Project Mars: A Technical Tale - Wikipedia
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so i stumbled upon a thing on reddit

the thing is that there’s an obscure early scifi book by none other than wernher von braun, that is about mars colonization, where they find already existing civilization, leader of which is called elon. apparently this is why megaracist elon’s father named him that:

Interest in this novel increased in 2021 when people connected the Martian leader, called the Elon, to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, suggesting that von Braun may have somehow foreseen Musk’s space exploration ventures.[15] However, Errol Musk, Elon’s father, asserted in 2022 that he was fully aware of the von Braun connection in naming his son.[16]

also in that book: tunnels used for high-speed travel; nation-states became obsolete because of some magic tech; highly technocratic planetary government as a result. that stimulant habit seems historically accurate then, even if it’s cut with ketamine sometimes. some more red string on corkboard https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist this tracks as one of his grandparents moved from canada to south africa because canada in 40s wasn’t racist enough for them, and with all the technocracy inc things.

so yeah, motherfucker might be believing - or even groomed into - that he’s destined to be a planetary overlord, all based on nazi scifi, and he’s playing it out irl with all the fuck you money he has

    • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
      20·
      14 days ago

      you can see this all the time in these circles. yudkovsky’s diamondoid bacteria are rehashed drexler’s nanomachines

    • Soyweiser@awful.systemsEnglish
      15·
      14 days ago

      One thing you should realize about Musk is that he isnt that smart, and that he also doesnt have much ideas. i think the only real contributions he ever had were the retracting tesla handles that dont work when frozen and the shape of the cybertruck. Even his gamer handle is uninspired. cyb3rgam3r420. And stuff which gets attributed to him, like community notes on twitter, were actually created pre his takeover. The man is a puddle.

    • smiletolerantly@awful.systemsEnglish
      14·
      14 days ago

      The fact that Iain M. Banks is name-dropped in the poster in the article is a travesty… I have no doubt “the Elon” thinks himself some badass Special Circumstances operative, and OpenAI/Grok/… as laying the foundations for Culture Minds. It’s not. He’s not. Goddamnit I wish Banks was still alive.

        • smiletolerantly@awful.systemsEnglish
          14·
          14 days ago

          a) how do I keep discovering accounts of people I admire on this platform,
          b) I fucking LOVE Accelerando and the Eschaton series,
          c) that… really comforts me in a strange way. I always thought Veppers was supposed to be Bezos, but this is even better.

          And lastly I am sorry for the loss of your friend.

        • Mitchell_Porter@awful.systemsEnglish
          3·
          12 days ago

          “Veppers… is based on Musk”

          If this is true, then it’s a remarkable bit of SF foresight, because in 2010, Musk was nowhere near what he is now. He wasn’t even in the top 100 richest. He was rich, but not even a billionaire. It was such a different time that even Jeff Bezos was just #43 in the world (this is from Forbes 2010). We didn’t yet have our current technofeudalism centered on Internet tycoons; the tech tycoons in the top 10 were Bill Gates and Larry Ellison.

          Regarding the main topic of this thread, I too had wondered if the name is a clue that Elon was the golden child of some secret cult of upper-class Space Nazis, their anointed one destined to realize the Iron Dream. But if one is to entertain such thoughts, you should be aware that it was also the middle name of a maternal great-grandfather, John Elon Haldeman, who was apparently a Minnesota school teacher who emigrated to Canada with his chiropractor wife.

          • self@awful.systemsMEnglish
            6·
            12 days ago

            as the other poster pointed out: Iron Man 2 came out in 2010, and Musk’s personality cult was already in full swing since his PR team at the time did everything they could to associate him with the first film. I believe Charlie when he says his friend and fellow sci-fi author knew an asshole when he saw one.

            • bitofhope@awful.systemsEnglish
              4·
              12 days ago

              I remember a YouTube personality around that time called BoyInABand who was a legitimately talented musician, but among his most popular videos were one where he praised Elon Musk and another called “don’t stay in school” whoch advocated for exactly that.

              I don’t remember if it was the anti-school song, the Musk fanboyism or inappropriate relationship with an underage fan that first got him cancelled but I think he deservedly got owned for each of them.

        • Soyweiser@awful.systemsEnglish
          11·
          14 days ago

          Considering his reaction to being asked about evangelion (?? I know nothing about this series) was just to shout NERV (?? again I know nothing I dont know who Nerv is. But this is apparently not a normal fan reaction, like warhammer fans shouting waaarrgh) not far of the mark.

          • bitofhope@awful.systemsEnglish
            13·
            14 days ago

            NERV is the organization that runs the eponymous mech suits. It’s a bit like if someone asked about the Simpsons and he just replied “Springfield!” like yea that’s a thing from the show, but couldn’t you think of a quote from a character or something?

              • bitofhope@awful.systemsEnglish
                11·
                14 days ago

                Oh no, it’s a very serious (in context of a psychological tragedy sci-fi anime with bionic mecha fighting lovecraftian kaiju) paramilitary national (or maybe a supranational) goverment body affiliated with a shadowy cabal of conspirators.

                Its logo is also quite heavily featured on the unscalable mountains of promotional merchandise for the franchise, so it’s an easy thing to name drop if you don’t know or remember much from the show but want to feel like you’re making a deep cut reference because you remember the name from a coffee mug you have or something.

                • blakestacey@awful.systemsMEnglish
                  13·
                  14 days ago

                  They’re a supranational organization that nominally reports to the UN while actually being directed by an ancient conspiracy that is being subverted from within by a modern conspiracy. They build WMDs that are piloted by child soldiers. One of these child soldiers is the son of the commander. Another is a clone of the commander’s dead wife (maybe). NERV are the only ones who can stop the annihilation of all life on Earth by the lovecraftian kaiju, because they are the sole possessors of forcefields that run on loneliness.

                  … But there is a penguin!

                  • Soyweiser@awful.systemsEnglish
                    7·
                    14 days ago

                    Reading this post must be what having a stroke feels like. I would have trouble believing that if this wasn’t just how half these kinds of science fiction universes are.

      • Badabinski@kbin.earth
        7·
        14 days ago

        Same :( Fuck cancer, that man deserved to live longer. I’d love to see Banks’ take on society as it is now. I feel like it’d end up being a mix between The Player of Games and Surface Detail.

        • smiletolerantly@awful.systemsEnglish
          10·
          14 days ago

          A begruntled Culture citizen entasked with a seemingly straight-forward matter in a coincidentally-very-earth-like civ where capitalism reigns supreme in all the worst ways. A society on the brink of collapse due to leapfrogging technological advancements while ignoring, and possibly suppressing, the societal changes this necessitates, benefitting only those already in power. Not-entirely-clear motivations of unseen Culture Minds, presumably plotting beyond what is apparent to our protagonist. Getting to re-evaluate this strange society by experiencing first its thrills, then slowly but surely its horrors through the eyes of that protagonist, whose view of the world and themselves can never be the same afterwards.

          All the while, a member of this fledgling society, finding themselves aboard the Culture vessel “I’m sorry, I thought there was still money on that card; here, try this one”, a state-of-the-art warshipnope we don’t do those, a state-of-the-art Very Fast Picket, earth-bound with engines pushing their limits, is motivated by the fleeting hope of maybe, just maybe, getting there in time to share a crucial piece of information with the protagonist, but - oh, too late. This storyline lead nowhere, and you are still glad to have read it, for the possibly best parts of the book where the witty ship-banter that had you laughing with tears.

          Oh we also end the book with the cold-blooded murder of a BezosMusk look-alike at the hands of SC, and thanks to the book you are left with the clear impression that in the grand schemes of things, this was not simply necessary, it was just.

          …something like that?

          • Badabinski@kbin.earth
            7·
            14 days ago

            Perfection. In particular, “l’m sorry, I thought there was still money on that card; here, try this one” is the most perfect Culture ship name to have been written since Banks died imo, it’s spot fucking on.