## Colophon tags:: url:: https://www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence %% title:: Elon Musk and spiky intelligence type:: [[clipped-note]] author:: [[@natesilver.net]] %% ## Notes > Elon Musk and spiky intelligence — [view in context](https://hyp.is/NwMxUPTWEe-Puf-4oiN5JA/www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence) ⬆️ date:: [[2025-02-27]] > Nate Silver — [view in context](https://hyp.is/PlIktvTWEe-6X59A-LXEzQ/www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence) > My contribution was to suggest that (i) Elon is obviously pretty bright, and (ii) this shouldn’t be conflated with moral judgment — highly intelligent people do lots of bad things. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/RfQDsPTWEe-6YCNSdNTN_w/www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence) > But I don’t care what Elon’s SAT score is (1400, according to Isaacson). He’s clearly some sort of outlier in ways most people would associate with intelligence. Probably even a “genius.”And yet, when my partner and I were heading to dinner the other day and saw some tweet that Elon sent — I forget which one because he tweets so much — we were both like, “Man, he’s such a dumbass.” Yes, someone can be both a genius and a dumbass. Welcome to what I call “spiky intelligence.” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/c_Eu-vTWEe-XboNjOlUSFQ/www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence) > Simon Baron-Cohen and other researchers, for instance, have postulated that there’s an inverse correlation between systematizing and empathizing: people tend either to be interested in abstract ideas or interested in other people, but not so often both. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/QsMa3vULEe-tQ48fbjBb1Q/www.natesilver.net/p/elon-musk-and-spiky-intelligence) ⬆️ hmmm...