Why Sam Harris and Elon Musk are no longer friends..

[Magical Realist]

Two words: "Pizza Gate!"

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1573035327048726

[Syne]

The current war in Gaza is one of the most tragic episodes in the larger struggle between jihadism and open societies, and the suffering of Palestinians is as horrific as it is undeniable. But the proximate cause of this suffering is not merely Israeli bombs—it is the millenarian nihilism of Hamas. The war could end tomorrow if Hamas released the remaining hostages and ceased attacking Israel. This fact is consistently ignored by those who blame Israel for the devastation in Gaza.
- https://samharris.substack.com/p/islam-i...dy-of-gaza

I have a feeling that many who hate Elon would also strongly dislike this sentiment from Sam Harris.

[C C]

Two words: "Pizza Gate!"

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1573035327048726

The breakup officially starting with the Covid bet fallout between the two.

OTOH, there seems to be vastly more article-related material on the internet with respect to Harris saying things about Musk than vice versa. The item below is the sole one I could find of Musk dissing Harris (but it doesn't mean that there aren't plenty more on X). And perhaps it indicates -- contrary to what Harris implies -- that Musk does track down the original sources to check what Harris really stated (in context). Or at least that some of those other X-accounts he references actually are hitting the nail on the head.

"There are still people like Sam Harris..."
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1879886394...61?lang=en

And in that X-post of Elon's, Harris does actually state that the NYT was engaging in protective bias, and that the rest was indeed an outright left-wing conspiracy. And he plainly says it was okay for the establishment to have done that.

Regardless of whether one agrees with Harris or not, there's no getting around that he expresses what Musk is flaming him about.

Here's the original episode that the above segment was clipped from...

TRIGGERNOMETRY
https://youtu.be/DDqtFS_Pvcs

- video excerpts -

HARRIS: Again, it's like a coin toss for me -- the Hunter Biden laptop thing. Because I do understand how corrosive it is for an institution like the New York Times to show obvious bias. And inconsistency and dishonesty in how they couldn't even frame it honestly. It's not like the way I would frame it.

Listen, I don't care [...] I mean, Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement, and I would not have cared. ... It is infinitesimal compared to the corruption we know Trump is involved in. ... I mean ... Trump University as a story is worse than anything that could be in Hunter Biden's laptop, in my view.

Now, that doesn't answer the people who say it's still completely unfair to not have looked at the laptop in a timely way, and to have shut down the New York Post's Twitter account like that.

Is that a left-wing conspiracy to deny the presidency to Donald Trump? Absolutely, it was. Absolutely. Right. But I think it was warranted.

KISIN: I'm really sorry. I was the one that said we should move on, but you've just said something I really struggle there with. [...] I'm interested in democracy, but you're saying that you are content with a left-wing conspiracy to prevent somebody being democratically reelected as President...

[Magical Realist]

OTOH, there seems to be vastly more article-related material on the internet with respect to Harris saying things about Musk than vice versa

Harris said Musk's responses were from e-mails. There's no reason to think he'd be lying unless you are just another of many mindless MAGA lapdogs for Musk.

[C C]

OTOH, there seems to be vastly more article-related material on the internet with respect to Harris saying things about Musk than vice versa

Harris said Musk's responses were from e-mails. There's no reason to think he'd be lying unless you are just another of many mindless MAGA lapdogs for Musk.

That's just it, though. Harris is promoting the feud between them publicly, whereas Musk "seems" to be keeping it more behind closed doors. "Seems" -- because, again, I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot more X-posts, that people signed up to the platform could find. (Since Musk took over, recalcitrant outsiders without an account are pretty much blocked off from what's transpiring inside Twitter -- except when members drop a particular link for them.)

[Syne]

Sounds like Harris is trying to ride coattails to remain relevant.

[Magical Realist]

By not sucking up to Musk? Doesn't sound like it.

[Syne]

Picking a fight with someone who is relevant (hoping to land on the radar of their audience) is how many people try to remain relevant.
I doubt anyone can argue who has a bigger audience. It's called "punching up," where it doesn't make sense to punch at people with smaller audiences that you can't benefit much from attracting.

[Magical Realist]

Picking a fight with someone who is relevant (hoping to land on the radar of their audience) is how many people try to remain relevant.

LOL He's just commenting in an interview why he and Musk are no longer friends, probably in response to Maher's question. Doesn't sound like a PR campaign to me. Of course suck ups will always see themselves in others. You do understand the difference between wealth and relevance don't you? Ever hear of Gandhi?

[Syne]

"Punch up" isn't a concerted PR campaign. It's just a general strategy to build an audience or gain relevance.
And as CC said, "there seems to be vastly more article-related material on the internet with respect to Harris saying things about Musk than vice versa." That's more than a single interview.

It has nothing to do with wealth. Elon has 230 million followers. That's objectively a huge audience.