Elon's goals and answer to the most fundamental question

The most fundamental question to understand, IMO, is the existential one...What the heck is all this?! Why and how are we here? What are we supposed to do?

Elon Musk is an incredibly smart guy - he has a track record of making things happen - both in the physical world (batteries, cars, rockets) and within human society (leading businesses, making money, acquiring a following). He's also a clear, first principles thinker and shares a lot about how he thinks about the world. So I think he can play a part in helping us understand life and the world*. So what is Elon's answer to the foundational question?

Elon has two answers - one explicit and another implicit.  

Elon recalls that at the age of 11 or 12, he had an existential crisis because he didn't understand why or how we are here. He concluded that we may never know but we may be able to find out if we expand the scope and scale of civilization and consciousness, and that's what he wants to do. 

I like Elon's framing of the goal as it builds up from a defensible first principle that we don't know why we are here. It is also a reasonable assumption that our consciousness will expand over time and that will help us discover and learn more, just like it has since the advent of life. So he wants to give humans more time and chance of survival over multiple generations (hence, Tesla and SpaceX to derisk planetary risk) and to some extent, expand the capacity to grow consciousness (hence, science, Neuralink, and his recent bid to buy Twitter)**.  

His second answer to the existential question is more implicit in his behaviors. He shot a Tesla into space, he speaks of going to Mars as a fun adventure, he time and again risked a fortune to pursue his passions, he posts dank memes on Twitter, he did an SNL skit and had an unlikely and wild romance with Grimes. Compared to other billionaires or people of his stature, Elon seems much more free-spirited, playful, goofy, and willing to try many different things. I have also personally concluded as much - have fun and enjoy life! 

Notes

* But with a heavy caveat that every person's commentary and actions are a mix of authenticity, limited perspective, ego, theatrics, and manipulation, and it is truly hard to distinguish between them especially when they are smart enough to deceive or totally clueless about their own intentions.

** A lot of people and organizations also work towards for survival and happiness for now and over generations. Elon's first principles approach and the boldness of his approach set him apart.    

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