Ayaz Ali - Assignment 13

Reading Reflection

1) Elon Musk

• I think the thing that surprised me the most about Elon Musk was how difficult his life situation was in his early years. Not being in a good relationship with his parents must have been rough, and of course the divorce did not help him. He was also bullied in school so he was very isolated in his early years. It was crazy to read about how a person with such a rough young life became the man he is today.
• The thing I admired the most about Musk was his determination and his views on many things. Seeing how he handled his stress was crazy, as he was the founder and creator of so many different ideas and projects and found the fun in all of them. His ability to memorize two entire encyclopedias was amazing, and in his early years he read almost sixty books per month. I love his perception on things and he never really focuses on the cons of ideas, but rather the pros.
• The thing I least admired was that he never really tried to fix his relationship with his parents. Of course, many of these things as a young boy are tough, but it seemed he preferred to do his own thing, which I do not know if I agree with. Of course every scenario is different and I cannot speak for how he behaved.
• Musk encountered many failures in his life, most notably being the original Tesla Models. It was provided how many times the cars would not function properly and many people were on the verge of looking at the idea as a bluff. We look at Tesla's success today, and you can't help it but feel happy for Musk's determination and ability to never give up on the idea. He kept working at the idea, and other ideas, and never let one roadblock stop him from accomplishing his goals. 

2. I really enjoyed Musk's ability to think and create. Even after failing tons of times and creating unrealistic expectations for himself, he somehow made them come true and was successful in doing so. I mean think about the fact that he thought of the idea of creating a self-driving car. Many people can think of the idea, but it takes a genius to make that thought come to life, and Musk did just that. His wild thoughts and creative mind has led to some of the greatest ideas and inventions known to mankind. Even his latest idea of the super speed train that could get you to places that would take multiple hours to just 45 minutes or an hour is incredible. he truly is one of a kind and is the definition of a genius.

3. I think one part of the reading that was confusing was all of the ideas that Musk had and that was talked about. It seemed like he was jumping from place to place, but I guess he had so many ideas that he wanted to get out. Maybe if the biography organized the ideas a little better, it would make it more clear, but still it was not terrible.

4. Questions: 

• What motivated you to keep trying when you ran into roadblocks? I would ask this question because I can relate to it. Whenever I get into certain situations and want to give up, I get very demoralized. I feel bad and want to quit, and I would want to know how he kept going on some things that were so large. I worry about school, and he somehow kept his cool when creating whole inventions that would change the world. How did he keep going?
• How did you think of some of your ideas? And how did you think about actually implementing them? Musk's ideas are awesome, but honestly they seem unrealistic. I could talk about how I would want to create a car that could also float and turn into a boat. Sounds cool of course, but there is so much more than just an idea. Musk had wild thoughts but managed to turn his dreams into reality, and I would just love to see things from his perspective.

5. I think Musk would think hard work is very important. My thought process is always "you get what you put in", and I think Elon Musk would agree. Some things take long amounts of time to do and require you to put your all into it, but it all matters about how bad you want it. I think he would share the same opinion about hard work as me, but maybe he would look at and handle things differently than I would.