Thank You Pointy People

People that excel in one area are often deficient in another. A mountain is strong, not flexible. A tree lives long, but grows slowly. You get the point.

The same is true with pointy people. Andrew Huberman, a scientist obsessed with optimizing himself, cheats on others. Elon, good with machines, is bad with emotions.

This shouldn't come as a surprise. And yet, every time a famous person is outed for having a weakness, the internet acts shocked. One side disavows him and the other side supports him because his contributions are useful to society. Then someone tells everyone to mind their own business, only to bring more attention to the matter.

On one level, the debate is driven by our lesser selves. We like to gossip, put others down, and make stuff about us. I feel bad that someone is on the receiving end of all that, even if they knowingly chose to be a public figure.

But I'm also grateful. This is a good debate to have. Not because I care about Huberman's love life or Elon's memes, but because they represent a much larger and more important question about society. What do we value?

If someone produces something useful, is it ok to support them even if we don't like how they conduct themselves? Trump voters might say yes, the end justifies the means. Others likely say no. There's not an obviously correct answer, which is why these topics are debated.

Some people say these debates illuminate the breakdown of society. I think the opposite. They remind me that the system is working. Making tradeoffs on the margins of our ever-changing value system is nuanced and we are lucky to have the freedom to hash these questions out ourselves.

Buy Elon's cars or don't. Vote for Trump or don't. Listen to Huberman or don't. If there are no good options, create a better one. Make a decision and the system will issue the judgement that represents the will of the people. In fact, it already has. Trump lost, Elon is rich as fuck, and we'll have to wait and see with Huberman.

But please, for the love of god, don't buy a Tesla, put a bumper sticker on it that says, "I bought it before I knew how awful he is" and use Twitter connected to Starlink to complain about Elon. Have the courage to put your money where your mouth is. Otherwise, you wasted your vote.