My point: (Off-Topic)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Wednesday, February 07, 2018, 06:58 (2260 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Or, maybe you are unfairly looking down on the public at large? Meh. Let me be less vague. I think you absolutely are looking down on people with this kind of attitude. I think most people will perhaps see this on the news or a news site and think the picture of a bright red car positioned in space with the earth in the background is pretty rad. But it's not going to get them to buy a Tesla.

As an event, sure, I'll remember it for a long time, but I'll remember it much like I remember the awesome landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover. Both were amazing technical achievements. Most people though? I had to explain the history of SpaceX, the Falcon 9, and what made the Falcon Heavy so special to multiple people yesterday. Smart people for whom space and rockets are just not something they think about very often. Sure, they noticed the novel scene of a car above the earth, but then they went back to doing whatever they were doing.

I also question what is so bad about publicity in the first place. And what is so bad about proving a point in a fun way? Good on ya for recognizing that there is some amount of advertising and unnecessary showmanship in placing cameras all over the Tesla. It sounds like you'll make an informed decision about your next car purchase. But... come on man, it's ok to enjoy the moment!

It's probably not reasonable or ok for me to tell you that you shouldn't use this as a jumping off point for talking about mistreatment of workers or the evils of capitalism or whatever... but I do think.... I don't know, that you're targeting the wrong people or that you are getting worked up over something you shouldn't or something like that. I don't have time to really go into it all, but I think I can sum it up as something like this:

Yes, we must keep an eye on the powerful because power does corrupt, but, at the same time, live is not worth living if we let ourselves be dragged down so much that we can't see the fun in stunts like this.