Elon Musk is a legend in the modern tech world who dared to think and do it. He was even a little arrogant and deeply admired by me. Curiosity drove me to read Iron Man of Silicon Valley by Ashley Vance, a biography of Elon Musk.
The book vividly describes how Musk went from a teased, withdrawn boy living in South Africa to the founder of Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal, and Neuralink.
Musk's childhood experience left the deepest impression on me. He was different when he was just a boy. When Musk was twelve, he first stepped into the public eye. A South African science and technology publication published computer games he designed and created. In this game, the player takes control of a spaceship and destroys the enemy's alien fleet.
The teenager Musk is different from his peers in many ways, which makes him often ridiculed and bullied by his classmates. He loves to think and resists all outside distractions while thinking intently, and involuntarily enters a sleepwalking state.
In this state, Musk would be completely immersed in his own world, and any sound around him would no longer exist to him. Classmates find his sleepwalking behavior particularly funny, and will deliberately jump up or shout loudly next to Musk to find fun.
Musk grew up reading like to be hungry, and reading for ten hours a day is a common thing. At one point, Musk finished reading all the books in the school library and several nearby libraries, and even applied to the librarian to order more books.
Books he was interested in included novels, comics, travelogues, science fiction, history, and encyclopedias. The large amount of reading has made Musk's accumulation of knowledge far beyond that of people of his age.
Musk also often tries to impart a little knowledge to his classmates. Others did not see Musk's kindness and saw his behavior as a cumbersome correction. Friends don't like to be corrected all the time, so they gradually alienate Musk and don't play with him.
Musk's difference initially puzzled his own parents. Because Musk will often enter the state of dream thinking, closed off from the outside world, others will sometimes call him inaudible. Musk's parents thought their son was a little deaf and even took him to the doctor. In the end, the parents found that their son's hearing was not a problem, and he was often in a daze.
Musk's differences with others have created doubts for others and made himself a bully. But these differences are precisely what makes Musk successful. He loved to think, loved to learn, and at the age of fourteen he set himself a life goal that hasn't changed since. This goal comes from a quote that Musk reads in the "Guide to the Galaxy": "Once you understand the problem, the answer becomes relatively simple." Musk has drawn the conclusion that it is necessary to make humans more self-aware, so that they can better understand the problem. Everything he thinks about is to accomplish his mission.
This belief, which he had established from childhood, led Musk from adolescence to youth, and to this day, created the most widely accepted electric car for mankind and the world's first rocket that can accurately land on the ground from space.
The majority group is not necessarily the best or the right one. People shouldn't try to change their differences and pursue the same thing as others. These special things set us apart, and being self-assertive and uninhibited is the trick to success.