as a weapon. So, the on ramp to serious AI, the danger is going to be more humans using it against each other, I think, most likely. That will be the danger. Yeah.

: How far do you think we are from something that can make its own mind up whether or not something’s ethically or morally correct, or whether or not it wants to do something, or whether or not it wants to improve itself, or whether or not it wants to protect itself from people or from other AI? How far away are we from something that’s really truly sentient?

: Well, I mean, you could argue that any group of people, like a company is essentially a cybernetic collective of people and machines. That’s what a company is. And then, there are different levels of complexity in the way these companies are formed. And then, there’s a sort of like a collective AI in the Google, sort of, Search, Google Search, you know, where we’re all sort of plugged in as like nodes on the network, like leaves on a big tree.

: And we’re all feeding this network with our questions and answers. We’re all collectively programming the AI. And Google Plus, all the humans that connect to it, are one giant cybernetic collective. This is also true of Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and all the social networks. They’re giant cybernetic collectives.

: Mensch und Elektronik sind miteinander verbunden, und zwar ständig, ständig.

: Ja, ständig.

: One of the things that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last few years is that one of the things that drives a lot of people crazy is how many people are obsessed with materialism and getting the latest greatest thing. And I wonder how much of that is — Well, a lot of it is most certainly fueling technology and innovation. And it almost seems like it’s built into us. It’s like what we like and what we want that we’re fueling this thing that’s constantly around us all the time.

: And it doesn’t seem possible that people are going to pump the brakes. It doesn’t seem possible at this stage where we’re constantly expecting the newest cellphone, the latest Tesla update, the newest MacBook Pro. Everything has to be newer and better. And that’s going to lead to some incredible point. And it seems like it’s built into us. It almost seems like it’s an instinct that we’re working towards this, that we like it. Our job, just like the ants build the anthill, our job is to somehow know how fuel this.

: Yes. I mean, I made this comment some years ago, but it feels like we are the biological bootloader for AI. Effectively, we are building it. And then, we’re building progressively greater intelligence. And the percentage of intelligence that is not human is increasing. And, eventually, we will represent a very small percentage of intelligence. But the AI is informed strangely by the human limbic system. It is, in large part, our id writ large.

: Wie das?

: We mentioned all those things, the sort of primal drives. There’s all of the things that we like, and hate, and fear. They’re all there on the internet. They’re a projection of our limbic system. That’s true.

: No, it makes sense. And the thinking of it as a — I mean, thinking of corporations, and just thinking of just human beings communicating online through these social media networks in some sort of an organism that’s a — It’s a cyborg. It’s a combination. It’s a combination of electronics and biology.

: Yeah. This is — In some measure, like, it’s to the success of these online systems. It’s sort of a function of how much limbic resonance they’re able to achieve with people. The more limbic resonance, the more engagement.

: Das ist einer der Gründe, warum Instagram wahrscheinlich verlockender ist als Twitter.

: Limbische Resonanz.

: Ja, das stimmt. Sie erhalten mehr Bilder, mehr Videos.

: Ja.

: It’s tweaking your system more.

: Ja.

: Do you worry or wonder, in fact, of what the next step is? I mean, a lot of you didn’t see Twitter coming. You know, communicate with 140 characters or 280 now would be a thing that people would be interested in. Like it’s going to excel. It’s going to become more connected to us, right?

: Yes. Things are getting more and more connected. They’re, at this point, constrained by bandwidth. Our input/output is slow, particularly output. Output got worse with thumbs. You know, we used to have input with 10 fingers. Now, we have thumbs. But images are just, also, other way of communicating at high bandwidth. You take pictures and you send pictures to people. What sends, that communicates far more information than you can communicate with your thumb.

: Was ist bei dir passiert, dass du dich entschieden hast oder eine eher fatalistische Haltung eingenommen hast? Gab es etwas Bestimmtes, oder war es einfach die Unvermeidbarkeit unserer Zukunft?

: I try to convince people to slow down. Slow down AI to regulate AI. That’s what’s futile. I tried for years, and nobody listened.

: Das wirkt wie eine Szene aus einem Film.

: Niemand hat zugehört.

: … where the the robots are going to fucking takeover. You’re freaking me out. Nobody listened?

: Niemand hat zugehört.

: No one. Are people more inclined to listen today? It seems like an issue that’s brought up more often over the last few years than it was maybe 5-10 years ago. It seemed like science fiction.

: Maybe they will. So far, they haven’t. I think, people don’t — Like, normally, the way that regulations work is very slow. it’s very slow indeed. So, usually, it will be something, some new technology. It will cause damage or death. There will be an outcry. There will be an investigation. Years will pass. There will be some sort of insights committee. There will be rule making. Then, there will be oversight, absolutely, of regulations. This all takes many years. This is the normal course of things.

: If you look at, say, automotive regulations, how long did it take for seatbelts to be implemented, to be required? You know, the auto industry fought seatbelts, I think, for more than a decade. It successfully fought any regulations on seatbelts even though the numbers were extremely obvious. If you had seatbelts on, you would be far less likely to die or be seriously injured. It was unequivocal. And the industry fought this for years successfully. Eventually, after many, many people died, regulators insisted on seatbelts. This is a — This time frame is not relevant to AI. You can’t take 10 years from a point of which it’s dangerous. It’s too late.

: And you feel like this is decades away or years away from being too late. If you have this fatalistic attitude, and you feel like it’s going — We’re in an almost like a doomsday countdown.

: It’s not necessarily a doomsday countdown. It’s a-

: Außer Kontrolle geratener Countdown?

: Out of control, yeah. People quote the singularity, and that’s probably a good way to think about it. It’s a singularity. It’s hard to predict like a black hole, what happens past the event horizon.

: Right. So, once it’s implemented, it’s very difficult because it would be able to-

: Once the genie is out of the bottle, what’s going to happen?

: Richtig. Und sie wird sich selbst verbessern können.

: Ja.

: That’s where it gets spooky, right? The idea that it can do thousands of years of innovation very, very quickly.

: Ja, ja.

: Und dann wird es einfach nur noch lächerlich.

: Das ist lächerlich.

: We will be like this ridiculous biological shitting, pissing thing trying to stop the gods. “No, stop. We’re like living with a finite lifespan, and watching, you know, Norman Rockwell paintings.”

: It could be terrible, and it could be great. It’s not clear.

: Richtig.

: Aber eines ist sicher: Wir werden sie nicht kontrollieren.

: Do you think that it’s likely that we will merge somehow or another with this sort of technology, and it’ll augment what we are now, or do you think it will replace us?

: Well, that’s the scenario. The merge scenario with AI is the one that seems like probably the best. Like if-

: Für uns?

: Yes. Like if you can’t beat it, join it. That’s-

: Ja, ja.

: You know. So, from a long-term existential standpoint, that’s like the purpose of Neuralink is to create a high bandwidth interface to the brain such that we can be symbiotic with AI because we have a bandwidth problem. You just can’t communicate through fingers. It’s too slow.

: And where’s Neuralink at right now?

: I think. we’ll have something interesting to announce in a few months. That’s, at least, an order of magnitude better than anything else. I think better than, probably, anyone thinks is possible.

: Wie viel können Sie im Moment darüber sagen?

: I don’t want to jump the gun on that.

: But what’s like the ultimate? What’s the idea behind that? Like, what are you trying to accomplish with it? What would you like best case scenario?

: I think, best case scenario, we effectively merge with AI where AI serves as a tertiary cognition layer, where we’ve got the limbic system. Kind of the, you know, primitive brain essentially. You got the cortex. So, you’re currently in a symbiotic relationship. Your cortex and limbic system are in a symbiotic relationship. And, generally, people like their cortex, and they like their limbic system. I haven’t met anyone who wants to delete their limbic system or delete their cortex. Everybody seems to like both.

: And the cortex is mostly in service to the limbic system. People may think that the thinking part of themselves is in charge, but it’s mostly their limbic system that’s in charge. And the cortex is trying to make the limbic system happy. That’s what most of that computing power is. It’s launched towards, “How can I make the limbic system happy?” That’s what it’s trying to do.

: Now, if we do have a third layer, which is the AI extension of yourself, that is also symbiotic. And there’s enough bandwidth between the cortex and the AI extension of yourself, such that the AI doesn’t de facto separate. Then, that could be a good outcome. That could be quite a positive outcome for the future.

: Es wird uns also nicht ersetzen, sondern unsere Fähigkeiten radikal verändern?

: Yes. It will enable anyone who wants to have super human cognition, anyone who wants. This is not a matter of earning power because your earning power would be vastly greater after you do it. So, it’s just like anyone who wants can just do it in theory. That’s the theory. And if that’s the case then, and let’s say billions of people do it, then the outcome for humanity will be the sum of human will, the sum of billions of people’s desire for the future.

: Dass Milliarden von Menschen über verbesserte kognitive Fähigkeiten verfügen?

: Ja.

: Radikal verbessert?

: Ja.

: And which would be — It — But how much different than people today? Like if you had to explain it to a person who didn’t really understand what you’re saying, like how much different are you talking about? When you say radically improved, like, what do you mean? You mean mind reading?

: It will be difficult to really appreciate the difference. It’s kind of like how much smarter are you with a phone or computer than without? You’re vastly smarter actually. You know, you can answer any question. If you connect to the internet, you can answer any question pretty much instantly, any calculation, that your phone’s memory is essentially perfect. You can remember flawlessly. Your phone can remember videos, pictures, everything perfectly. That’s the-

: Your phone is already an extension of you. You’re already a cyborg. You don’t even — What most people don’t realize, they are already a cyborg. That phone is an extension of yourself. It’s just that the data rate, the rate at which — The communication rate between you and the cybernetic extension of yourself, that is your phone and computer, is slow. It’s very slow.

: And that is like a tiny straw of information flow between your biological self and your digital self. And we need to make that tiny straw like a giant river. A huge high band with the interface. It’s an interface problem, data rate problem. It’s all the data rate problem that I think we can hang on to human machine symbiosis through the long term. And then, people may decide that they want to retain their biological self or not. I think they’ll probably choose to retain the biological self.

: Im Gegensatz zu einer Art Ray-Kurzweil-Szenario, in dem sie sich selbst in einen Computer herunterladen?

: Sie werden im Wesentlichen jederzeit in einem Computer gespeichert. Wenn Ihr biologisches Ich stirbt, können Sie es wahrscheinlich einfach auf eine neue Einheit hochladen.

: Pass that whiskey. We’re getting crazy over here. This is getting ridiculous.

: Runter in den Kaninchenbau.

: Nimm den Lutscher. Gib mir was davon. Das ist zu abgefahren. Siehst du, wenn ich nur reden würde...

: I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, by the way.

: Ich glaube Ihnen. Wenn ich mit einem reden würde - Prost, übrigens.

: Zum Wohl. Es ist ein großartiger Whiskey.

: Thank you. I don’t know where this came. Who brought this to us?

: I’m trying to remember. I can’t-

: Jemand hat es uns gegeben. Das alte Lager. Wer auch immer es war.

: It’s good.

: ... danke.

: It’s good.

: Yeah, it is good. This is just inevitable. Again, going back to when you decided to have this fatalistic viewpoint. So, you weren’t — You tried to warn people. You talked about this pretty extensively. I’ve read several Interviews where you talked about this. And then, you just sort of just said, “Okay, it just is. Let’s just-” And, in a way, by communicating the potential for — I mean, for sure, you’re getting the warning out to some people.

: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was really going on the warning quite a lot. I was warning everyone I could. Yeah, I’ve met with Obama and just for one reason, like, “Better watch out.”

: Sprechen Sie einfach über KI.

: Ja.

: Und was hat er gesagt? Also, was ist mit Hillary? Kümmert euch zuerst um sie. Psst, Leute, Ruhe.

: Er hat zugehört. Er hat auf jeden Fall zugehört. Ich habe mich mit dem Kongress getroffen. Ich habe mich mit allen 50 Gouverneuren getroffen und über die AI-Gefahr gesprochen. Und ich habe mit jedem gesprochen, den ich erreichen konnte. Keiner schien zu begreifen, wohin das führen würde.

: Is it that, or do they just assume that someone smarter than them is already taking care of it? Because when people hear about something like AI, it’s almost abstract. It’s almost like it’s so hard to wrap your head around it.

: Das ist es.

: Bis es soweit ist, wird es zu spät sein?

: Yeah. I think, they didn’t quite understand it, or didn’t think it was near term, or not sure what to do about it. And I said, like, you know, an obvious thing to do is to just establish a committee, government committee, to gain insight. You know, before you oversight, before you do make regulations, you should like try to understand what’s going on. And then, you have an insight committee. Then, once they learn what’s going on, you get up to speed. Then, they can make maybe some rules or proposed some rules. And that would be probably a safer way to go about things.

: It seems — I mean, I know that it’s probably something that the government’s supposed to handle, but it seems like I wouldn’t want the — I don’t want the government to handle this.

: Wer soll das erledigen?

: Ich möchte, dass Sie das erledigen.

: Oh je.

: Yeah. I feel like you’re the one who could bring the bell better because if Mike Pence starts talking about AI, I’m like, “Shut up, bitch. You don’t know anything about AI. Come on, man. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” That’s just games.

: I don’t have the power to regulate other companies. I don’t if I’m supposed to, but you know.

: Right, but maybe companies could agree. Maybe there could be some sort of a — What I mean is we have agreements where you’re not supposed to dump toxic waste into the ocean, you’re not supposed to do certain things that could be terribly damaging, even though they would be profitable. Maybe this is one of those things.

: Maybe we should realize that you can’t hit the switch on something that’s going to be able to think for itself and make up its own mind as to whether or not it wants to survive or not, and whether or not it thinks you’re a threat, or whether or not it thinks you’re useless. Like, “Why do I keep this dumb finite life form alive? Why? Why keep this thing around? It’s just stupid. It just keeps polluting everything. It’s shitting everywhere it goes, lighting everything on fire, and shooting at each other. Why would I keep this stupid thing alive? Because, sometimes, it makes good music, you know. Sometimes it makes great movies. Sometimes it makes beautiful art, and sometimes — you know. Sometimes it’s cool to hang out with. Like with my-

: Ja, aus all diesen Gründen.

: Ja, genau. Für uns sind das gute Gründe.

: Ja.

: But for anything objective standing outside that go, “This is definitely a flawed system.” This is like if you went to the jungle and you watch these chimps engage in warfare and beat each other with wooden sticks.

: Schimpansen sind wirklich gemein.

: They’re fucking real mean.

: They’re fucking mean.

: They’re real mean.

: Ich habe einen Film gesehen, Chimpanzee. Ich dachte, es wäre so ein Disney-Ding. Wie, heilige Kuh.

: Welcher Film war das?

: It’s called Chimpanzee.

: Ist es ein Dokumentarfilm?

: Yeah, yeah. It’s kind of like a documentary. I was like, “Damn, these chimps are mean.”

: They’re mean.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja.

: They’re cruel.

: Yeah. They’re calculated. Yeah.

: Ja, ja.

: Sie schleichen sich gegenseitig an und...

: Like, I didn’t realize chimps did calculated cruelty.

: Ja, ja.

: I was pretty — I left that meeting kinda like, “This is dark.”

: Right. Well, we know better because we’ve advanced. But if we hadn’t, we’d be like, “Man, I don’t want to fucking live in a house. I like the chimp ways, bro. Chimp ways to go. This is it, man, chimp life. You know, we got-

: Einfaches Schimpansenleben.

: Chimp life right now. But we, in a way, to the AI, might be like those chimps and like, “These stupid fucks launching missiles out of drones, and shooting each other underwater.” Like we’re crazy. We got torpedoes, and submarines, and fucking airplanes that drop nuclear bombs indiscriminately on cities. We’re assholes.

: Ja, ja.

: They might go, “Why are they doing this?” It might, like, look at our politics, look at what we do in terms of our food system, what kind of food we force down each other’s throats. And they might go, “These people are crazy. They don’t even look after themselves.”

: I don’t know. I mean, how much do we think about chimps? Not much.

: Sehr wenig.

: It’s like-

: It’s true.

: … these chimps are at war. This like look — It’s like groups of chimps just attack each other, and they kill each other. They torture each other. That’s pretty bad. They hunt monkeys. They’re — Like this is probably the most, but, you know. I mean, when was the last time you watched chimps?

: Ich?

: Ja, ja.

: Die ganze Zeit über.

: Sie tun es.

: You’re talking to the wrong guy.

: Nun gut. Nun, leider, ja.

: This fucking podcast, dude, we’re talking about chimps every episode.

: It’s chimp city? Okay.

: People are laughing right now. Yeah, constantly. I’m obsessed.

: Ja.

: Ich habe den Dokumentarfilm von David Attenborough über Schimpansen gesehen, in dem sie diese Colobus-Affen fressen und sie zerreißen.

: Ja, das war hart.

: Das habe ich vor vielen, vielen Jahren gesehen.

: It’s gruesome.

: Es hat nur verändert, wie...

: Grausam.

: I go, “Oh, this is why people are so crazy. We came from that thing.”

: Ja, genau.

: Ja, ja.

: Es ist der Colobus.

: Ja, ja.

: Sie haben eine bessere Philosophie.

: Yeah, they’re like swingers.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, das sind sie wirklich. Sie scheinen viel zivilisierter zu sein als wir, viel zivilisierter.

: Sie scheinen einfach alles mit Sex zu lösen.

: Yeah. The only rules they have is the mom won’t bang the son. That’s it.

: Ja.

: That’s it. Mom won’t bang her sons. They’re good women.

: Ja, ja.

: Gute Frauen in der Bonobo-Gemeinschaft. Alle anderen hauen sie raus.

: Yeah. I haven’t seen the Bonobo Movie.

: Well, they’re disturbing just at a zoo of bonobos at the zoo.

: They’re just constantly going.

: Constantly fucking, yeah. It’s all they do.

: It’s just one stuff.

: Yeah. And they don’t care, gay, straight, whatever. Let’s just fuck. What’s with these labels?

: I haven’t seen bonobos at a zoo. I just probably like-

: I don’t think I have either.

: Und nicht in der PJ-Sektion.

: Yeah, I don’t think they have them at many zoos. We’ve looked at it before too, didn’t we?

: It’s probably pretty awkward.

: Yeah. I think that’s the thing. They don’t like to keep regular chimps at zoos because bonobos are just always jacking off and-

: Ja, ja.

: Scheiß drauf.

: In San Diego.

: What’s that? They have in San Diego?

: San Diego’s got some, yeah.

: Wirklich? Das ist interessant.

: Ja, ja.

: Wahrscheinlich werden sie getrennt. Ja, ja.

: Ich meine, wie viele sind in einem Käfig, weißt du? Ich war wie...

: Richtig.

: … “It’s going to be pretty intense.”

: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we’re a weird thing, you know. And I’ve often wondered whether or not we’re — you know, our ultimate goal is to give birth to some new thing. And that’s why we’re so obsessed with technology because it’s not like this technology is really — I mean, it’s certainly enhancing our lives too in a certain way, but, I mean, ultimately, is it making people happier right now? Most technology I would say no. In fact, you and I were talking about social media before this about just not having Instagram on your phone, and not dealing, and you feel better.

: Yes. I think, one of the issues with social media, it’s been pointed out by many people, is that, I think, maybe particularly Instagram people look like they have a much better life than they really do.

: Richtig.

: Also -

: Nach Plan.

: Yeah. People are posting pictures of when they’re really happy. They’re modifying those pictures to be better looking. Even if they’re not modifying the pictures, they’re, at least, selecting the pictures for the best lighting, the best angle. So, people basically seem they are way better looking than they basically really are.

: Richtig.

: And they’re way happier seeming than they really are. So, if you look at everyone on Instagram, you might think, “Man, there are all these happy beautiful people, and I’m not that good looking, and I am not happy. So, I must suck,” you know. And that’s going to make you feel sad; when, in fact, those people you think are super happy, actually, not that happy. Some of them are really depressed. They’re very sad. Some of the happiest-seeming people are actually some of the saddest people in reality. And nobody looks good all the time. It doesn’t matter who you are.

: No. It’s not even something you should want.

: Ja, ja.

: Warum wollen Sie immer gut aussehen?

: Yeah, exactly. So, I think things like that can make people quite sad just by comparison because you’re sort of — People generally think of themselves relative to others. It’s like we are constantly re-baselining our expectations. And you can see to say if you watch some show like Naked and Afraid, or, you know, if you just go and try living in the woods by yourself for a while, and you’re like, “The land that civilization is quite great.” People want to come back to civilization pretty fast on Naked or Afraid.

: Wasn’t there a Theodore quote, that “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

: Ja. Glück ist die Realität ohne Erwartungen.

: That’s great too, but the comparison is the thief of joy really holds true to people. Is it?

: Theodore Roosevelt.

: Roosevelt, fascinating. And when you’re thinking about Instagram, because what essentially Instagram is for a lot of people is you’re giving them the opportunity to be their own PR agent, and they always go towards the glamorous, you know. And when anybody does show, you know, #nofilter, they really do do that. “Oh, you’re so brave. Look at you, no makeup,” you know, which they look good anyway.

: “You look great. What are you doing? Oh my God. You don’t have makeup on. You still look hot as fuck. You know what you’re doing. I know what you’re doing too.” They’re letting you know. And then, they’re feeding off that comment section. Sort of sitting there like it’s a fresh stream of love. Like you’re getting right up to the sources as it comes out of the earth, and you’re sucking that sweet, sweet love water.

: Eine Menge Emojis, smogige Emojis.

: Ja, ja.

: Eine Menge Emojis.

: My concern is not so much what Instagram is. It’s that I didn’t think that people had the need for this or the expectation for some sort of technology that allows them to constantly get love and adulation from strangers, and comments, and this ability to project this sort of distorted version of who you really are.

: But I worry about where it goes. Like what’s the next one? What’s the next one? Like, where’s is it? Is it going to be augmented to some sort of a weird augmented or virtual sort of Instagram type situation where you’re not going to want to live in this real world, you’re going to want to interface with this sort of world that you’ve created through your social media page and some next level thing.

: Ja, genau. Geh und lebe in der Simulation.

: Ja, Mann.

: In der Simulation.

: Some ready player one type shit that’s real. That seems — we have that HTC vibe here. I’ve only done it a couple times quite honestly because it kind of freaks me out.

: Ja, sicher.

: My kids fucking love it, man. They love it. They love playing these weirdo games and walking around that headset on. But part of me watching them do it goes, “Wow, I wonder if this is like the precursor.” Just sort of like if you look at that phone that Gordon Gekko had on the beach and you compare that-

: Ja, das große Mobiltelefon.

: Ja, das paart man mit einem Galaxy Note 9.

: Ja, sicher.

: Like how the fuck did that become that, right? And I wonder when I see this HTC Vibe, I’m like, “What is that thing going to be 10 years from now when we’re making fun of what it is now?” I mean, how ingrained, and how connected and interconnected is this technology going to be in our life?

: Irgendwann wird sie von der Realität nicht mehr zu unterscheiden sein.

: We will lose this. We’ll lose this. Like you and I are just looking at each other through our eyes.

: Sind wir das?

: Ich sehe dich. Du siehst mich, denke ich, hoffe ich.

: Glauben Sie das?

: Ich denke, Sie haben wahrscheinlich normale Augen.

: Dies könnte eine Simulation sein.

: Es könnte. Ziehen Sie das in Betracht?

: Well, the argument for the simulation, I think, is quite strong because if you assume any improvements at all over time, any improvement, 1%, 0.1%, just extend the time frame, make it a thousand years, a million years. The universe is 13.8 billion years old. Civilization, if you count it, if you’re very generous, civilization is maybe 7000 or 8000 years old if you count it from the first writing. This is nothing. This is nothing.

: Wenn man also von irgendeiner Verbesserungsrate ausgeht, dann werden die Spiele nicht mehr von der Realität zu unterscheiden sein, oder die Zivilisation wird untergehen. Eines dieser beiden Dinge wird eintreten. Daher befinden wir uns höchstwahrscheinlich in einer Simulation.

: Or we’re on our way to one, right?

: Weil wir existieren.

: Nun, nicht nur, weil wir existieren.

: Ziemlich genau.

: We could most certainly be on the road. We could be on the road to that, right. it doesn’t mean that it has to have already happened.

: Es könnte in der Basisrealität sein. Es könnte in der niederen Realität sein.

: We could be here now on our way to the road or on our way to the destination where this can never happen again, where we are completely ingrained in some sort of an artificial technology or some sort of a symbiotic relationship with the internet or the next level of sharing information. But, right now, we’re not there yet. That’s possible too, right? It’s possible that a simulation is, one day, going to be inevitable, that we’re going to have something that’s indistinguishable from regular reality, but maybe we’re not there yet. That’s also possible.

: Ja, das ist sie.

: Though we’re not quite there yet. This is real. You want to touch that wood?

: Es fühlt sich sehr real an.

: Maybe that’s why everybody is like into like mason jars and shit.

: Einmachgläser.

: Wildlederschuhe. Leute, die handwerkliche Restaurants mögen, und sie wollen rohes Holz. Alle wollen die Metallleute. Es scheint, als sehnten sich die Menschen nach einer seltsamen Nostalgie, die an eine Blockhütte erinnert.

: Sicher, die Realität.

: Ja, wie Festhalten. Wie ein Festhalten.

: Ja, sicher.

: Dragging their nails through the man like, “Don’t take me yet.”

: Ja.

: “I want to-“

: But then, people go get a mason jar with a wine stem or a handle. That’s dark.

: Es macht mich...

: Das lässt mich den Glauben an die Menschheit verlieren.

: Einmachglas, Weinstiel und Henkel, gibt es so etwas?

: Ja.

: The sturdy people. That’s just assholes. That’s like people make pet rocks.

: Grob.

: Das stimmt. Manche Menschen sind einfach Arschlöcher. Sie nutzen unsere großzügige Natur aus.

: Es wurde mit dem Weinstiel hergestellt. Hergestellt mit Griff.

: Haben sie es so gemacht?

: Yes. They’re manufactured like that.

: Also haben sie es auf das Einmachglas geschweißt. Sie ficken.

: Aber das wäre schon in Ordnung, wenn es wie angeklebt wäre oder so.

: Das stimmt. Es gäbe da...

: Aber es wurde so gemacht.

: Wie Müllscheiße. Oh, das ist ekelhaft. Schau dir das an. Es ist genau hier.

: Yes, it’s pretty harsh. Yup.

: This is terrible. Yeah. That’s like fake breasts that are designed to be hard. Like fake breasts from the ’60s. It’s like if you really long for the ones with ripples, here we go. Yeah. That’s almost what that is.

: Ja, ja.

: What are you going to do, man? There’s nothing, you know. There’s nothing you can do to stop certain terrible ideas from propagating.

: Yeah. Anyway, I don’t want to sound like things are too dark because I think like you kind of have to be optimistic about the future. There’s no point in being pessimistic. It’s just too negative because it is-

: It doesn’t help.

: It doesn’t help, you know. I think you want to be — I mean, my theory is like you’d rather be optimistic. I think, I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right.

: Richtig.

: At least, we’re on that side.

: Richtig, ja.

: Because if you’re pessimistic, it’s going to be miserable.

: Yeah. Yeah, nobody wants to be around you anyway if it’s the end of the world. You’re like, “I fucking told you, bro.”

: Ja, genau.

: Die Welt geht unter. Ja. Es ist so - es ist für alle.

: Ich habe meinen Teil getan.

: Ich meine...

: Genießen Sie die Reise.

: Right. If you really want to get morose, I mean, it is what it is for all of us anyway. We’re all going to go, unless something changes.

: Ja, ja.

: I mean, ultimately, you know, even if we just sort of existed as humans forever, we’d still eventually would be like the heat death of the universe-

: In einer Gazillion Jahren.

: Richtig, selbst wenn wir es an der Sonne vorbei schaffen.

: Ja, ja.

: Wenn wir einen Weg finden, dass der Sonne der Saft ausgeht.

: Eventually, it’s going to end. It’s just a question of when.

: Richtig.

: Es geht also wirklich nur um die Reise.

: Or transcendence from whatever we are now into something that doesn’t worry about death.

: Das Universum, wie wir es kennen, wird sich irgendwann in einem feinen Nebel aus kaltem Nichts auflösen.

: And then, someone’s going to bottle it and put a fragrance to it, sell it to French people in another dimension.

: It’s just a very long time.

: Ja, ja.

: So, I think it’s really just about, how can we make it last longer?

: Are you a proponent of the multi-universe’s theory? Do you believe that there are many, many universes, and that even if this one fades out that there’s other ones that are starting fresh right now, and there’s an infinite number of them, and they’re just constantly in a never-ending cycle of birth and death?

: Ich halte das für sehr wahrscheinlich. Hier geht es nur um die Wahrscheinlichkeit. Es gibt viele, viele Simulationen. Diese Simulationen könnten wir genauso gut Realität nennen, oder wir könnten sie das Multiversum nennen.

: Diese Simulationen, von denen Sie glauben, dass sie so erstellt werden, als hätte sie jemand hergestellt.

: They’re running on the substrate.

: Also -

: Dieses Substrat ist wahrscheinlich langweilig.

: Langweilig?

: Mmhmm.

: Wie das?

: Well, when we create a simulation like a game or a movie, it’s the distillation of what’s interesting about life. You know, it takes a year to shoot an action movie. And then, that’s all to slow down into two or three hours. So, let me tell you, if you’ve seen an action movie being filmed, it’s freaking — It’s boring. It’s super boring. It takes — There’s like lots of takes. Everything’s in a green screen. It looks pretty goofy. It doesn’t look cool. But once you had the CGI, and have great editing, it’s amazing.

: So, I think, most likely, if we’re a simulation, it’s really boring outside the simulation because why would you make simulation as boring? You’d make simulation way more interesting than base reality.

: Das heißt, wenn das jetzt eine Simulation ist.

: Ja.

: And, ultimately, inevitably, as long as we don’t die or get hit by a meteor, we’re going to create some sort of simulation if we continue on the same technological path we’re on right now.

: Ja.

: Aber vielleicht sind wir noch nicht so weit. Es könnte also sein, dass es sich hier nicht um eine Simulation handelt. Aber höchstwahrscheinlich ist es so, dass Sie sich an anderen Orten fühlen.

: Diese Vorstellung von einem Ort oder einem Ort, der...

: Unzulänglichkeiten?

: Ja.

: Fehlerhafte Wahrnehmung.

: Like that if you have that, sort of, that vibe you have, which is for the — that’s was made by valve, and it’s really valve that made it. HTC did the hardware, but it’s really a valve thing.

: Die Macher von Half-life.

: Ja. Großartiges Unternehmen.

: Großartiges Unternehmen.

: When you’re in that virtual reality, which is only going to get better, where are you? Where are you really?

: Richtig.

: You aren’t anywhere.

: Nun, während...

: You’re in the computer.

: Wissen Sie, was Sie ausmacht, wo Sie sind?

: Ganz genau.

: Richtig.

: It’s your perception.

: Is it your perceptions or is it, you know, a scale that we have under your butt. You’re right here. I’ve measured you. You’re the same weight as you were when you left. But meanwhile, your experience is probably different-

: Why do you think you’re where you are right now? You might not be.

: I’ll buck up a joint if you keep talking. Your man is just going to come in here. We might have to lock the door.

: Right now, you think you’re in a studio in LA.

: That’s what I heard.

: Sie könnten in einem Computer sein.

: Man, I think about this all the time. Yeah, I mean, it’s unquestionable that one day that will be the case, as long as we keep going, as long as nothing interrupts us, and if we start from scratch, and, you know, we’re single-celled organisms all over again. And then, millions and millions of years later, we become the next thing that is us with creativity and the ability to change this environment. It’s going to keep monkeying with things until it figures out a way to change reality. To change — I mean, almost like punch a hole through what is this thing into what what it wants it to be and create new things. And then, those new things will intersect with other people’s new things, and there will be this ultimate pathway of infinite ideas and expression all through technology.

: Ja, ja.

: And then, we’re going to wonder like, “Why are we here? What are we doing?”

: Let’s find out.

: Nun-

: Ich meine, dass wir die Maßnahmen ergreifen sollten, die am ehesten geeignet sind, die Zukunft zu verbessern.

: Ja, richtig.

: Ja, ja.

: Right. Right. And then, we evaluate those actions to make sure that it’s true.

: Well, I think there’s a movement to that. I mean, in terms of like a social movement. I think some of it’s misguided, and some of it’s exaggerated, and there’s a lot of people that are fighting for their side out there. But it seems like the general trend of, like, social awareness seems to be much more heightened now than has ever been in any other time in history because of our ability to express ourselves instantaneously to each other through Facebook, or Twitter, or what have you. And that the trend is to abandon preconceived notions, abandon prejudice, abandon discrimination, and promote kindness and happiness as much as possible. Looking at this knife? Somebody gave it to me. Sorry.

: Ja, ja. Was ist das?

: Fuck you. My friend, Donnie, brought this with him, and it just stayed here. I have a real samurai sword, if you want to play with that. I know you’re into weapons. That’s from the 1500s. Samurai’s something on the table.

: Gut.

: Ja, ja.

: Das ist cool.

: I’ll grab it. Hold on. Yeah, that’s legit samurai sword from an actual samurai from the 1500s. If you pull out that blade, that blade was made the old way where a master craftsman-

: Gefaltetes Metall?

: Folded that metal and hammered it down over and over again over a long period of time, and honed that blade into what it is now. What’s crazy is that more than 500 years later, that thing is still pristine. I mean, whoever took care of that and passed it down to the next person who took care of it, and you know until it got to the podcast room, it’s pretty fucking crazy.

: Ja, ja.

: One day, someone’s going to be looking at a Tesla like that. How many of these fucking backdoor they pop off sideways like a Lamborghini?

: They should see what the Tesla can do. He didn’t — You should — I’ll show you how to once.

: Well, I’ve driven one. I love them.

: Yeah, but most people don’t know what it can do.

: In terms like ludicrous mode? In terms of like driving super fast and irresponsibly on public roads, is that what you’re saying?

: Jedes Auto kann das tun.

: Ja, das stimmt. Was kann es, was ich wissen muss?

: I mean, the Model X can do this like ballet thing to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It’s pretty cool.

: Moment, es tanzt?

: Ja.

: Legitim, wie es sich gehört?

: Ja.

: Warum sollte man das in ein Auto einprogrammieren?

: Es schien Spaß zu machen.

: That’s what I get about you. That’s what’s weird. Like when you showed up here, you were all smiles, and you pull out a fucking blowtorch and not a blowtorch, but I’m like, “Look at this-“

: Nicht ein Flammenwerfer.

: Not a flamethrower. Like, “He’s having fun.”

: I want to be clear, it’s definitely not a flamethrower.

: But you’re having fun. Like this thing, you know, you program a car to do a ballet dance, you’re having fun.

: It’s great.

: But how do you have the time to do that? I don’t understand why you’re digging holes under the earth, and sending rockets into space, and powering people in Australia. Like how the fuck do you have time to make the car dance ballet?

: Well, I mean, in that case there were some engineers at Tesla that said, “You know, what if we make this car dance and play music?” I’m like, “That sounds great. Please do it. Let’s try to get it done in time for Christmas.” We did.

: Besteht die Befürchtung, dass jemand einfach den Verstand verliert und es auf der Autobahn so macht?

: No, it won’t do that.

: What if it’s in bumper-to-bumper traffic?

: Nö.

: No, it won’t do it?

: Nein. Eigentlich muss man niesen ziehen.

: Oh, Niesschleim.

: Yeah, that’s why people don’t know about it. But if you have the car-

: Nun-

: It’s like it could do lots of things, lots of things.

: Once Reddit gets a hold of it, everyone’s going to know already.

: Sie müssen nur - Jeder, der im Internet danach sucht, wird es herausfinden.

: Sie werden finden.

: But people don’t know that they should even search for it.

: Nun, jetzt schon.

: Ja.

: Ja.

: There’s so many things about the Model X, and the Model S, and the Model 3 that people don’t know about. We should probably do a video or something to explain it because I have close friends of mine and I say, “Do you know the car can do this?” and they’re like, “Nope.”

: Do you want to do a video of that? Do you like the fact that some people don’t know?

: No, I think it’s probably not. We should tell people.

: Ja, wahrscheinlich.

: Ja.

: That would help your product. I mean, it’s not like you don’t sell enough of them. You sell almost too many of them, right.

: I mean, I think, a Tesla is the most fun thing you could possibly buy ever. That’s what it’s meant to be. Well, our goal is to make — It’s not exactly a car. It’s actually a thing to maximize enjoyment, make as maximum fun.

: Okay. Elektronik, wie Großbildschirm, Laptop, lächerliche Geschwindigkeit, Handhabung, all das Zeug.

: Ja, ja.

: Haben Sie einen...

: And we’re going to put video games in it.

: Sie sind?

: Ja, ja.

: Ist das klug?

: Nun-

: Welche Art von Videospielen? Candy Crush?

: You won’t be able to drive while you’re playing the video game. But, like, for example, we’re just putting the Atari emulator, RAM emulator in it. So, we’ll play a Missile Command, and Lunar Lander, and a bunch of other things. Yeah.

: Das klingt cool.

: It’s pretty fun.

: Das gefällt mir.

: Yeah. I mean, probe the interface for Missile Command because it’s too hard with the old trackball. So, there’s a touch screen version of Missile Command. So, you have a chance.

: Do you — You have an old car, don’t you? Don’t you have like an old Jaguar?

: Yeah. How did you know that? Let’s pause for that. I have a ’61 series 1 E-type Jaguar.

: Ich liebe Autos.

: It’s great.

: Ja, ich liebe alte Autos.

: Die einzige...

: That’s one of the things-

: Ja, die einzigen beiden Benzinautos, die ich habe, sind das und ein alter Ford Model T, den mir ein Freund geschenkt hat. Das sind meine einzigen beiden Benzinautos.

: Is the Ford Model T all stock? Oh, there’s your car. Look at that.

: Ich habe das Cabrio.

: Das ist ein wunderschönes Auto.

: It’s a soft car.

: God, that’s a good looking car.

: Ja.

: Ist das Ihrer?

: That is — It’s not mine. It’s extremely close to mine, but I don’t have a front license plate on mine.

: It’s a beautiful car. They nailed it. That new type-

: Meine sieht so aus.

: Gott, das haben sie gut hinbekommen.

: That’s what mine looks like. Maybe it is mine.

: There’s certain iconic shapes.

: Ja.

: And there’s something about those cars too. They’re not as capable, not nearly as capable as like a Tesla, but there’s something really satisfying about the mechanical aspect of like feeling the steering, and the-

: Ja, ja.

: … grinding of the gears and the shifting. Something about those that’s extremely satisfying even though they’re not that competent. Like I have a 1993 Porsche 964. It’s like lightweight. It’s an RS America. It’s not very fast. It’s not like in comparison to a Tesla or anything like that. But the thing about it is like it’s mechanical, you feel it. Everything’s like-

: Ja, sicher.

: It’s like it gives you this weird thrill, like you’re on this clunky ride, and there’s all this feedback. There’s something to that.

: Ja, genau. Ja, absolut. Ich meine, ja. Mein E-Type hat praktisch keine Elektronik.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s-

: Das gefällt Ihnen also, aber Sie mögen auch Elektronik.

: Ja.

: Like Tesla Sup, it’s like the far end of electronics.

: Ja.

: Es fährt von selbst.

: It’s driving itself better every day.

: Ja, ja.

: We’re about to release the software that will enable you to just turn it on, and it’ll drive from highway on ramp, to highway exit, do lane changes, overtake other cars-

: Jesus.

: Um von einer Anschlussstelle zur nächsten zu gelangen. Wenn man, sagen wir, auf die 405 fährt, 300 Meilen später abfährt und über mehrere Autobahnkreuze fährt und einfach andere Autos überholt und sich in das Navigationssystem einklinkt und dann-.

: And you’re just meditating, om.

: Ja, ja.

: Während Ihr Auto gerade unterwegs ist.

: It’s kind of eerie. It’s kind of eerie.

: What did you think when you saw that video of that dude fallen asleep behind the wheel? I’m sure you’ve seen it, the one in San Francisco. It’s like right outside of San Jose. It’s out cold, like this. And the cars an inch bumper-to-bumper in traffic moving along.

: Ja, ja.

: You’ve seen it, right?

: Yeah, yeah. We just changed the software. Changed the software. That’s, I think, an old video. We changed software. If you don’t touch the wheel, it will gradually slow down, and put the emergency lights on, and wake you up.

: Oh, das ist lustig.

: Ja, ja.

: That’s hilarious.

: Ja, ja.

: Können Sie wählen, welche Stimme Sie weckt?

: Well, it’s sort of more of a — It sort of honks.

: Es hupt.

: Ja, ja.

: There should be like, “Wake up, fuckface. You’re endangering your fellow humans.”

: Wir könnten Sie sanft mit einer schwülen Stimme aufwecken.

: That would be good like something with a southern accent. “Hey, wake up.”

: Aufwachen, Sonnenschein.

: Hey, Süße.

: Ganz genau.

: Why don’t you wake up?

: Sie können sich aussuchen...

: Genau, wie...

: Wie alles, was du willst. Ja.

: Ja, ich habe mich für die Australierin als Siri entschieden.

: Ja, ja.

: Ich mag ihre Stimme.

: Wollen Sie es verführerisch?

: It’s my favorite. I like Australian.

: Welche Geschmacksrichtung? Mach, was du willst, dass es wütend wird. Es könnte alles sein.

: Sie wollen diese australischen Gefängnisfrauen-Gene. Wenn Sie so etwas einprogrammieren, ist das dann die Antwort auf ein Anliegen oder ist es Ihr eigenes?

: Ja, ja.

: Do look at it and go, “Hey, they shouldn’t just be able to fall asleep. Let’s wake them up.”

: Yeah, yeah. It’s like — You know, we’re like — Yeah, people are falling asleep. We’ve got to do something about that.

: Right. But when you first released it, you didn’t consider it, right? You’re just like, “Well, no one’s going to just sleep.”

: Ständig schlafen Menschen in ihren Autos ein.

: Die ganze Zeit über.

: Sie stürzen ab.

: Yeah, it’s horrible.

: At least, our car doesn’t crash. That’s better.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s better not to crash.

: Ja, ja.

: Stellen Sie sich vor, der Mann wäre in einem Benzinauto eingeschlafen - das passiert ständig.

: Mit Sicherheit, ja.

: Sie würden mit jemandem zusammenstoßen.

: Ja, ja.

: And, in fact, the thing that really, you know, got me to — It’s like, “Man, we better get a autopilot going and get it out.” A guy was in an early Tesla driving down the highway, and he fell asleep, and he ran over a cyclist, and killed him. I was like, “Man, if we had autopilot, he might have fallen asleep, but, at least, he wouldn’t run over that cyclist.”

: Und wie haben Sie das umgesetzt? Habt ihr einfach Kameras benutzt und...

: Ja, ja.

: ... mit dem System programmiert, so dass, wenn es Bilder sieht, es langsamer wird? Und wie viel Zeit bekommen Sie? Und wie...

: Ja, ja.

: Is the person who’s in control of it allow the program to how fast it goes?

: Ja, man kann ihn so programmieren, dass er mehr oder weniger, z.B. konservativer oder aggressiver fährt. Und du kannst sagen, welche Geschwindigkeit du willst - Welche Geschwindigkeit ist okay.

: Ich weiß, dass Sie den Lächerlich-Modus haben. Haben Sie auch den Deppen-Modus?

: Nun, in...

: Es schneidet die Leute einfach ab.

: Well, for lane changes, it’s tricky because if you’re in like LA, like unless you’re pretty aggressive, right, it’s hard to change lanes sometimes.

: You can’t. It’s hard to be Satnam. It’s hard to be Namaste here in LA.

: Ja, ja.

: Wenn Sie den Santa Monica Boulevard in...

: I mean, you’ve got to be a little pushy.

: You’ve got to be a little pushy, yeah.

: Auf der Autobahn.

: Vor allem, wenn Sie wütend waren.

: Ja.

: If you’re a little angry, they don’t want you, and they speed up.

: Sometimes, yeah, I think, people like overall are pretty nice on the highway, even in LA, but sometimes they’re not.

: Glauben Sie, dass der Neuralink so schnell helfen wird?

: Wahrscheinlich.

: Alle werden zusammen eingeschlossen sein, dieser Bienenstockgeist.

: Tunnels will help it. We wouldn’t have traffic.

: Das wird sehr hilfreich sein.

: Ja.

: Wie viele davon können Sie dort unterbringen?

: Das Schöne an Tunneln ist.

: Denken Sie dabei an alle?

: Das Schöne an Tunneln ist, dass man sie in 3D sehen kann.

: Ach ja.

: Sie können also viele Stufen erreichen.

: Richtig.

: Also -

: Bis du triffst.

: Ja, aber du gehst - Du kannst 100 Levels mit Bomben haben.

: Jesus Christ. I don’t want to be on 99. That would be a negative 99 floors.

: This is one of the fundamental things people don’t appreciate about tunnels is that it’s not like roads. The fundamental issue with roads is that you have a 2D transport system and a 3D living and workspace environment. So, you’ve got all these tall buildings or concentrated work environments. And then, you want to go into those like 2D transport system with-

: Äußerst ineffizient.

: … pretty low density because cars are spaced out pretty far. And so, that, obviously, is not going to work. You’re going to have traffic guaranteed. But if you can go 3D on your transport system, then you can solve all traffic. And you can either go 3D up with a flying car, or you can go 3D down with tunnels. You can have as many tunnel levels as you want, and you can arbitrarily relieve any amount of traffic. You can go further down with tunnels than you can go up with buildings. You’re 10,000 feet down if you want. I wouldn’t recommended it, but-.

: What was that movie with — What’s his face? Bradley — Not Bradley Cooper, Christian? No. What the fuck is his name? Batman. Who is Batman?

: Christian Bale.

: Christian Bale, wo sie gegen Drachen kämpften. Er und Matthew McConaughey. Er ging tief in die Erde hinab. Wie tief kannst du gehen?

: I don’t think that was Batman.

: Ja, das war es. Ja, das war es.

: Batman fought dragons? I don’t-

: No, it wasn’t Batman but it’s Christian Bale.

: Der Regen des Feuers.

: Regen aus Feuer.

: Ja.

: Haben Sie das nie gesehen?

: Nein.

: Schrecklich. Schrecklich, aber gut. Ich würde es mir einmal ansehen.

: I wouldn’t recommend drilling super far down but the earth is a big-

: Yeah, but you can’t drill deep. It gets hot, right?

: ... geschmolzen

: Ja, ja.

: The earth is a giant ball of lava with a thin crust on the top, which we think of as like the surface, this thin crust. And it’s mostly just a big bowl of lava. That’s earth, but 10,000 feet is not a big deal.

: Haben Sie sich mit der Bewegung der flachen Erde befasst?

: That’s a troll situation.

: Oh, it’s not. No, it’s not. You would like to think that-

: Ja.

: … because you’re super genius. But I, as a normal person, I know these people are way dumber than me. And they really, really believe. They watch YouTube videos, which go on uninterrupted, and spew out a bunch of fucking fake facts very eloquently and articulately. And they really believe. These people really believe.

: Ich meine, wenn es für sie funktioniert, klar. Gut.

: It’s weird though, right, that in this age where, you know, there’s ludicrous mode in your car, goes 1.9 seconds, 060.

: That’s 2.2.

: 2.2. Which one’s 1.9? The Coaster.

: Der Roadster der nächsten Generation.

: Ja.

: Standardausgabe.

: Yeah, I’m on top of this shit.

: That’s just without-

: Standardausgabe.

: Yeah. So, it’s not the performance package.

: Welches Leistungspaket?

: Ja.

: Was zum Teufel brauchen Sie?

: Wir haben ein Raketentriebwerk eingebaut.

: Im Ernst?

: Ja.

: Was werden sie verbrennen?

: Nichts. Ultrahochdruck-Druckluft.

: Wow. Nur Luft?

: Man nennt sie einfach Gasdüsen.

: Haben Sie dann die Lufttanks oder die...

: Ja, ja.

: Luft saugen, okay.

: Ja, er hat eine elektrische Pumpe.

: Wow.

: Pumpen Sie es mit 10.000 PSI auf.

: Und von welcher Geschwindigkeit reden wir? Von Null auf 60.

: Wie schnell wollen Sie fahren?

: Ich möchte gehen.

: Wir könnten das Ding zum Fliegen bringen.

: Ich möchte in der Zeit zurückgehen.

: Ich kann ihn fliegen lassen.

: Sie lassen ihn fliegen?

: Ja, sicher.

: Do you anticipate that as being — I mean, you’re talking about the tunnels and then flying cars. Do you really think that’s going to be real?

: Too noisy, and there’s too much airflow. So, the final issue with flying cars, I mean, if you get like one of those like toy drones, think of how loud those are and how much air they blow. Now, imagine if that’s like a thousand times heavier. This is not going to make your neighbors happy. Your neighbors are not going to be happy if you land a flying car in your backyard.

: Es wird sehr helikopterartig sein.

: Or on your roof. It’s just really going to be like, “What the hell. That was annoying.”

: Ja, ja.

: You can’t even — Like, if you want a flying car, just put some wheels on a helicopter.

: Is there a way around that? Like what if they figure out some sort of magnetic technology, like all those Bob Lazar type characters who were thinking that was a part of the UFO technology they were doing at Area 51? Remember, didn’t they have some thoughts about magnetics? Nope.

: Nein? Schwachsinn?

: Ja.

: Wirklich?

: Yeah. There’s a fundamental momentum exchange with the air. So, you must accelerate. There’s like this — There’s a sudden — You have a mass, and you have gravitational acceleration. And mass times — Your mass times gravity must equal the mass of airflow times acceleration of that airflow to have a neutral force. MG=MA

: So, it’s impossible to go around-

: And then you won’t move.

: Ja.

: If MG is greater than MA, you will go down. And if MA is greater than MG, you will go up. That’s how it works.

: There’s just no way around that?

: Es führt definitiv kein Weg daran vorbei.

: There’s no way to create some sort of a magnetic something or another that allows you to float?

: Technisch gesehen, ja. Man könnte einen Magneten haben, der stark genug ist, aber dieser Magnet wäre so stark, dass er eine Menge Probleme verursachen würde.

: Es würde einfach Autos in Ihr Auto saugen? Einfach Achsen aufheben und das tun?

: I mean, it should have to repel off of either material on the ground or in a really nutty situation off of Earth’s gravitational field, and somehow make that incredibly light, but that magnet would cause so much destruction. You’d be better off with a helicopter.

: Wenn es also eine Art Magnetstraße gäbe, z. B. zwei Magnete, die sich gegenseitig abstoßen, wenn man eine Art Magnetstraße hätte, die sich unter einem befindet, und man auf dieser Magnetstraße reisen könnte, würde das funktionieren?

: Ja. Ja, Sie können eine Magnetstraße haben.

: Eine Magnetstraße. Ist das zu lächerlich?

: Nein, es wird funktionieren. Sie könnten das also tun.

: That’s ridiculous too, right?

: Ich würde es nicht empfehlen.

: There’s a lot of things you don’t recommend.

: Das würde ich auf keinen Fall empfehlen. Nicht gut. Nicht klug, denke ich.

: Nein?

: Nein.

: Magnetstraßen?

: Nein. Nein. Nein, definitiv nicht. Auf gar keinen Fall. Ja, das würde eine Menge Ärger verursachen.

: Sie haben also etwas Zeit und Überlegung in die Sache gesteckt und nicht - Sie wissen schon, stattdessen meine dummen Gedanken. Du denkst also, dass Tunnel der richtige Weg sind?

: Oh, es wird sicher funktionieren.

: That’ll work?

: Ja.

: And these tunnels that you’re building right now, these are basically just like test versions of this ultimate idea that you have?

: You know, it’s just a hole in the ground.

: Das stimmt. Wir haben Videos davon abgespielt, in denen deine Ideen...

: It’s just a hole in the ground.

: … that you drop that hole in the ground. There’s a sled on it, and the sled goes very fast, like 100 miles an hour plus.

: Yeah, it can go real fast. You can go as fast as you want. And then, if you want to go long distances, you can just draw the air out of the tunnel, make sure it’s real straight.

: Die Luft aus dem Tunnel absaugen?

: Yeah, it’s sort of vacuum tunnel because the — And then, depending on how fast you want to go, you’re going to take these wheels, or you could use air bearings depending upon the ambient pressure in the tunnel, or you could mag lev it if you want to go super fast.

: Also, Magnetstraße?

: Ja, unterirdische Magnetstraßen.

: Unterirdische Magnetstraßen?

: Yeah. Otherwise, you’re going to really create a lot of trouble because of those metal things.

: Ach so. Also, die Magnetstraße ist der richtige Weg, nur unterirdisch.

: Wenn Sie wirklich schnell unter Tage fahren wollen, würden Sie in einem Vakuumtunnel mag lev sein.

: Mag in einem Vakuumtunnel.

: Magnetisches Schweben in einer Vakuum-Tunnelrakete. Spaß?

: Mit Raketenwerfern?

: Nein, ich würde nicht empfehlen, irgendwelche...

: Na los!

: ... die Abgase im Tunnel.

: Oh, okay. I see what you’re saying because then the air will be gone.

: Denn dann pumpt die Luft sie heraus.

: Das stimmt. Du musst sie abpumpen, und du hast wahrscheinlich von vornherein nur eine begrenzte Menge an Luft. Wie viel können Sie atmen? Müssen Sie Sauerstoff in diese Kabinen, in diese Schläuche pumpen?

: No. We have a pressurized pod. It’d be like a little tiny underground spaceship basically.

: Like an airplane because you have air on airplanes. It’s not getting new air in.

: Das ist es.

: Ist es das?

: Ja.

: Hast du ein kleines Loch?

: Ja, sie haben eine Pumpe.

: Wirklich?

: Ja, ja.

: Er bekommt es also von außen?

: Ja.

: Wow, I didn’t know that.

: It’s like the air’s — Airplanes have it easy because, essentially, you can — they’re pretty leaky, but-

: Jesus.

: Yeah, but as long as the air pump is working at a distance. I mean, they have backup pumps, sort of like, you know, three pumps, or four pumps, or something. And then, there’s like — It exhausts through the outflow valve and through whatever seals are not sealing quite right. Usually, the door doesn’t seal quite right on the plane. So, there’s a bit of leakage around the door. But the pumps exceed the outflow rate. And then, that sets the pressure in the cabin.

: Now, have you ever looked at planes and gone, “I can fix this.”

: Ja, ja.

: “I just don’t have the time.”

: Ich habe einen Entwurf für ein Flugzeug.

: Und Sie?

: Ja.

: Ein besseres Design?

: Ich meine, wahrscheinlich. Ich denke, das ist es, ja.

: Mit wem haben Sie darüber gesprochen?

: I’ve talked to friends.

: Freunde?

: Freunde und...

: I’m your friend.

: Freundinnen und...

: You can tell me. What you got? What’s going on?

: Nun, ich meine, das Spannendste wäre eine Art elektrischer Senkrechtstarter und -landegerät, ein Überschallflugzeug oder ähnliches.

: Senkrechtstart und -landung, d.h. keine Landebahn erforderlich. Sie schießen einfach gerade in die Luft.

: Ja, ja.

: Wie würden Sie das machen? Ich meine, das machen sie doch in einigen Militärflugzeugen, oder?

: Ja. Der Trick ist, dass man in den Horizontalflug übergehen muss. Und dann ist das Ding, das man für Senkrechtstart und -landung verwenden würde, nicht für den Hochgeschwindigkeitsflug geeignet.

: Sie haben also zwei verschiedene Systeme? Der Senkrechtstart ist ein System?

: I’ve thought about this quite a lot. I’ve thought about this quite a lot.

: Ja.

: I guess, thinking about an electric plane is that you want to go as high as possible, but you need a certain energy density in the battery pack because you have to overcome gravitational potential energy. Once you’ve overcome gravitational potential energy, and you’re out at a high altitude, the energy use in cruise is very low. And then, you can recapture a large part of the gravitational potential energy on the way down. So, you really don’t need any kind of reserve fuel, if you will, because you have the energy of height, gravitational potential energy. This is a lot of energy.

: So, once you can get high, like the way to think about a plane is it’s a force balance. So, the force balance — So, a plane that is not accelerating is a neutral force balance. You have the force of gravity, you have the lift force, you have the wings. Then, you’ve got the force of the whatever thrusting device, so the propeller, or turbine, or whatever it is. And you’ve got the resistance force of the air.

: Now, the higher you go, the lower the air resistance is. Air density drops exponentially, but drag increases with the square, and exponential beats the square. The higher you go, the faster you will go for the same amount of energy. And at a certain altitude, you can go supersonic with less energy per mile, quite a lot less energy per mile than an aircraft at 35,000 feet because it’s just a force balance.

: I’m too stupid for this conversation.

: Aber es ist sinnvoll.

: No, I’m sure it does. Now, when you think about this new idea of of design, when you have this idea about improving planes, are you going to bring this to somebody and check this one out?

: Nun, ich habe eine Menge zu tun.

: Right. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know how you do what you do now, but if you keep coming up with these. But it’s got to be hard to pawn this off on someone else either, like, “Hey, go do a good job with this vertical takeoff and landing system that I want to implement to regular planes.”.

: The airplane, electric airplane isn’t necessarily right now. Electric cars are important. We need-

: Wir brauchen eine Art von...

: Solar energy is important. Stationary storage of energy is important. These things are much more important than creating electric supersonic futile. Also, the plane’s naturally — You really want that gravitational energy density for an aircraft, and this improving over time. So, you know, it’s important that we accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. That’s why electric cars, it matters whether electric cars happen sooner or later. You know, we’re really playing a crazy game here with the atmosphere or the oceans.

: Ja, ja.

: We’re taking vast amounts of carbon from deep underground and putting this in the atmosphere. It’s just crazy. We should not do this. It’s very dangerous. So, we should accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. I mean, the bizarre thing is that, obviously, we’re going to run out of oil in the long term. You know, we’re going to — There’s only so much oil we can mine and burn. It’s totally logical. We must have a sustainable energy transport and energy infrastructure in the long term.

: So, we know that’s the endpoint. We know that. So, why run this crazy experiment where we take trillions of tons of carbon from underground and put it in the atmosphere and oceans? This is an insane experiment. It’s the dumbest experiment in human history. Why are we doing this? It’s crazy.

: Do you think this is a product of momentum that we started off doing this when it was just a few engines, a few hundred million gallons of fuel over the whole world, not that big of a deal? And then, slowly but surely over a century, it got out of control. And now, it’s not just our fuel, but it’s also, I mean, fossil fuels are involved in so many different electronics, so many different items that people buy. It’s just this constant desire for fossil fuels, constant need for oil-

: Ja, ja.

: Ohne Rücksicht auf die Nachhaltigkeit.

: You know, the things like oil, oil, coal, gas, it’s easy money.

: Richtig.

: It’s easy money. So-

: Have you heard about clean coal? The president’s been tweeting about it. It’s got to be real. CLEAN COAL, all caps. Did you see? He used all caps. Clean coal.

: Well, you know, it’s very difficult to put that CO2 back in the ground. It doesn’t like being in solid form.

: Haben Sie schon einmal über so etwas nachgedacht?

: Das kostet eine Menge Energie.

: Wie eine Art Filter, ein riesiger gebäudegroßer Filter, der den Kohlenstoff aus der Atmosphäre absaugt? Ist das möglich?

: No, no, it doesn’t. It’s not possible.

: Nein?

: Nein.

: Nein?

: Nein, definitiv nicht.

: So, we’re fucked?

: No, we’re not fucked. I mean, this is quite a complex question.

: Richtig.

: You know, we’re really just — When we — The more carbon we take out of the ground and add to the atmosphere, and a lot of it gets permeated into the oceans, the more dangerous it is. Like I don’t think right — I think we’re okay right now. We can probably even add some more but the momentum towards sustainable energy is too slow.

: Like there’s a vast base of industry, vast transportation system. Like there’s Two and a half billion cars and trucks in the world. And the new car and truck production, if it was a 100% electric, that’s only about 100 million per year. So, it would take — If you could snap your fingers and instantly turn all cars and trucks electric, it would still take 25 years to change the transport base to electric. It makes sense because how long does a car and truck last before it goes into the junkyard and gets crushed? About 20 to 25 years.

: Gibt es eine Möglichkeit, diesen Prozess zu beschleunigen, z. B. in Form von Subventionen oder finanzieller Unterstützung durch die Regierung?

: Well, the thing that is going on right now is that there is an inherent subsidy in any oil-burning device. Any power plant or car is fundamentally consuming the carbon capacity of the oceans and atmosphere, or just the atmosphere for short. So, like, you can say, okay, there’s a certain probability of something bad happening past a certain carbon concentration in the atmosphere.

: And so, there’s some uncertain number where if we put too much carbon into the atmosphere, things overheat, oceans warm up, ice caps melt, ocean real estate becomes a lot less valuable, you know, if something’s underwater, but it’s not clear what that number is. But, definitely, scientists, it’s really quite — The scientific consensus is overwhelming. Overwhelming.

: I mean, I don’t know any serious scientist, actually zero, literally zero who don’t think, you know, that we have quite a serious climate risk that we’re facing. And so, that’s fundamentally a subsidy occurring with every fossil fuel burning thing, power plants, aircraft, car frankly even rockets. I mean, rockets use up — you know, they burn. They burn fuel. But there’s just — you know, with rockets, there’s just no other way to get to orbit unfortunately. So, it’s the only way.

: But with cars, there’s definitely a better way with electric cars. And to generate the energy, do so with photovoltaics because we’ve got a giant nuclear reactor in the sky called the sun. It’s great. It sort of shows up every day, very reliable. So, if you can generate energy from solar panels, store up with batteries, you can have energy 24 hours a day.

: Und dann kann man den Strom mit Hochspannungsleitungen zu den Wahllokalen oder in die Luft in den Norden schicken. In den meisten nördlichen Regionen der Welt gibt es auch eine Menge Wasserkraft. Aber wie auch immer, alle mit fossilen Brennstoffen betriebenen Dinge haben eine inhärente Subvention, nämlich den Verbrauch der Kohlenstoffkapazität der Atmosphäre und der Ozeane.

: So, people tend to think like why should electric vehicles have a subsidy, but they’re not taking into account that all fossil fuel-burning vehicles fundamentally are subsidized by the cost, the environmental cost to earth, but nobody’s paying for it. We are going to pay for it, obviously. In the future, we’ll pay for it. It’s just not paid for now.

: Und was ist der Engpass bei Elektroautos, Lastwagen und dergleichen? Ist es die Batteriekapazität?

: Ja, das stimmt. Man muss die Produktion hochfahren. Man muss das Auto attraktiv machen, es besser machen als Benzin- oder Dieselfahrzeuge.

: Make it more efficient in terms of, like, the distance it can travel? You’re going to be fueling-

: Yeah, you’re going to be able to go far enough, recharge fast.

: And your Roadster, you’re anticipating 600 miles. Is that correct?

: Ja, ja, ja.

: Was ist das? Was ist das?

: Ja, 600 Meilen.

: Ist das gerade jetzt? Wie haben Sie eine 600 Meilen jetzt gefahren?

: No. We could totally make one right now that would do 600 miles, but the thing is too expensive. So, like the car’s got to-

: Wie viel mehr?

: Well, you know, just have a chartered kilowatt hour battery pack, and you can go 600 miles as long as you’re-

: Richtig, und was haben Sie jetzt?

: 330-mile range. That’s plenty for most people.

: 330 Meilen Reichweite. Und was bedeutet das in Bezug auf die Kilowattleistung?

: Nun, das wäre für Model S, 100-Kilowattstunden-Pack wird etwa 330 Meilen zu tun. Vielleicht 335, weil einige Leute haben hyper mild es bis 500 Meilen pro Meile.

: Hyper mild it. Was bedeutet das?

: Ja, mach einfach weiter.

: 45 Meilen pro Stunde oder so?

: Yeah, like 30 miles an hour or so. It’s like on level ground with — You pump the tires up really well, and go on a smooth surface, and you can go for a long time. But, you know, like definitely comfortably do 300 miles.

: Gibt es eine...

: This is fine for most people. Usually, 200 or 250 miles is fine. 300 miles is — You don’t even think about it really.

: Is there any possibility that you could use solar power, solar-powered one day, especially in Los Angeles? I mean, as you said about that giant nuclear reactor, a million times bigger than Earth just floating in the sky. Is it possible that one day, you’ll be able to just power all these cars just on solar power? I mean, we don’t ever have cloudy days if we do just three of them.

: Nun, die Oberfläche eines Autos ist, ohne dass das Auto wirklich klotzig aussieht, oder mit irgendwelchen...

: Wie ein G-Wagen.

: Ja, und wenn es eine große Oberfläche hätte, oder wenn man die Solarzellen ausklappen könnte, oder so.

: Like your E class. That’s what it needed.

: Der E-Typ?

: Ja, der Jaguar E-Type mit der riesigen langen Motorhaube, das könnte ein riesiges Solarpanel sein.

: Well, at the beginning of Tesla, I did want to have this like unfolding solar panel thing. They’d press a button, and it would just like unfold these solar panels, and like charge/recharge your car in the parking lot. Yeah, we could do that, but I think it’s probably better to just put that on your roof.

: Richtig, ja.

: And then, it’s going to — It should be facing the sun all the time because like-

: Welches Auto hat das auf dem Dach?

: Ansonsten könnte Ihr Auto im Schatten stehen. Es könnte im Schatten stehen oder in einer Garage oder so etwas.

: Richtig.

: Ja, ja.

: Didn’t the Fisker have that on the roof? The Fisker Karma New Generation for — I believe, it was only for the radio. Is that correct?

: Ja, ich meine, aber ich denke, es könnte so etwas wie zwei Meilen pro Tag aufladen oder so.

: Hast du gelacht, als sie anfingen zu explodieren, als sie mit Wasser getroffen wurden? Erinnern Sie sich, was passiert ist?

: Was haben sie?

: Ja, sie hatten ein Autohaus oder...

: Ach ja.

: Die Fisker Karmas wurden geparkt.

: Ist das bei einer Überschwemmung in Jersey auch so?

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja.

: When the hurricane came in, they got overwhelmed with water, and they all started exploding. There’s a fucking great video of it. Did you watch the video?

: I didn’t watch the video, but I did see — It’s like some picture of the aftermath.

: If I was you, I’d be naked, lubed up, watch that video, laugh my Arsch off. They all blow up. They got wet, and they blew up. That’s not good.

: Yeah, we made our battery waterproof, so that doesn’t happen. Actually-

: Kluger Schachzug.

: Ja, da war ein Typ in Kasachstan, der - ich glaube, es war Kasachstan - mit einem Boot durch einen Tunnel gefahren ist, einen Unterwassertunnel, einen überfluteten Tunnel, und er hat einfach die Räder gedreht, um zu lenken, und auf das Gaspedal gedrückt, und es ist einfach durch den Tunnel geschwebt.

: Wow.

: Und er lenkte um die anderen Autos herum. Ich meine, wie...

: That’s amazing.

: It’s on the internet.

: What happens if your car gets a little sideways, like if you’re driving in snow? Like what if you’re driving, if you’re autopilot is on, and you’re in like Denver, and it snows out, and your car gets a little sideways, does it correct itself? Does that-

: Oh yeah. It’s got great traction control.

: Aber weiß sie auch, wie man sich korrekt verhält? Weißt du, wie man, wenn dein Aufsteiger...

: Oh ja, sicher.

: ... Tritte, weißt du, wie man gegensteuert?

: Oh, yeah. No, it’s really good.

: Es weiß, wie es geht?

: Ja, ja.

: Wow.

: It’s pretty crazy.

: That’s pretty crazy.

: Ja, ja.

: So, like if you’re going sideways, it knows how to correct itself?

: It generally won’t go sideways.

: It won’t?

: Nein.

: Warum nicht?

: Er wird sich selbst korrigieren, bevor er abrutscht.

: Auch bei schwarzen Augen?

: Yeah. There’s videos where you could see the car, the traction-

: Nicht allein.

: Traction control system is very good. It makes you feel like Superman. It’s great. You like feel like you can — Like it’s — It will make you feel like this incredible driver.

: Ich glaube es.

: Ja, ja.

: Und wie programmiert man das?

: Wir haben Tests auf einem Eissee in Schweden.

: Ach wirklich?

: Ja, das stimmt. Und wie Norwegen und Kanada und ein paar andere Orte.

: Porsche macht das auch oft? Sie tun...

: Sie haben es auch getan?

: They do a lot of their — They do some of their driver training school on these frozen surfaces. So, you’re just — The car is going sideways whether you like it or not. And you have to learn how to slide into corners, and how do we test.

: Ja, das stimmt. Elektroautos haben eine wirklich gute Traktionskontrolle, weil die Reaktionszeit so schnell ist.

: Richtig.

: Sort of like where you’re gassing a car, you’ve got a lot of latency. It takes a while for the engine to react, but for electric motors, incredibly precise. That’s why you’re like — You imagine like if you had like a printer or something, you wouldn’t have a gasoline engine printer. That would be pretty weird or like a surgical device. It’s going to be an electric motor on the surgical device on the printer. Gasoline engine’s going to be just chugging away. It’s not going to have the reaction time.

: But to an electric motor, it’s operating at the most second level. So, it can turn on and off traction within, like, inches of getting on the onus. Like, let’s say, you’re driving on a patch of ice, it will turn traction off, and then turn it on a couple inches right after the ice, like a little patch of ice because in the frame of the electric motor, you’re moving incredibly slowly. You’re like a — You’re a snail. You’re just moving so slowly because it can see at a thousand frames a second. And so, it’s like, say, one Mississippi. It just thought about it things a thousand times.

: So, it’s to realize that your wheels are not getting traction. It understands there’s some slippery surface that you’re driving on.

: Ja.

: Und es nimmt Anpassungen in Echtzeit vor.

: Ja, in Millisekunden.

: Das wäre so viel sicherer als ein normales Auto.

: Ja, das ist sie.

: Just that alone, for loved ones, you’d want them to be driving your car.

: Ja. Die...

: Oder an Bord. Scheiß auf Motoren. Kumpel, scheiß auf normale Motoren.

: Dass S, X und 3 die geringste Verletzungswahrscheinlichkeit aller jemals von der US-Regierung getesteten Autos haben.

: Wow.

: So, this — Yeah, but it’s pretty fun. It’s pretty crazy. Like we — You know, people still sue us like they’ll have like some accident at 60 miles an hour where they’d like twisted an ankle, and they slipped. Like they will be dead in another car, they still sue us.

: But that’s to be expected, isn’t it?

: Das war zu erwarten.

: Do you take that into account with like the same sort of fatalistic, you know, undertones to sort of just go, “You’ve got to just let it go. This is what people do.”

: I tell you I’ve got-

: Das ist es, was es ist.

: … Quite a lot of respect for the justice system. Judges are very smart. And they see — they’ve — as like I haven’t. So far, I’ve found judges to be very good at justice because like what — and juries are good too. Like, they’re actually quite good. You know, people — You know, you read about like occasional errors in the justice system. Let me tell you, most the time, they’re very good.

: Und wie der andere Typ, der im Auto eingeschlafen ist und einen Radfahrer überfahren hat. Das hat mich darin bestärkt, den Autopiloten so schnell wie möglich abzuschalten. Der Typ hat uns verklagt.

: Er hat Sie verklagt, weil Sie eingeschlafen sind?

: Yes. I’m not kidding. He blamed it on the new car smell.

: Wie?

: Ja.

: He blamed him falling asleep on your new car smell. Does someone that’s a lawyer-

: Das ist wirklich passiert.

: Someone that’s a lawyer that thought that through in front of his laptop before he wrote that up.

: Yes, he got a lawyer, and he sued us, and the judge was like, “This is crazy. Stop bothering me. No.”

: Gott sei Dank.

: Ja.

: Thank God. Thank God there’s a judge out there with a brain.

: Ich sage Ihnen, die Richter sind sehr gut.

: Einige von ihnen.

: Ich habe eine Menge...

: Was ist mit dem Richter, der all diese Jungen in Pennsylvania in den Fluss geschickt hat und der diese Kinder verkauft hat? Kennen Sie diese Geschichte?

: Nö.

: Der Richter verkaufte junge Burschen an Gefängnisse. Er war buchstäblich...

: Wie?

: Ja, buchstäblich, unter Bestechung für... Er war...

: War das ein gewählter Richter oder...

: Er war...

: Because sometimes you have a judge that’s like actually a politician.

: Nein, er war ein gewählter Richter. Dies ist eine sehr berühmte Geschichte.

: Ja.

: He’s in jail right now, I think, for the rest of his life. And he put away — He would take like a young boy who would do something like steal something from a store, and he would put them in detention for, you know, five years. Something ridiculous egregious. And they investigated his history. And they found out that he was literally being paid off. Was it by private prisons? Is that what the the deal was? There was some sort of — But, anyway, this judge is-

: Eigentlich sind es zwei Richter.

: Zwei Richter?

: Two judges. Kids for cash scandals, let’s call them.

: Ja, ja.

: 2008, ja. Richter des allgemeinen Rechtswesens. Ich glaube, sie werden gewählt.

: And who was paying them? Someone — It proven to the point where they’re in jail now that someone was paying them to put more asses in the seats in these private prisons.

: It’s like a million-dollar payment to put them in a youth center builder.

: Eine Zahlung in Millionenhöhe?

: Ja, ja.

: Ich denke, diese privaten Gefängnisse sind...

: Jemand, der etwas zu tun hat.

: ... einen schlechten Anreiz schaffen.

: It’s dark.

: Richtig, ja. Aber, ich meine, dieser Richter ist im Gefängnis.

: Gott sei Dank.

: Ja, aber den Leuten, die denken, dass das Justizsystem nur aus solchen Richtern besteht, möchte ich versichern...

: Nein.

: ... das ist nicht der Fall. Die große Mehrheit der Richter ist sehr gut.

: Ich stimme zu.

: And they care about justice, and they could have made a lot more money if they wanted to be a trial lawyer. And instead, they cared about justice, and they made less money because they care about justice. And that’s why they’re judges.

: Ich empfinde das gleiche für Polizeibeamte.

: Ja.

: I feel like there’s so many interactions with so many different people with police officers that the very few that stand out that are horrific, we tend to look at that like, “This is evidence that police are all corrupt.” And I think that’s crazy.

: Nein. Die meisten Polizisten sind sehr ehrlich.

: Ja.

: Und wie das Militär...

: Als hätten sie eine wahnsinnige...

: ... Personal, das ich kenne...

: Ja.

: ... sind sehr ehrbare, ethische Menschen.

: Ja.

: And much more honorable and ethical than the average person. That’s my impression.

: I agree. That’s my impression as well.

: And that’s not to suggest that we be complacent and assume everyone is honest and ethical. And, obviously, if somebody is given a trusted place in society, such as being a police officer or a judge, and they are corrupt, then we must be extra vigilant against such situations-

: Ja.

: ... und Maßnahmen ergreifen. Aber wir sollten nicht denken, dass dies irgendwie allgemein für alle Menschen in diesem Beruf gilt.

: I couldn’t agree more. I think there’s also an issue with one of the things that happens with police officers, prosecutors, and anyone that’s trying to convict someone or arrest someone is that it becomes a game. And in games, people want to win.

: Ja, ja.

: Und manchmal wird auch geschummelt.

: Yes, yes. I mean, you know, if you’re a prosecutor, you should not always want to win. There are times when you should like, “Okay. I just should not want to win this case.” And then, you know, like just pass on that case. Sometimes, people want to win too much. That is true.

: I think, also, it becomes tough. If you’re like a district attorney, you know, you tend to sort of see a lot of criminals. And then, your view of the world can get negatively.

: Ja.

: You know, have a negative — You know, you can have a negative view of the world because, you know, you’re just interacting with a lot of criminals. But, actually, most of society is not to consist of criminals.

: Richtig.

: And I, actually, had this conversation at dinner several years ago with, I guess, it’s Tony. I was like, “Man, it must, sometimes, seem pretty, pretty dark because, you know, man, there’s some terrible human beings out there. And he was like, “Yup.” And he was like dealing with some case, which consisted of a couple of old ladies that would run people over somehow for insurance money. It was rough. Like, “Wow, that’s pretty rough.” It’s like hard to maintain faith in humanity if you’re a district attorney, but, you know, it’s only a few percent of society that are actually bad.

: Und wenn man dann zu den Schlimmsten geht, sagen wir, 0,1% der Gesellschaft sind die Schlimmsten, einer von tausend, einer von einer Million, Sie wissen schon. Wie schlimm ist zum Beispiel der millionste schlimmste Mensch in den Vereinigten Staaten? Ziemlich verdammt schlimm. Wie verdammt böse.

: Ja, ja,

: Like the millionth, well, one in a million of evil is so evil, people cannot even conceive of it. But there’s 330 million people in the United States. So, that’s 330 people out there somewhere. But by the same token, there’s also 330 people who are incredible angels and unbelievably good human beings.

: Ja, ja.

: Auf der anderen Seite.

: Aber wegen unserer Angst vor der Gefahr neigen wir dazu - unsere Gedanken neigen dazu, sich auf das schlimmste Szenario zu konzentrieren.

: Ja.

: And we want to frame that. And that’s one of the real problems with prejudice, whether it’s prejudice towards different minorities, or prejudice towards police officers, or anything, it’s like we want to look at the worst-case scenario and say, “This is an example of what this is all about.”.

: And you see that even with people, how they frame genders. Some men frame women like that. They get ripped off by a few women, and they said, “All women are evil.” Some women get fucked over by a few men, “All men are shit.” And this is very toxic.

: Das ist es.

: And it’s also — It’s a very unbalanced way of viewing the world, and it’s very emotionally-based, and it’s based on your own experience, your own anecdotal experience. And it can be very influential to the people around you, and it’s just it’s a dangerous way. It’s a dangerous thought process and pattern to promote.

: It is. It is a very dangerous, but I really think, you know, people should give other people the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are good until proven otherwise. And, I think, really, most people are actually pretty good people. Nobody’s perfect.

: Das müssen sie auch sein.

: Ja.

: Wenn man bedenkt, wie viele von uns ständig miteinander zu tun haben.

: Ja, ja.

: ... wir müssen besser sein, als wir glauben, dass wir sind.

: Ja. Ich meine, wie...

: There’s no other way.

: I mean, here are these weapons but how many times, like, nobody’s presumably try to murder you and you’re-

: Noch niemand.

: Yes, nobody. It’s like the sword right there.

: Nicht der Flammenwerfer, sondern der gefälschte Flammenwerfer hier.

: Ganz genau.

: It’s not a flamethrower. Now, we’ve got a real problem, I’m going to put it on that side to him and leave it for the guests.

: Ja, ja.

: I’m like, “Look, man, if I say something that fucked up, it’s right there.”

: It will liven things up for sure. It’s guaranteed to make any party better.

: Yeah. Well, that’s — I mean, that’s the armed civilization theory, right. An armed community is safe and polite community.

: You know, in Texas, it’s kind of true. Yeah. I mean-

: People in Texas are super polite. Therefore, they’ve got a gun.

: Yes. Don’t make somebody angry.

: Ja, ja.

: We don’t know what’s going to happen.

: Yeah, it’s a good move.

: Ja, ja.

: Wenn man die Leute verärgert, wird jeder eine Waffe haben.

: Ja, ja.

: You’re off to just let that guy get in your lane.

: Ja, ja, ja. Wissen Sie, wir haben ein großes Testgelände in Zentraltexas in der Nähe von Waco.

: Ach ja? Wunderbar.

: Yes, Space X in McGregor. It’s about 15 minutes away from Waco.

: That’s close to where Ted Nugent lives.

: Ist es das?

: Ein Hoch auf Ted Nugent.

: Okay, cool.

: Ja, ja.

: Yeah, there’s — You know, we have lots of fire, and loud explosions, and things, and people-

: Darauf wette ich.

: ... sind sie damit einverstanden.

: They don’t give a fuck out there.

: They’re very supportive.

: Ja, das stimmt. Sie können Feuerwerkskörper dort kaufen, wo Ihre Kinder zur Schule gehen.

: Yeah. You know, it’s dangerous.

: Yeah, but it’s free.

: It’s free.

: There’s something about Texas-

: Ganz genau.

: … that’s very enticing because of that. It is dangerous, but it’s also free.

: Richtig.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ich mag Texas sogar irgendwie.

: I prefer it over places that are more restrictive but more liberal because you could always be liberal. Like just because things are free and just because you have a certain amount of, you know, right wing type characters, it doesn’t mean you have to be that way, you know.

: Nein.

: And, honestly, there’s a lot of those people that are pretty fucking open minded and let you do whatever you want to do.

: Richtig.

: As long as you don’t bother them.

: Ja, genau.

: That’s my hope right now with the way we’re able to communicate with each other today and how radically different it is than generations past because we all — Just, the dust settles. We all realize, like what you’re saying that most people are good.

: Die meisten Menschen sind gut.

: Die große Mehrheit?

: Ja. Ich denke, wenn man den Leuten einen Vertrauensvorschuss gibt, dann sicher.

: I think you’re right. You know who could help with that? Mushrooms.

: Pilze.

: Don’t you think?

: They’re delicious.

: Ja, richtig.

: Ja, ja.

: They’re good for you too.

: Ja, ja.

: Alle von ihnen. Alle Arten von ihnen. Wenn Sie über die Zukunft Ihrer Unternehmen nachdenken, wo sehen Sie dann Engpässe? Möchten Sie mehr davon?

: Sicher. Vielen Dank.

: What do you see in terms of like bottlenecks of things that are holding back innovation? Is it regulatory commissions and people that don’t understand the technology that are influencing policy? Like what could potentially be holding you guys back right now? Is there anything that you would change?

: Yeah, that’s a good question. You know, I wish politicians were better at science. That would help a lot.

: That’s a problem.

: Ja.

: There’s no incentive for them to be good at science.

: There isn’t. Actually, you know, they’re pretty good at science in China, I have to say.

: Ja?

: Yeah. The mayor of Beijing has, I believe, an environmental engineering degree, and the deputy mayor has a physics degree. I met them, And Mayor says, “Shanghai is really smart and-“.

: You’re up on technology. What do you think about this government policy of stopping use of Huawei phones? And there’s something about the the worry about spying. I mean, from what I understand from real tech people, they think it’s horseshit.

: Oh, ich...

: Wie Telefone.

: I don’t know. I don’t know.

: Like the government say, “Don’t you buy Huawei phones.” Are you up on that at all? No? Should we just abandon this idea?

: Nun, ich denke, wenn man so etwas wie streng geheime Sachen hat, dann sollte man sehr vorsichtig sein, welche Hardware man benutzt. Aber die meisten Leute haben ja keine streng geheimen Sachen.

: Richtig.

: Und es interessiert niemanden, was für Pornos du guckst, weißt du.

: Richtig, ja.

: It’s like nobody actually cares, you know. So-.

: If they do, that’s kind of them.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s just like-

: National spy agencies do not give a rat’s ass which porn you watch. They do not care. So, like, what secrets does a national spy agency have to learn from the average citizen? Nothing.

: Well, that’s the argument against the narrative. And the argument by a lot of these tech people is that the real concern is that these companies, like Huawei, are innovating at a radical pace, and they’re trying to stop them from integrating into our culture and letting this. Like right now, they’re the number two cell phone manufacturer in the world.

: Ja.

: Samsung is number one. Huawei is number two. Apple is now number three. They surpassed Apple as number two. And the idea is that this is all taking place without them having any foothold whatsoever in America. There’s no carriers that have their phones. You have to buy their phones unlocked through some sort of a third party, and then put-

: Ja.

: And the worry is, you know, that these are somehow another controlled by the Chinese government. The Communist Chinese government is going to distribute these phones. And I don’t know if the worry’s economic influence or they’ll have too much power. I don’t know what it is. Are you paying attention on any of this?

: Nicht wirklich.

: Nein?

: I don’t think we should worry too much about Huawei phones, you know. Maybe, you know, a national security agency shouldn’t have Huawei phones. Maybe that’s a question mark. But I think for the average citizen, this doesn’t matter. Just like no, they’re not. I’m pretty sure the Chinese government does not care about the goings of the average American citizen.

: Is there a time where you think that there will be no security, it will be impossible to hold back information that whatever bottleneck we’ll let go, we’re going to give in? That whatever bottleneck between privacy and ultimate innovation will have to be bridged in order for us to achieve the next level of technological proficiency that we’re just going to abandon it, and there’ll be no security, no privacy?

: Wollen die Menschen ihre Privatsphäre schützen? Denn sie scheinen alles ins Internet zu stellen. Praktisch-.

: Well, right now, they are confused, but when you’re talking about your Neuralink, and this this idea that one day, we’re going to be able to share information, and we’re going to be some sort of a thing that’s symbiotically connected?

: Ja, ich glaube, wir machen uns in dieser Situation wirklich Sorgen um die Sicherheit.

: Und wenn...

: For sure. That’s like security will be paramount.

: Ja, sicher.

: Ja, ja.

: But, also, what we will be. This will be so much different. Our concerns about money, about status, about where all of these things will seemingly go by the wayside if we really become enlightened, if we really become artificially enlightened by some sort of an AI interface where we have this symbiotic relationship with some new internet type connection to information? But, you know, what happens then? What is important? What is not important? Is privacy important when we’re all gods?

: Ich meine, ich denke, dass die Dinge, die wir im Moment für wichtig halten, privat zu halten.

: Richtig.

: ... werden wir in Zukunft wahrscheinlich nicht mehr denken.

: Scham, richtig? Informationen, richtig? Was verbergen Sie? Emotionen? Was verbergen wir?

: I mean, I think, like, I don’t know. Maybe it’s like embarrassing stuff.

: Richtig, peinliches Zeug.

: But there’s actually — Like, I think, people, there’s like not that much that’s kept private that people — that is actually relevant.

: Richtig.

: That other people would actually care about. When you think other people care about it, but they don’t really care about it. And, certainly, governments don’t.

: Nun ja, einige Leute interessieren sich dafür. Aber dann wird es seltsam, wenn es enthüllt wird. So wie Jennifer Lawrence, als diese Nacktfotos enthüllt wurden. Ich glaube, in gewisser Weise mochten die Leute sie mehr.

: Ja, ja.

: They realized like she’s just a person. It’s just a girl who likes sex, and is just alive, and has a boyfriend, and sends him messages. And, now, you get to look into it, and you probably shouldn’t have, but somebody let it go, and they put it online, and all right.

: Es scheint ihr gut zu gehen.

: She’s a person. She’s just you, and me, and it’s the same thing. She’s just in some weird place where she’s on a 35-foot tall screen with music playing every time she talks.

: Yeah. I mean, I’m sure like not-

: No, but she’s fine.

: She’s not happy about it, but she’s-

: Nein.

: But she’s clearly doing fine.

: But once this interface is fully realized where we really do become something far more powerful in terms of our cognitive ability, our ability to understand irrational thoughts, and mitigate them, and that we’re all connected in some sort of an insane way. I mean, what are our thoughts on wealth, our thoughts on social status? Like how many of those just evaporate? And our need for privacy, maybe our need for privacy will be the ultimate bottleneck that we’ll have to surpass.

: I think, the things that we think are important now will probably not be important in the future, but there will be things that are important. It’s just, like, different things.

: Was wird wichtiger sein?

: I don’t know. There might be some more of ideas potentially. I don’t think Darwin’s going away.

: Richtig.

: Darwin’s going to be there.

: Das war's, ja.

: Darwin wird für immer da sein.

: Für immer, ja.

: Es wäre nur ein anderer Schauplatz. Ein anderer Schauplatz.

: Eine digitale Arena.

: Ein anderer Bereich. Darwin wird nicht verschwinden.

: Was hält Sie nachts wach?

: Well, it’s quite hard to run companies.

: Ja, ja.

: Especially car companies, I would say. It’s quite challenging.

: Das Autogeschäft ist das schwierigste von allem, was Sie tun?

: Yes, because it’s a consumer-oriented business as opposed to like SpaceX and-

: Not that SpaceX because SpaceX is no walk in the park, but a car company, it’s very difficult to keep a car company alive. It’s very difficult. You know, there’s only two companies in the history of American car companies that haven’t gone bankrupt, and that’s Ford and Tesla. That’s it.

: Yeah, Ford rode out that crazy storm, huh? They’re the only one.

: Mit Ach und Krach haben sie es geschafft.

: Schoss auf den Mustang hinaus.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, mit Ach und Krach. Das ist doch interessant, oder?

: Das Gleiche gilt für Tesla, wir haben kaum überlebt.

: Wie nahe sind Sie dem Falten gekommen?

: Sehr nah dran. Ich meine, 2008 ist keine gute Zeit, um ein Autounternehmen zu sein, vor allem kein Startup-Unternehmen und schon gar nicht ein Elektroauto-Unternehmen. Das war wie Dummheit im Quadrat.

: Und das war, als Sie diese coolen Roadster mit dem T-Top hatten?

: Ja, ja.

: Mit einer Zielscheibe?

: Ja, ja. Wir hatten so etwas wie ein - es war ein stark modifiziertes Elise-Fahrgestell. Die Karosserie war komplett anders. Das war übrigens eine superdumme Strategie, die wir da gemacht haben, weil wir...

: What’s dumb?

: It was based on two false premises. One false premise was that we would be able to cheaply convert the Lotus Elise, and use that as a car platform, and that we’ll be able to use technology from this little company called AC Propulsion for the electric drive train on the battery. Premise, the AC propulsion technology did not work in production, and we ended up using none of it in long-term. None of it. We had to resign everything.

: Und wenn man dann noch ein Batteriepaket und einen Elektromotor hinzufügt, wird das Auto noch schwerer. Es wurde 30% schwerer. Das machte die gesamte Struktur, die gesamte Crash-Struktur ungültig. Alles musste neu gemacht werden. Nichts. Ich glaube, es hatte weniger als 7% der Teile, die bei anderen Geräten wie Autos oder so üblich sind.

: 7%?

: Ja.

: Alles? Einschließlich Reifen und Räder, Schrauben, Bremsen?

: Ja, sogar jedes...

: Lenkrad? Sitz?

: Das Lenkrad war - ich glaube, das Lenkrad war fast dasselbe. Ja, die Windschutzscheibe. Die Windschutzscheibe.

: Anders?

: Nein. Ich glaube, die Windschutzscheibe ist die gleiche.

: Dasselbe?

: Ja, ich glaube, wir konnten die Windschutzscheibe behalten.

: But the last was 7%. So, that’s basically-

: Every body panel is different. The entire structure was different. We couldn’t use the, like, the HVAC system, the air conditioner. It was belt-driven air conditioner. So, now, we needed something that was electrically driven. We need a new AC compressor.

: Und all das geht auch zu Lasten der Akkulaufzeit, nicht wahr?

: Ja, genau. Wir brauchten eine kleine, hocheffiziente Klimaanlage, die in ein winziges Auto passte und elektrisch und nicht über einen Riemen angetrieben wurde. Das war sehr schwierig.

: Wie viel wiegen diese Autos und der Roadster?

: Ich glaube, es waren 2700 Pfund.

: That’s still very light.

: 27. Je nach Version 2650 bis 2750 Pfund, so in etwa.

: Und wie war die Gewichtsverteilung?

: It was about 50 — Well, there were different versions of the car. So, it’s about 55 on the rear.

: That’s not bad.

: Es war eine Vorspannung nach hinten.

: Richtig, aber nicht schlecht. Wenn man bedenkt, dass ein 911er einer der beliebtesten Sportwagen aller Zeiten ist. Starke Vorspannung im Heckbereich.

: Well, I mean, yeah. The 911, I’m not going to joke, is like the master despite Newton not being on their side.

: Ja, ja.

: I guess, fighting Newton, it’s very difficult.

: Nun-

: It’s like you’ve got those — The moments of inertia on a 911 don’t make any sense.

: Das tun sie, wenn man sie versteht. Sobald Sie verstehen...

: You don’t want to hang the engine off the ass. This is not a wise move.

: You don’t want to let up on the gas when you’re in a corner.

: The problem with something where the engine is mounted over the rear axle or off the rear axle towards the rear is that your polar moment of inertia is fundamentally screwed. You cannot solve this. It’s unsolvable. You’re screwed. Polar moment of inertia, you’re screwed.

: Richtig.

: Like, essentially, if you spawn the car like a top, that’s your polar moment of inertia. You’re just — I promise I wouldn’t swear on this show, by the way.

: Wirklich?

: Ja, ja.

: Wer sagt das?

: Das war für einen Freund.

: Sag deinem Freund, er soll sich ins Knie ficken. Wer hat dir gesagt, du sollst nicht fluchen?

: Ein Freund.

: He’s not a good friend.

: Ja, ja.

: Dieser Freund muss...

: I said I wouldn’t swear.

: … realize you’re fucking Elon Musk. You can do whatever you want, man. If you ever get confused, call me.

: I’ll swear in private. Swear up a storm.

: Okay, just say freaking. It’s a fun way. It’s like old house moms. Wives and shit that have children, “Oh, this freaking thing.”

: Yeah. But, anyway, like the Portia, it’s kind of incredible how well Porsche handles given that it’s the physics-.

: Ja.

: Die Trägheitsmomente sind so verkorkst. Dass es trotzdem gut funktioniert, ist unglaublich.

: Well, if you know how to turn into the corner once you get used to the feeling of it, there’s actual benefits to it. You know, there are some benefits.

: Ich genieße. Das Auto, das ich vorher hatte, war ein Tesla 911.

: Ja.

: Das war...

: 997 oder 6?

: Ja, ja.

: 997?

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, klar. Tolles Auto, Mann.

: Yeah. I mean, particularly, the Porsche wouldn’t have the variable veins on the turbo, and it didn’t have the turbo lag. That was great.

: Ja, ja.

: Das war wirklich toll. Der Turboloch ist, wie, Sie wissen, wenn Sie flirten, wie Telefon nach Hause, rufen Sie Ihre Mutter.

: Der ältere, richtig?

: It’s like about an hour later-

: Ja, ja.

: ... das Auto beschleunigt.

: Und supergefährlich, denn dann fängt es an zu spinnen und...

: Ja, ja.

: Yeah. There’s something fun about it though like feeling that rear weight kicking around, you know. And again-

: No, it’s great.

: … it’s not efficient.

: Es war ein gutes Gefühl.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ich stimme zu.

: But that’s what I was talking about earlier about that little car that I have, the ’93 911. It’s not fast. It’s not the best handling car, but it’s more satisfying than any other car I have because it’s so mechanical. It’s like everything about it, like crack holes, and bumps, and it gives you all this feedback. And I take it to the comic store because when I get there, I feel like my brain is just popping, and it’s on fire. It’s like a strategy for me now that I really stop driving other cars there. I drive that car there just for the brain juice, just for the-

: Ja, ja.

: Die Interaktion.

: Ich meine, Sie sollten das Model S P100D ausprobieren.

: I’ll try it.

: Es wird dich umhauen.

: Ja.

: ... und dein Schädel.

: Ja.

: Ja, ja.

: Tell me what to order, I’ll order it.

: Modell S P100D.

: Okay, Jamie. Jamie, schreib es auf.

: That’s the car that I drive.

: Okay. Okay, I’ll get the car you drive. Okay.

: Es wird dich umhauen.

: Wie weit kann ich fahren?

: ... aus deinem Schädel.

: Ich glaube Ihnen.

: Ja, ja.

: Wie weit kann ich fahren? Wie weit kann ich fahren?

: Etwa 300 Meilen.

: That’s good. For LA regular days, that’s good.

: Sie werden die Batterie nicht bemerken.

: Niemals?

: Niemals.

: Wie schwer ist es, eine dieser verrückten Steckdosen in Ihrem Haus zu installieren? Ist das so schwierig?

: No, it’s super easy. It’s like, yeah.

: Haben Sie...

: It’s like a dryer plug. It’s like a dryer outlet.

: Didn’t you come up with some crazy tiles for your roof that are solar paneled?

: Yeah, yeah. I have it on my roof right now actually. I’m just trying it out. The thing is it takes a while to test roof stuff because roofs have to last a long time.

: Richtig.

: Sie wollen also, dass Ihr Dach 30 Jahre hält.

: Kann man es auf ein normales Dach legen?

: No. So, there’s two versions. It’s like the solar panels you put on a roof. So, like, it depends on whether your roofs new or old. So, if your roofs new, you don’t want to replace the roof. You want to put like solar panels on the roof.

: Richtig.

: So, that’s like retrofit, you know. And they were trying to make the retrofit panels look real nice. But then, the new product were coming out with it is if you have a roof that’s either you’re building a house or you’re going to replace your roof anyway, then you make the tiles have solar cells embedded in the tiles.

: And then, it’s quite a tricky thing because you want to not see the solar cell behind the glass tile. So, you have to really work with the glass, and the various coatings, and the layers, so that you don’t see the solar cells behind the glass. Otherwise, it doesn’t look right.

: Richtig.

: So, it’s really tricky.

: Da ist es. Jaime, stell es da oben hin.

: Ja, ja.

: Mann, das sieht gut aus. Gibt es eine...

: See, like, if you look closely, you can see. If you zoom in, like, you can see the cell. But if you zoom out, you don’t see the cell.

: Stimmt, aber es sieht trotzdem so aus.

: Sehen Sie?

: Ja, ja.

: Like that’s hard.

: That’s invisible solar cells.

: It’s really hard because you have to get the sunlight go through.

: Richtig.

: But when it gets reflected back out, it doesn’t — it hides the fact that there’s a cell there.

: Sind diese jetzt für den Verbraucher verfügbar?

: Well, we have — I think, that’s-

: Die auf dem Dach dort?

: Ja.

: That’s amazing. Oh, that looks good.

: Ja, ja.

: Ooh, das gefällt mir.

: Das ist schwer.

: Ach so. Du hast also so ein falsches spanisches Ding. Das gefällt mir.

: That’s French slate.

: That’s why people in Connecticut are smoking pipes. Look at that one.

: Ja, ja.

: That’s badass, dude. So, now-

: Das wird tatsächlich funktionieren.

: Das glaube ich Ihnen. Reichen die Sonnenkollektoren auf dem Haus, das wir uns gerade angesehen haben, aus, um das gesamte Haus mit Strom zu versorgen?

: Es hängt von Ihrer Energie ab, wie effizient-

: Ausgaben?

: Ja, ja, ja.

: Richtig.

: So, generally, yes. I would say it’s probably for most. It’s going to vary, but anywhere from more than you need to maybe half. Like call it half to 1.5 of the energy that you need, depending on how much roof you have relative to living space.

: Und wie lächerlich du mit deinem Fernseher bist.

: Fernsehgeräte kein Problem. Klimatisierung.

: Klimatisierung.

: Air conditioning is the problem. If you have an efficient air conditioner, and you don’t — and depending on how — like, are you air conditioning rooms when they don’t need to be air conditioned, which is very common-

: Richtig.

: … because it’s a pain in the neck, you know. It’s like programming a VCR. It’s like-

: Richtig.

: Now, it’s just blinking 12:00. So, people are just like, “The hell with that. I’m just going to make it this temperature all day long.”.

: Right. You know how a smart home where if you’re in the room, then it stays cool, right?

: Yeah, it should predict when you’re going to be home, and then cool the rooms that you’re likely to use with a little bit of intelligence. We’re not talking about like genius home here. We’re talking like elementary basic stuff.

: Richtig.

: You know, like if you could hook that into the car, like manage you coming home. Like there’s no point cooling the home-

: Richtig.

: … keeping the home really cool when you’re not there.

: Richtig.

: But it can tell that you’re coming home, it’s just going to cool it to the right temperature right when you get there.

: Haben Sie eine App, die mit Ihren Solarmodulen funktioniert, oder etwas Ähnliches?

: Das stimmt. Ja, das tun wir.

: Und...

: Aber wir müssen sie an die Klimaanlage anschließen, damit sie auch wirklich funktioniert.

: Haben Sie schon einmal darüber nachgedacht, eine Klimaanlage zu bauen? Ich weiß, dass Sie das haben. Fangfrage.

: Er kann keine Fragen über die Zukunft potenzieller Produkte beantworten.

: Okay. Let’s just let it go. We’ll move on to the next thing.

: Das wäre eine interessante Idee.

: Ja, ich würde sagen, Strahlungsheizung und all das sind gute Ideen. Wenn man über die Effizienz dieser Häuser nachdenkt und über den Einsatz von Solarenergie und Batteriestrom nachdenkt, gibt es dann noch etwas, das die Leute übersehen? Gibt es noch etwas anderes - ich habe zum Beispiel gerade eine Smartwatch gesehen, die durch die Wärme des menschlichen Körpers angetrieben wird, und eine neue Technologie.

: It’s able to fully power that way?

: I don’t know-

: Ja.

: … if it’s fully or if it’s — Like this watch right here, this is a Casio.

: Ja.

: It’s called a Pro Trek. And it’s like an outdoors watch, and it’s solar-powered.

: Ja.

: Es kann also eine gewisse Zeit lang mit Solarenergie betrieben werden.

: Ja, ja.

: Wenn Sie es also freiliegen lassen, kann es eine gewisse Zeit lang mit Sonnenenergie betrieben werden.

: Yeah. Well, you know, like there’s self-weighting watches where-

: Ja, ja.

: … you know, it’s just got a weight in the watch. And as you move your wrist, the way it moves from one side to the other, and it winds the watch up. That’s a pretty cool thing.

: Ja, ja, ja.

: Ja, ja.

: Well, it’s amazing that like Rolexes that it’s all done mechanically.

: Ja, ja.

: There’s no batteries in there. There is no nothing.

: Yeah. You could do the same thing. You create a little charger that’s based on wrist movement. It really depends on how much energy your watch uses.

: You know what’s fucked up about that though? We accept a certain amount of like fuckery with those watches. Like I brought my watch. I have a Rolex that my friend, Lorenzo, gave me, and I brought it to the watch store, and I said, “This thing’s always fast.” I said, “It’s always like after a couple of months, it’s like five minutes fast.” And they go, “Yup.” They go, “Yeah.”

: Wirklich?

: “It’s just what it does.”

: Ja.

: I go, “Hold on.” I go, “So, you’re telling me that it just is always going to be fast?” They’re like, “Yeah. It’s just like every few months, you get like reset it.”

: Es scheint, als sollten sie das Ding neu kalibrieren.

: They can’t. They tried. They say, every few months, whether it’s four months, or five months, or six months, it’s going to be a couple of minutes fast.

: Okay. Es scheint, dass sie das wirklich neu kalibrieren sollten, weil...

: Das solltest du herausfinden.

: … if it’s always fast, you can just-

: Richtig.

: ... Sie wissen schon, diese Protokolle löschen.

: You need to fucking kick down the door at Rolex and go, “You bitches are lazy.”

: It’s kind of amazing that you can keep time mechanically on a wristwatch with these tiny little gears.

: Es ist erstaunlich.

: Ja, ja.

: I mean, the whole luxury watch market is fascinating. I’m not that involved in terms — Like I don’t buy them. I’ve bought them as gifts. I don’t buy them for myself. But when I look at them online, there’s a million dollar watches out there now that are like they have like a little rotating moons and stars.

: Ja, ja.

: Und sie leben - sieh dir das Ding an, wie viel kostet das, wenn Jaime?

: I don’t know. I just picked one.

: Das sind verdammt absurde Vermutungen. Ich mag Zahnräder. Ich liebe sie. Ich liebe sie.

: Ja, ich finde das sehr schön.

: But there’s some of these people that are just taking it right in the ass. They’re buying these watches for like $750,000 . Like, “Yeah, that’s a Timex, son.” Nobody knows. It’s not any better than some Casio that you could just buy on — Like, look at that though.

: Well, here’s the thing. If you’re a person that doesn’t just want to know the time, you want craftsmanship, you want some artisan’s touch, you want innovation in terms of like a person figuring out how gears and cogs all line up perfectly, to every time it turns over, it’s basically a second. I mean, that’s just — There’s this art to that.

: Ja, ich stimme zu.

: Yeah, it’s not just telling time. Yeah, I like this watch a lot, but if it got hit by a rock, I wouldn’t be sad.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s just to watch. It’s a mass-produced thing that runs on some quartz battery. But those things, there’s art to that.

: Yeah. No, I agree. It’s beautiful.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja. Ich liebe es.

: Yeah. There’s something amazing about it. It’s-

: Richtig.

: Because it represents the human creativity. It’s not just electronic innovation. There’s something. It’s a person’s work in that.

: Ja.

: You don’t have a watch on.

: Nein.

: Niemals?

: Ich hatte mal eine Uhr.

: Was ist passiert?

: Mein Telefon zeigt die Zeit an. Also -

: That’s a good point. Well, if you lose your phone? Do you — Wait, hold on.

: It’s true.

: Lassen Sie mich raten, Sie sind ein "No Case"-Typ.

: That’s correct. Living on the edge. Living on the edge without a case.

: Neil deGrasse Tyson. Neil deGrasse Tyson was in here last week. I’m marveled at his ability to get through life without a case.

: Das ist richtig.

: Er nimmt sein Handy und klemmt es zwischen seine Finger, wie ein Soldat sein Gewehr.

: Richtig.

: Er rollt das Zeug einfach zwischen seinen Fingern.

: Ja.

: It’s marvelous.

: Wow.

: He says that’s the reason why they do it. He said, “Would you look at someone who has a rifle, why would they do that? Why would they flip it around like that?”

: Richtig.

: It’s like, it goes to drop, they have it in their hand. They catch it quickly.

: Ja, ja.

: So, that’s what he does with his phone. He’s just flipping his phone around all the time. I got that in Mexico. I was hoping it holds joint.

: Kann man damit etwas anfangen? Er kippt beim Öffnen.

: Nein.

: Nur ein Loch?

: It’s just a hole.

: Man könnte dort Dinge aufbewahren.

: Yeah. But like try it. Put a joint in there. Close it. You put like one blunt. One, that seems pretentious. You know, that’s the idea behind it. I bought it when I was in Mexico because I figured it would be a good size to hold joints, or it’s not.

: Also, ist das ein Joint oder eine Zigarre?

: Nein.

: Ja.

: It’s marijuana inside of a tobacco.

: Okay. So, it’s like posh, part tobacco a pot.

: Ja, ja. Hattest du das nie?

: Ja. Ich glaube, ich habe es einmal versucht.

: Come on, man. You probably can’t because of stockholders, right?

: I mean, it’s legal, right?

: Völlig legal.

: Ja.

: How does that work? Do people get upset at you if you do certain things? It’s just tobacco and marijuana in there. That’s all it is. The combination of tobacco and marijuana is wonderful. First turned on to it by Charlie Murphy, and then reignited by Dave Chappelle. There you go.

: Und Whiskey.

: Ganz genau.

: Perfekt. Das gleicht es aus.

: Alcohol is a drug that’s been grandfathered in.

: Well, it’s not just a drug. It’s a drug that gets a bad rep because you just have a little, it’s great.

: Gut.

: Yeah, little sip here and there, and your inhibitions are relaxed, and it shows your true self. And, hopefully, you’re more joyous, and friendly, and happy, and everything. The real worry is the people that can’t handle it. Like the real worry about people who can’t handle cars and go 016 in 1.9 seconds or anything.

: Have you ever considered something that — Like, imagine if one day, everyone has a car that’s on the same, at least, technological standard as one of your cars, and everyone agrees that the smart thing to do is not just to have bumpers but to perhaps have some sort of a magnetic repellent device, something, some electromagnetic field around the cars that as cars come close to each other, they automatically radically decelerate because of magnets or something.

: Nun, ich meine, unsere Autos bremsen automatisch.

: Bremse?

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja. Wenn sie Dinge sehen?

: Ja.

: Aber wie eine physische Barriere, wie...

: Nun, die Räder funktionieren ziemlich gut.

: Die Räder schon.

: Ja, ja, ja. Sie funktionieren ziemlich gut. Abgebremst mit, Sie wissen schon, 1,1 bis 1,2 G, so etwas in der Art.

: Is your concern that one day all your cars will be on the road, and then, there’ll still be regular people with regular cars 20-30 years from now that will get in the mix and be the main problem?

: Yeah. I think, it’d be sort of like, you know, there was a time of transition where there were horses and gasoline cars on the road at the same time. It’s been pretty weird.

: Das wäre das Seltsamste.

: Yeah. I mean, horses were tricky. You know, back when Manhattan had like 300.000 horses, then figure out like if a horse lives 15 years, you got 20,000 horses dropping dead every day or every year, I should say. Every year, it’s 20,000 horses. If there’s 300,000 horses in a 15-year lifespan.

: Damals in den Tagen von Gangs of New York, dieser Film.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s a lot of dead horses. You needed a horse to move the horse.

: Richtig.

: They’ll probably get pretty freaked out if they have to move our dead horse.

: Do you think they know what’s going on?

: Ja, ja.

: Do you think it’s as hard?

: I mean, it’s got to be like pretty weird.

: Nein, das kann ich mir vorstellen.

: Like, in my mind, dragging this dead, you know, horse around, and I’m a horse.

: Haben Sie...

: Es könnte ihnen nicht gefallen.

: Do you ever stop and think about your role in civilization? Do you ever stop and think about your role in the culture? Because me, as a person, who never met you until today, when I think of you, you know, I’ve always thought of you as being this weirdo super inventor dude who just somehow or another keeps coming up with new shit, but there’s not a lot of you out there. Like everybody else seems to be — I mean, obviously, you make a lot of money, and there’s a lot of people that make a lot of money. You like that clock?

: Ja, ja.

: Ziemlich abgefahren, oder?

: Dies ist eine großartige Uhr.

: You want one? I’ll get you one.

: Ja, sicher.

: Okay, fertig.

: Ich mag solche seltsamen Dinge.

: Oh, this is the coolest. It’s TGT Promotion. What is this? TGT Studios? TGT Studios.

: Ja, ja.

: Yeah. So, a gentleman who makes all this by hand. Yeah, it’s really cool.

: Mein Arbeitszimmer ist voll mit seltsamen Geräten.

: Machen Sie sich bereit für eine weitere.

: Also gut.

: I’m sending it your way.

: Cool.

: You want a werewolf too? I’ll hook you up.

: All right. I’ll take one.

: Okay. You want a werewolf and one clock coming up. Do you think about your role in the culture? Because me, as a person, who never met you until today, I’ve always looked at you and like, “Wow.” Like, “How does this guy just keep inventing shit?” Like, how do you how do you keep coming up with all these new devices? And do you ever consider how unusual — Like I had a dream once that there was a million Teslas. Instead of like one Tesla, there was a million Teslas.

: Ja.

: Nicht nur das Auto, sondern auch Nikola.

: Oh, ja, sicher.

: Und dass es zu seiner Zeit eine Million Menschen wie ihn gab, die radikal innovativ waren.

: Wow.

: It was a weird dream, man. It was so strange. And I’ve had it more than once.

: That would result in a very rapid technology innovation. That’s for sure.

: It’s one of the only dreams of my life I’ve had more than one time.

: Okay, wow.

: Like where I’ve woken up, and it’s in the same dream. I’m in the same dream. And in this dream, it’s 1940s, 1950s, but everyone is severely advanced. There’s flying blimps with like LCD screens in the side of them. And everything is bizarre and strange. And it stuck with me for whatever — Obviously, this is just a stupid dream. But for whatever reason, all these years, that stuck with being. Like it takes one man, like Nikola Tesla, to have more than a hundred inventions that were patents, right. I mean, he had some-

: He’s pretty great.

: ... verdammt tolle Ideen.

: Ja.

: Aber da war...

: Definitiv.

: Zu seiner Zeit gab es nur sehr wenige Menschen wie ihn.

: Ja, das war wahr.

: Was wäre, wenn es eine Million gäbe? Wie was in der Erfahrung...

: Die Dinge würden sehr schnell voranschreiten.

: Right, but there’s not a million Elon Musks. There’s one motherfucker. Do you think about that or you just try to not?

: I don’t think. I don’t think you’d necessarily want to be me. That’d be good.

: Well, what’s the worst part about you?

: Das sollte ich. Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass es den Leuten so sehr gefallen würde.

: Well, most people would, but they can’t be. So, that’s like some superhero type shit. You know, we wouldn’t want to be Spiderman. I’d rather just sleep tight in Gotham City and hope he’s out there doing his job.

: It’s very hard to turn it off.

: Yeah. What’s the hardest part?

: It might sound great if it’s turned on, but what if it doesn’t turn off?

: Now, I showed you the isolation tank, and you’ve never experienced that before.

: Nein.

: Ich denke, das könnte Ihnen helfen, für die Nacht ein wenig abzuschalten.

: Ja.

: Yeah. Just give you a little bit of sleep, a little bit of perspective. It’s magnesium that you get from the water as well that makes you sleep easier because the water has Epsom salts in it. But may be some sort of strategy for sacrificing your — or not sacrificing but enhancing your biological recovery time by figuring out a way whether it’s through meditation or some other ways to shut off that thing at night. Like you must have like a constant stream of ideas that’s running through your head all the time. You’re getting text messages from chicks.

: No. I’m getting text messages from a friend saying, “What the hell are you doing smoking weed?”.

: Is that bad for you? It’s legal.

: Ja, ja.

: Ich meine...

: It’s government approved.

: It’s not — You know, I’m not a regular smoker of weed.

: Wie oft rauchen Sie sie?

: Almost never. I mean, it’s-

: Wie fühlt es sich an?

: I don’t actually notice any effect.

: Nun, da hast du es. Es gab eine Zeit, ich glaube, es war im Ramadan, als jemand einem buddhistischen Mönch einen Haufen LSD gab.

: Ja.

: Und er aß es, aber es hatte keine Wirkung auf ihn.

: Das bezweifle ich.

: I would say that too, but I’ve never meditated to the level that some of these people have where they’re constantly meditating all day. They don’t have any material possessions. And all of their energy is spent trying to achieve a certain mindset. I would like to cynically deny that. I’d like to cynically say, “Hey, just fuck and think the same way I do.” They’re just hanging out with flip flops on and make weird noises, but maybe no.

: You know, I know a lot of people like weed, and that’s fine, but I don’t find that it is very good for productivity.

: Für Sie.

: Nicht für mich.

: Yeah. I mean, I would imagine that for someone like you, it’s not. For someone like you, it would be more like a cup of coffee, right. You want to have a latte.

: Yeah. It’s more like the opposite of a cup of coffee.

: Was ist das?

: It’s like a cup of coffee in reverse.

: Unkraut ist?

: Ja, ja.

: No, I’m saying you would like more. More like will be beneficial to you. It would be like coffee.

: Ich mag es, Dinge zu erledigen. Ich mag es, nützlich zu sein. Nützlich zu sein, ist eines der schwierigsten Dinge.

: Wenn du sagst, du erledigst gerne Dinge...

: Ja.

: ... in Bezug auf...

: Ich sollte die Dinge erledigen.

: ... gibt Ihnen Befriedigung? Wenn man ein Projekt abschließt, wenn etwas, das man erfunden hat, Früchte trägt, und wenn man sieht, dass es den Leuten gefällt, dieses Gefühl.

: Ja, etwas Nützliches für andere Menschen zu tun, das ich gerne tue.

: That’s interesting for other people.

: Ja.

: Glauben Sie also, dass Sie vielleicht auf diese Weise erkennen, dass Sie diese ungewöhnliche Position in der Kultur einnehmen, durch die Sie bestimmte Dinge in einzigartiger Weise beeinflussen können? Ich meine, Sie haben im Grunde eine Gabe, richtig.

: Ja, sicher.

: I mean, you would think it was a curse, but I’m sure it’s been fueled by many, many years of discipline and learning. But you, essentially, have a gift and that you have this radical sort of creativity engine when it comes to innovation and technology. It’s like you’re just you’re going at very high RPMs.

: All the time. That doesn’t stop.

: Wie ist das so?

: I don’t know what would happen if I got into a sensory deprivation tank.

: Let’s try it.

: Das klingt ein wenig beunruhigend.

: Aber warum?

: It’s like running the engine with no resistance. That is-

: Is that what it is though? Maybe it’s not.

: Maybe it’s fine. I don’t know.

: Wie viel...

: I’ll try it. I’ll try it.

: Haben Sie jemals...

: It’s fine.

: ... mit Meditation oder ähnlichem experimentiert?

: Ja.

: Was tun Sie, oder was haben Sie eher getan?

: I mean, just sort of sit there, and be quiet, and then repeat some mantra, which acts as a focal point. It does still the mind. It does still the mind, but I don’t find myself drawn to it frequently.

: Do you think that perhaps productivity is maybe more attractive to you than enlightenment or even the concept of whatever enlightenment means. Like, what are you trying to achieve when you’re meditating all the time? With you, it seems like almost like there’s a franticness to your creativity that comes out of this burning furnace. And in order for you to like calm that thing down, you might have to throw too much water on it.

: It’s like a never-ending explosion.

: Like what is it like? Try to explain it to a dumb person like me. What’s going on?

: Eine nicht enden wollende Explosion.

: It’s just constant ideas just bouncing around.

: Ja.

: Verdammt!

: Ja, ja.

: So, when everybody leaves, it’s just Elon sitting at home brushing his teeth, just bunch ideas bouncing around your head.

: Ja, die ganze Zeit.

: When did you realize that that’s not the case with most people?

: I think, when I was, I don’t know, five or six or something. I thought I was insane.

: Warum dachten Sie, Sie seien verrückt?

: Because it is clear that other people do not. Their mind wasn’t exploding with ideas all the time.

: So, they weren’t expressing it. They weren’t talking about it all day. And you realized by the time you were five or six like, “Oh, they’re probably not even getting this thing that I’m getting.”

: No. It was just strange. It was like, “Hmm, kind of strange.” That was my conclusion, kind of strange.

: But did you feel diminished by it in any way? Like knowing that this is a weird thing that you really probably couldn’t commiserate with other people, they wouldn’t understand you.

: I hope they wouldn’t find out because they might like put me away or something.

: Dachten Sie das?

: Eine Sekunde lang, ja.

: Als du noch klein warst?

: Ja, das stimmt. Sie sperren Leute ein. Was, wenn sie mich einsperren?

: Als du noch klein warst, hast du das gedacht?

: Ja.

: Wow. Well, you thought, “This is so radically different than the people that are around me if they find out I got this stream coming in.”

: Ja, ja.

: Wow.

: Aber weißt du, ich war wahrscheinlich erst fünf oder sechs.

: Do you think this is like — I mean, there’s outliers biologically. You mean, there’s people that are 7 foot 9, there’s people that have giant hands, there’s people that have eyes that are 20/15 vision. There’s always the outliers. Do you feel like you like caught this, like you have got some — you’re like on some weird innovation creativity sort of wave that’s very unusual? Like you tapped into — I mean, just think of the various things you may have accomplished in a very short amount of time, and you’re constantly doing this. That’s a weird — You’re a weird person, right.

: Richtig, ich stimme zu.

: Yeah. Like what if there’s a million Elon Musks?

: Nun, das wäre sehr, sehr seltsam.

: Wow.

: Ja, das wäre ziemlich seltsam. Ich stimme zu.

: Wirklich seltsam.

: Definitiv.

: Ja, ja.

: Was wäre, wenn es eine Million Joe Rogans gäbe?

: There probably is. There’s probably two million. I mean, I think that’s the case with a lot of folks.

: Yeah. I mean, but, like, you know, my goal is like try to do useful things, try to maximize the probability for the future’s good, make the future exciting, something you look forward to, you know. You know, with Tesla, I want to try to make things that people love. Like, how do you think you could buy that you really love, that really give you joy? So rare, so rare. I wish there were more things. That’s what we try to do. Just make things that somebody loves.

: Wenn du...

: That’s so difficult.

: When you think about things that someone loves, like, do you specifically think about like what things would improve people’s experience, like what would change the way people interface with life that would make them more relaxed or more happy? You really think, like, when you’re thinking about things like that, is that like one of your considerations? Like what could I do that would help people-

: Ja, ja.

: … that maybe they wouldn’t be able to figure out?

: Ja. Welche Dinge können getan werden, um die Zukunft besser zu machen? Ich denke zum Beispiel an eine Zukunft, in der wir eine raumfahrende Zivilisation sind und da draußen zwischen den Sternen leben. Das ist sehr aufregend. Das lässt mich auf eine Zukunft hoffen. Das weckt in mir den Wunsch nach dieser Zukunft. Es muss Dinge geben, auf die man sich morgens beim Aufwachen freut.

: You wake up in the morning, you look forward to the day, you look forward to the future. And a future where we are a space-faring civilization and out there among the stars, I think, that’s very exciting. That is a thing we want; whereas, if we knew we would not be a space-faring civilization but forever confined to Earth, this would not be a good future. That would be very sad, I think.

: Es wäre so traurig, wenn...

: Like I don’t want a sad future.

: ... nur die endliche Lebensspanne der Erde selbst.

: Ja.

: … and the solar system itself. But even though it’s possibly — You know, I mean, how long do they feel like the sun and the solar system is going to exist? How many hundreds of millions of years?

: Well, it’s probably, if you’re saying when does the sun boil the oceans-

: Richtig.

: Etwa 500 Millionen Jahre.

: So, is it sad that we never leave because in 500 million years, that happens? Is that what you’re saying?

: No. I just think like if there are two futures, and one future us we’re out there among the stars, and the things we read about and see in science fiction movies, the good ones are true, and we have these starships, and we’re going see what other planets are like, and we’re a multi-planet species, and the scope and scale of consciousness is expanded across many civilizations, and many planets, and many star systems, this is a great future. This is a wonderful thing to me. And that’s what we should strive for.

: But that’s biological travel. That’s cells traveling physically to another location.

: Ja.

: Do you think that’s definitely where we’re going?

: Nein.

: Yeah, I don’t think so either. I used to think so. And, now, I’m thinking more likely less than ever. Like almost every day less likely.

: Wir können auf jeden Fall zum Mond und zum Mars fliegen.

: Ja, das stimmt. Denkst du, wir werden kolonisieren?

: Ich denke, wir werden zum Asteroidengürtel gehen. Und wir können zu den Monden von Jupiter, Saturn und sogar zum Pluto fliegen.

: That’d be the craziest place ever if we colonize Mars, and reform it, and turn it into like a big Jamaica. Just oceans and-

: Ich denke, das sollten wir. Ich denke, das wäre großartig.

: Ich meine, stellen Sie sich vor, es gibt...

: Das wäre großartig. Erstaunlich.

: It’s possible, right?

: Ja.

: Wir können das Ganze in Cancún verwandeln.

: Nun-

: Ich meine, mit der Zeit.

: It wouldn’t be easy but yes.

: Richtig.

: Man könnte es einfach aufwärmen... Man könnte es aufwärmen.

: Ja, man kann es aufwärmen. Du kannst Luft hinzufügen. Man bekommt etwas Wasser dazu. Ich meine, im Laufe der Zeit, über Hunderte von Millionen Jahren oder was auch immer es braucht.

: We’ll be a multi-planet species.

: Ja, das wäre fantastisch.

: We’re a multi-planet species.

: Wenn wir könnten...

: That’s what we want to be-

: ... wirklich wie eine Klimaanlage.

: Großartig.

: ... Saturn.

: I’m pro-human.

: Ich auch. Ja, ich auch.

: I love humanity. I think it’s great.

: We’re glad as a robot that you love humans because we love you too, and we don’t want you to kill us and eat us. And-

: I mean, you know, strangely, I think a lot of people don’t like humanity and see it as a blight, but I do not.

: Well, I think one of those — I think, part of that is just they’ve been — you know, they’ve been struggling. When people struggle, they associate their struggle with other people. They never internalize their problems. They look to other people as holding them back, and people suck, and fuck people, and it’s just — You know, it’s a never ending cycle. But not always. Again, most people are really good. Most people, the vast majority.

: Das mag kitschig klingen.

: Das klingt wirklich kitschig.

: Aber die Liebe ist die Antwort.

: Das ist Ihre Antwort.

: Jawohl.

: Yeah, it is. It sounds corny because we’re all scared. You know, we’re all scared of trying to love people, being rejected, or someone taking advantage of you because you’re trying to be loving.

: Ja, sicher.

: Was wäre, wenn wir uns alle einfach entspannen und uns lieben könnten?

: It wouldn’t hurt to have more love in the world.

: It definitely wouldn’t hurt.

: Ja, ja.

: Das wäre großartig.

: Ja, das sollten wir tun.

: Ja, da stimme ich dir zu, Mann.

: Also wirklich.

: How are you going to fix that? Do you have a love machine you’re working on?

: Nein, aber wahrscheinlich verbringst du mehr Zeit mit deinen Freunden und weniger Zeit in den sozialen Medien.

: Wenn Sie nun die sozialen Medien aus Ihren Anwendungen und von Ihren Telefonen löschen, wird Ihnen das einen Glücksschub von 10% geben? Was denken Sie, wie hoch ist der Prozentsatz?

: Ich glaube, so etwas in der Art, ja.

: Ja, ein gutes 10%.

: Yeah, I mean, the only thing I’ve kept is Twitter because I kind of like meet some means of getting a message out, you know.

: Richtig.

: Well, that’s about it. So far so good.

: Well, what’s interesting with you, you actually occasionally engage with people on Twitter.

: Yeah, that’s-

: Wie viel Prozent davon ist eine gute Idee?

: Gute Frage.

: Probably 10%, right? It’s hard.

: It’s mostly — I think, it’s on balance, more good than bad, but there’s definitely some bad. So-.

: Haben Sie jemals...

: Hoffentlich überwiegt das Gute das Schlechte.

: Do you ever think about how odd it is, the weird feeling that you get when someone says something shitty to you on Twitter, and you read it? That weird feeling. This weird little negative jolt. It’s like a subjective negative jolt of energy that you don’t really need to absorb, but you do anyway. Like, “I want to fuck this guy. Fuck him.”

: I mean, there’s a lot of negativity on Twitter.

: It is, but it’s a weird in it’s form. Like the way, if you ingest it as if you’re like — you try to be like a little scientist as you’re ingesting it, you’re like, “How weird is this?” And I’m even getting upset at some strange person saying something mean to me. It’s not even accurate.

: Ich meine, die große Zahl negativer Kommentare, die große Mehrheit, die ignoriere ich einfach, die große Mehrheit.

: Ja, ja.

: Ab und zu hat man ein Unentschieden, etwas nicht Gutes.

: It’s not good.

: Sie machen Fehler.

: Ja, Sie können Fehler machen.

: Wir können einige Fehler machen.

: We’re all human. We can make mistakes. Yeah, it’s hard. And people love it when you say something, and you take it back, and they’re like, “Fuck you. We saved it forever. I’ll fucking screenshot that shit, bitch. You had that thought. You had that thought.” I’m like, “Well, I deleted it.” “Not good enough. You had the thought. I’m better than you. I never had that thought. You had that thought, you piece of shit. Look, I saved it. I put it on my blog. Bad thought.”

: Yeah. I’m not sure why people think that anyone would think that deleting a tweet makes them go away. It’s like, “Hello, been on the internet for a while.”

: Yeah. Well it’s even like-

: Alles ist für immer.

: And the thing is they don’t want you to be able to delete it because the problem is if you don’t delete it, and you don’t believe it anymore, it’s really hard to say, “Hey, that thing above, I don’t really believe that anymore. I changed the way I view things.”

: Ja.

: Because people would go, “Well, fuck you. I have that over there. I’m going to just take that. I’m not going to pay attention to that shit you wrote underneath it.”

: It’s on your permanent record.

: Yeah. It’s forever like a tattoo.

: Like high school, “We’ll put this on your permanent record.”

: Yeah. It’s like a tattoo. You keep it.

: Ja, ja.

: Yeah. Well, it’s this thing where there’s a lack of compassion. It’s a lack of compassion issue. People are just like intentionally shitty to each other all the time online, and trying to catch-

: Ja, ja.

: They’re more trying to catch people doing something that’s arrestable, like a cop trying to, like, get, you know, arrests on his record. It’s like they’re trying to catch you for something, more than they’re logically looking at it thinking it’s a bad thing that you’ve done, or that it’s an idea they don’t agree with so much, they needed to insult you. They’re trying to catch you.

: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s way easier to be mean on social media than it is to be mean in person.

: Ja.

: Viel einfacher.

: Ja, ja.

: Ja, ja.

: It’s weird. It’s not a normal way of human interacting. It’s cheating.

: Das stimmt.

: You’re not supposed to be able to interact so easily when the people are not looking at.

: Ja.

: You would never do that. Don’t be so mean when somebody looking in their eyes. If you did, you’d feel like shit.

: Die meisten Menschen.

: Yeah, unless you’re a sociopath, you’d feel terrible.

: Ja.

: Elon Musk, es war mir ein Vergnügen.

: Ja, gleichfalls.

: Das war es wirklich.

: It’s been an honor. Thank you for having me.

: Thanks for doing this because I know you don’t do a lot of long form stuff like this. I hope I didn’t weird you out, and I hope you don’t get mad that you smoked weed.

: Ich meine...

: It’s not bad. It’s legal. We’re in California. This is just as legal as this whiskey we’ve been drinking.

: Ganz genau.

: Das ist doch alles gut, oder?

: Zum Wohl.

: Zum Wohl. Ich danke Ihnen. Gibt es noch eine andere Botschaft, die Sie verkünden möchten, außer dass Liebe die Antwort ist, denn ich glaube, damit haben Sie es wirklich auf den Punkt gebracht.

: No. I think, you know, I think people should be nicer to each other, and give more credit to others, and don’t assume that they’re mean until you know they’re actually mean. You know, just, it’s easy to demonize people. You’re usually wrong about it. People are nicer than you think. Give people more credit.

: I couldn’t agree more. And I want to thank you not just for all the crazy innovations you’ve come up with and your constant flow of ideas but that you choose to spread that idea, which is very vulnerable, but it’s very honest, and it resonates with me.

: It’s true.

: Und ich glaube es.

: It’s true.

: I believe it’s true too. So, thank you.

: You’re welcome.

: Ihr Arschlöcher da draußen, seid nett. Sei nett, Schlampe. Danke. Ich danke euch allen. Ich danke dir, Elon.

: Gut, danke.

: Gute Nacht, allerseits.

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