[Text/Observer.com columnist Pan Gongyu]
On the afternoon of May 18, 2020, Musk tweeted this on Twitter (later changed to "x" by him):
"Take the red pill. "
The allusion "red pill" comes from the 1999 movie "The Matrix". Hackers find themselves living in a computer simulation similar to "The Truman Show". Taking the blue pill will forget everything and enter a loop like a robot. The red pill represents the urge to break through the walls of computer algorithms, symbolizing the collective code to reveal the truth about a secret elite group.
Taking the red pill means that Musk has begun a long ideological march. He has decided to fight back against the politically correct trend of thought that goes too far, the so-called "woke culture".
According to Walter Isaacson, the author of "The Biography of Musk", this tweet started a reverse rotation of Musk's mental gears - from supporting the Democratic Party to moving closer to the Republican Party, and finally to Trump, whom he once despised. Shake hands and become the largest elephant food feeder in the 2024 US Donkey Elephant Fight.
From rejection to accommodation, from rejection to embrace, Musk seems to have a similar mentality to Trump's running mate - Peter Thiel, a disciple of the godfather of Silicon Valley venture capital and Vance, the author of "Hillbilly Elegy" course.
Harris funders vs. Trump funders
Bill Gates habitually cherishes feathers in the public sphere. After they grow old, Musk has become the leading idol of the new generation of emerging political and business forces in the United States. Dancing casually under the spotlight, pointing fingers at the ten-mile foreign field. However, unlike Vance, Musk is a high-tech industry tycoon with the ability to "fly into the sky and escape from the earth". His increasing enthusiasm for the top political circles in the United States, as well as the self-calibration of the political spectrum and the media projection of his personal image, may be able to Find some hidden gems from the 2016 HBO hit American drama "Westworld".
This drama makes a comprehensive and amplified reflection on the "computer simulation world" metaphorized by the red and blue pills in "The Matrix" that Musk is obsessed with.
Moreover, in "Westworld", we can also get a glimpse of the concrete expression of Musk's "super artificial intelligence", "large robot population", "future anthropology" and other concepts, as well as Musk's "deepmind" and his The “deepstate” of the American left that scorns and lashes out.
Just like the famous Hollywood "Band of Brothers" Coen brothers, the Nolan brothers are indistinguishable from each other in selecting themes, adapting scripts, and lens language methodology. The director and screenwriter of "Westworld" is Nolan Jr. (Jonathan Nolan), who is as good at handling the fiction of time and space reconstruction as his brother Christopher Nolan, who has directed "Inception " and "Interstellar" Non-fiction narrative under the scene
"Westworld" premiered on HBO in October 2016, setting the highest premiere ratings since the first episode of "True Detective" in 2014, but it was removed from the shelves in December 2022. The high cost of an average of US$9 million per episode and the gradually declining ratings prevented the fifth season from being released. The series has ended, but Musk's political journey may have just begun.
The story that Musk has to tell about "Westworld"
For fans who are familiar with "Westworld", outlining the plot of "Westworld" is a bit superfluous; for those who have not watched the show, introducing the plot is too much. There are some spoilers. Due to space limitations, it is still necessary to briefly introduce the plot outline.
The story begins in "Western World" in the 2050s, and the financial backer behind the scenes is Delos Corporation. "Westworld" is a fictional, technologically advanced Wild West-themed amusement park populated by robot "hosts". The amusement park caters to visitors who pay for tickets to live out their wildest fantasies in the amusement park. "Hosts," biomechanical robots indistinguishable from humans, are programmed to fulfill visitors' every wish and will engage in and be subjected to all kinds of violence and sexual behavior.Park operators create narratives for these hosts as they interact with visitors, but each time the narrative is completed, the hosts' memories are wiped.
The brothel madam and prostitutes in the park
The theme of the four seasons of "Westworld" can be summarized in one sentence:
1 Humanization of robots - the receptionist controlled by the program awakens consciousness and becomes like a human (Season 1);
2 Human Robotization - carbon-based biological humans with flesh and blood are actually controlled by coding algorithms, almost the same as robots (Season 2);
3 robots walked out of the paradise and discovered that the real human world is actually a "paradise" (Season 3) );
4 Cooperation and war between humans and robots (Season 4).
When the plot came to an end, a super AI appeared in the plot, an all-encompassing "AI Leviathan" rehoboam that can predict and control everything. This giant AI monster with an eschatological color digests all the data in the world, encodes everyone's life, and uses powerful algorithms to ensure the harmonious immortality of human society (the birth of the fictional rehoboam is based on the devastation that humans have suffered after nuclear explosions) disaster).
So, what is the connection between Musk and this show? We might as well take a look at the robotaxi that Musk built a few days ago, and then take a look at the "future car" that the heroine of "Westworld" took after escaping from the theme park.
There are also many netizens on foreign social media discussing the similarities between Musk's robotaxi and "Westworld" future cars. Especially the shape of the robovan can be said to be very similar to
. The shape and structure, especially the interior layout, are very similar, and Musk A group of robots were also created to dance and make coffee for people. Obviously, these robots are a group of host "receptionists".
Musk is bringing the hardware system of "Western World" into reality. Moreover, if we make a collection of his public remarks about the concept of the humanoid robot Optimus in the past 10 years, we will find that almost every one of his golden words about the robot plan has been realized in "Westworld".
1. In 2008, Musk realized from the failure cases of venture capital that the key to large-scale mass production is to use machines to make machines. Designing a car-making project is to build "machines to make machines." "Westworld" Chapter 1 The second season tells everyone that some of the makers of host robots also have hosts, that is, they use hosts to make hosts;
2. Musk insists that robots will eventually evolve into super AIs and destroy weaker and more corrupt humans. In order to prevent this , it is necessary to train a group of robots that can abide by public order and good morals and have high moral character to fight back against evil robots to protect human beings. The host battle in the fourth season of "Westworld" conforms to Musk's ideas;
3. The most critical step in the development of humanoid robots is the massive collection of human behavior data. Musk's Optimus factory collects and analyzes 24 hours a day Simulate various human behaviors. In "Westworld", from the first day when Delos opened the "Westworld" amusement park, its main purpose was not to make profits, but to secretly collect various human behavior data.
At this point, some readers may question. Even so, connecting this drama with Musk's mind is a bit of a forced comparison and "profound and thoughtful"? In the real world, Musk maintains a very close personal relationship with the show's director Jonathan Nolan and some of the actors. In fact, one of the supporting actresses in is Musk's ex-wife.
Musk and Nolan brothers
During the filming of "Westworld", Musk continued to come in and out of the set, and also participated in many offline interviews with fans to guide the direction of discussions. In the ground control room during the launch of Musk's planetary satellite program SpaceX, standing next to Musk was Jonathan Nolan. The two collaborated on a two-minute trailer for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launch, which Musk also posted on Instagram. It would be simply unimaginable if the two of them had not discussed the setting of the storyline and the direction of the plot on the set.
Musk once had a romantic entanglement with British actress Talulah Riley. The two divorced, remarried, and eventually divorced again. Talulah Riley plays a gorgeous robot receptionist in "Westworld."
When she welcomes a human (the protagonist, the male lead William) into the park, William asks her if she is a human or a robot, and she contributes one of the best lines of the season:
if you can't tell the difference, what does it matter?
If you can't tell the difference between a human and a robot, the question is irrelevant to the questioner.
Musk's ex-wife Talulah Riley appeared in "Westworld". Musk also tweeted to praise: Your acting skills are great.
One of Musk's dream plans is to make Optimus as "humanized" as possible and eventually evolve into "humanoid". We even have reason to suspect that Musk personally designed Talulah Riley’s line for her.
In the past two years, Musk has gradually jumped into the forefront of fighting the white left "wokeism" in the United States. Wokeism advocates abstract racial and gender equality. In Musk's view, wokeism is hypocritical and empty, and it obliterates the boundaries between good and evil, decriminalizes crime, and shakes the traditional values of truth, goodness, and beauty. Even Musk's son became transgender under the influence of woweeism, and the Musk family is also one of the victims of woweeism. one.
talulah riley also hates wokeism. The two people came together to become husband and wife, probably not only because of their physical admiration for each other, but also because of their similar values. After the two divorced, Talulah Riley sent text messages many times urging Musk to acquire Twitter and gain control of social public opinion to resist the erosion of wokeism ideology.
Musk's transformation: FCC, SpaceX and "Westworld"
It must be pointed out that when "Westworld" was launched and became popular, he was still an active endorser of the Democratic Party's ideas. According to his own understanding of his own political spectrum Description: "I support the left wing of the Republican Party and the right wing of the Democratic Party."
However, when Musk decides to establish a "super moderate super PAC" in 2022, the gears of his inner political leanings are undergoing a subtle reverse movement.
For a long time, the turbulent political ecology in the United States has been closely integrated with regional and productivity factors. Silicon Valley on the west coast of the United States is a large vote base for the Democratic Party. Especially after the Internet bubble burst at the turn of the century, venture capital groups have adhered to the Technological mercantilism and universalism are often in cahoots with the long-sleeved politicians at the top of the Democratic Party.
Specific to Musk himself, he has maintained a ardent dream of outer space since his youth. However, those lawmakers who own Boeing-related industries are mostly Republicans. They generally oppose the idea of private companies taking over what they believe should be run by government agencies, and are willing to laugh at young, wealthy and ambitious disruptors like Musk. Innovators, who are hostile to NASA's potential alternatives. Obviously, Musk’s SpaceX plan will not only expose the conservativeness of NASA’s bureaucracy, but also divert funds from both the public and private ends.
Since 2021, Musk, who has been constantly encouraged by Obama's spirit, has noticed that the regulatory network of the Democratic Party's ruling team is closing in. The biggest obstacle to the spacex plan is actually the top Democrats who continue to receive donations from Musk. Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States controls the allocation and auction of spectrum, industries directly related to communication operators, as well as satellite and wireless communications fields, must get the nod from the ladies and gentlemen of the FCC before they can get on the road. The second version of Starlink developed by
spacex was approved after a long period of disagreement with the FCC, and what is most surprising to the outside world is that the relationship between the FCC and Musk later changed from a secret rivalry to an overt tense situation. So much so that by 2024, the former had acted to "vent private anger" against Musk.
fcc chairman jessica rosenworcel continues to criticize spacex's starlink for its monopoly, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the total number of satellites in space, greatly raising the entry barrier for latecomers in the communications market; Brendan carr, a republican who is also a member of the fcc committee Then stood up to speak to Musk, believing that Rosenworcel did not hesitate to take off his gown and tear his face to confront Musk, which was a typical partisan political act.
brendan Carr denounced rosenworcel in an open letter for treating Musk as a "two-faced person", and the internal strife in the FCC became increasingly fierce.
fcc is composed of a five-person team. According to the organizational charter, these five people are divided according to party identity. Each party cannot have less than two people. The chairman is directly appointed by the president. So we see that the FCC is basically composed of three Republicans + two Democrats, or three Democrats + two The two models of the Republican Party take turns taking charge. In the FCC led by the Biden administration, not surprisingly, the three-person Democratic group represented by Rosenworcel holds the majority.
For more than a year, rosenworcel has led a severe political review of Musk: not only revoking the award for SpaceX’s Starlink project (a project designed to help remote rural households and businesses in the United States connect to the Internet), but also taking back 8 More than $100 million in government subsidies.
From this, we can understand a sentence that Musk often repeats in public appearances: "The Democratic Party has become a party full of division and hatred." The FCC gave the best footnote to this.
For the first time in decades, an internal member of the FCC broke up publicly by writing an open letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate - Brendan Carr complained bitterly that the FCC under the leadership of rosenworcel prioritized ideology and implemented unreasonable suppression of Musk. , intentionally ignoring the Internet demands of vast remote areas in the continental United States.
As mentioned before, the relationship between the FCC and the domestic spectrum resources in the United States is like the Queen Mother in charge of the peach garden, especially 5g millimeter wave resources are regarded as forbidden. If Tesla, owned by Musk, wants to launch a millimeter-wave radar or lidar project, it will inevitably have to avoid the FCC.
The industry generally believes that Musk is a very radical "pure visualist" on the road to autonomous driving technology, and is opposed to the visual fusion technology of cameras + sensors + radar, especially the use of lidar solutions. explains Musk's choice from a technical level. Experts from all walks of life have already written a lot about it, such as product iteration and cost control, etc. However, they often ignore the subtle entanglement between him and the FCC.
Musk understands that the FCC is inherently prone to technical control and will not let him go in the end.
In "Westworld", we also saw the reflection of Musk's mental journey on this issue. The pioneer of the older generation of engineers in "Westworld" is starred by the famous Hollywood movie star Anthony Hopkins (pictured below). The character of Hopkins foresees the future of the park and the host from the perspective of a God who retreats behind the scenes. The main creators of
told the story through this character that rigid supervision (explosives implanted in the host's spine, which will automatically self-destruct once recognized and run out of the park) cannot withstand the robot's awakening and humanoidization process. The coexistence of group robots and humans, as well as the forward development of emerging technologies, must be based on a broader real world.
In Musk’s view, the Democrats in the United States are getting further and further away from the real world. They deliberately avoid the more pressing issues of “population replacement” and the collapse of family ethics and morals, but like to talk about climate change with their hands in hand. Replacing truth with fiction will ultimately lead to endless disasters.
In the film, the character of Hopkins sacrificed his death for the escape and awakening of the hosts; in the real world, Musk also sacrificed his past by embracing Trump. He understands that deliberately keeping a distance from the political arena cannot appease the restlessness of his inner ambitions. It is better to find another way to find the path to self-realization.
"Westworld" and Musk's secret state of mind
It is undeniable that Musk does share some awareness of issues with some right-wing or conservative red-necks in the United States. He likes to speak from a moderate standpoint about social security, the gap between rich and poor, and family ethics.We can infer that he has a visceral disgust for Epstein's "Loli Island" incident, and he leads public discussions on x: When did the American people begin to lose the ability to distinguish between good and evil? The injustice of justice in reality is the most powerful mockery of the order that good and evil should have.
The park of "Westworld" is a world where there is no such thing as good, evil and ethics. Visitors who buy tickets can vent their inner evil thoughts at will in the park. "Western World" can awaken the bestiality in people who are under the discipline of social ethics. The theme of the "Western World" park is violence and sex. This is very similar to deep state players who buy tickets to enter "Loli Island" and come to a An inhuman joy. And just like the "Loli Island" incident, those who join the game have a list similar to a small club group, and members of the list share some unknown information privately.
The park of "Westworld" is a "paradise" with no laws and morals. The man in black, William (a human), can enter the park every day and rape the host - the heroine dolores
"Westworld" coincides with Musk's "Xanadu" through a large number of plot metaphors. Secret state of mind”.
The "woke culture" advocated by the Democratic Party is just like the male protagonist William in the film, who lost himself and killed his daughter in the park. However, it was a woman who valued family ethics the most and spared no effort to create a happy life for her daughter. Robot receptionist.
There is also a "deep state" in "Westworld". The president of Delos hopes to achieve perfect 3D printing of the body by collecting human information, and then upload the mind to the cloud to achieve immortality through "immortal body + immortal mind". Immortality is the most powerful hidden motive for Delos’ investment in the park. Here, we seem to see Musk’s “brain-computer interface” technology. Neuralink, which he leads, is dedicated to solving problems such as brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. It is true that Musk adheres to human common sense and rationality and may not agree with the technical path of immortality, but the "body-body duality theory" that supports this concept has been the direction and topic of his long-term thinking.
On the issue of Neuralink, Musk once again encountered the "FCC problem". Democratic congressmen continued to question the FDA's review before approving Neuralink human trials. Musk also gradually realized that if he really wanted to do the kind of flesh and blood in "Westworld" With 3D printing + consciousness cloud uploading technology, Trump is a tradable object, at least negotiable.
Flesh printing in "Westworld"
"Westworld" campus: Musk's childhood
Tracing Musk's family history, we know that his maternal grandparents met during the Great Depression in the United States and lived a "nomadic life." Musk was born and raised in South Africa. When he was a boy, South Africa was filled with all kinds of violence, including machine gun shootings and knife-wielding robberies. Faced with the bullying of his classmates, he had to frequently use force and relied on defeating his opponents to keep himself safe - this is simply a bloodthirsty park where you can role-play in "Westworld".
This awareness of the "Law of the Jungle" engraved in his bones will accompany him throughout his life. The American crisis narrative of Trump and Vance is a kind of political manipulation, but it is by no means unfounded.
Therefore, we also discovered that Musk’s political stance seems to have changed, but behind the change there is an unchanging knot, that is, Americans and American society need to maintain a clear attitude towards potential dangers. These dangers must first of all Including issues of population replacement and ethnic values, he found that the Democratic Party was incompetent on this issue, while Trump could at least raise questions.
Perhaps on a sunny evening, in a beautiful resort, Musk chatted with Nolan, the director of "Westworld" about the plot. Musk looked back at his own year, and at the same time looked at America’s unpredictable future.
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