The founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has given an in-depth interview in which he has stated that his own death ‘would come as a relief’.
The world’s richest man gave insight into everything from the possibility of life-extending technologies to his own personal life, in which he expressed loneliness.In the interview with Insider’s Mathias Döpfner, Musk stated he did not believe in potential future life-extending technologies as such things would have a terrible impact on democracy, due to the fact that it would not allow for an evolution of ideas, and result in leaders who were too out of touch.
He said:”I don’t think we should try to have people live for a really long time. That it would cause asphyxiation of society because the truth is, most people don’t change their mind. They just die. So, if they don’t die, we will be stuck with old ideas and society wouldn’t advance.”For a democracy to function, the leaders must be reasonably in touch with the bulk of the population. And if you’re too young or too old, you can’t say that you will be attached.
“Speaking of his own death:”I think it would come as a relief.”Musk’s views on life-extending technology seems to be somewhat opposed to that of fellow mogul Jeff Bezos, who has recently invested billions in businesses developing solutions to ageing and death.When talking about his own life and his relationships, Musk said:”I think there are degrees of love. But certainly, for one to be fully happy, I think you have to be happy at work and happy in love.
So, I suppose I’m medium happy.””There are times when I’m lonely. I’m sure there are times when everyone is lonely. But it’s pretty basic. Say if I’m working on the Starship rocket and I’m just staying in my little house by myself, especially if my dog is not with me, then I feel quite lonely because I’m just in a little house by myself with no dog.”