Musk shocked the speech: The most terrible thing in the world is that children have no internal drive.

Author | Musk Source | Chinese and American scholars

Musk pointed out that the key to his success is "internal drive", and the most terrible thing in the world is that children don't have "internal drive".

As a man who has repeatedly made history, Musk has demonstrated his outstanding abilities in many fields. He manages six companies, all of which have the potential to subvert the industry in their respective fields, including SpaceX (rocket launch and recycling), Tesla (electric vehicle), The Boring Company (super high-speed rail), OpenAI (artificial intelligence), Future of Life Institute (future of life research) and Neuralink (brain chip).

The following is the contents of Musk's shocking speech, which is a compulsory course for every parent.

When I was a child, people often asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn't really know. Later, I thought it would be cool to invent, because science fiction writer Arthur Clark (author of 21: A Space Odyssey) once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is no different from magic."

Think about it. If people 3 years ago saw that today we can fly, communicate remotely, use the Internet and find information all over the world immediately, they would definitely say that this is magic. If I can invent advanced technology, wouldn't it be like magic?

I have always had a sense of crisis, and I really want to find out what is the meaning of life and the purpose of everything. Finally, the conclusion is that if we can make the world's knowledge more and more progressive, then we will be more able to ask better questions, improve the wisdom of all mankind, and work hard for a higher level of collective civilization all our lives. This is the meaning of living.

I want to do something that will affect the future of mankind

So I decided to study physics and business. Because to achieve such a lofty goal, we must understand how the universe works and how the economy works, and we must find the most powerful talent team to invent things together.

In 1995, I came to California (enrolled in Stanford University for my PhD) to find out how to improve the energy density of electric vehicles, for example, is there a better capacitor to replace batteries? But at that time, with the rise of the internet, I was faced with two choices: to continue to study capacitor technology with little chance of success, or to join the network business. Finally, I chose to drop out of school and participate in online entrepreneurship, one of which is PayPal.

the most important insight in establishing PayPal comes from its birth process. We originally planned to use PayPal to provide integrated financial services, which is a large and complicated system. As a result, every time I introduce this system to others, everyone is not interested. When we introduce it again, there is a small function of e-mail payment in the system, and everyone becomes interested.

So, we decided to focus on e-mail payment, and PayPal really became an instant hit. However, if we hadn't noticed other people's reactions and made changes, we might not have been so successful. Therefore, it is important to collect feedback and use it to correct your previous assumptions.

in October 22, EBay bought PayPal with $1.5 billion in stock. Musk is the largest shareholder, holding 11.7% and cashing in $18 million.

after the success of paypal, I began to think, what are the problems that are most likely to affect the future of mankind? I think the biggest problem facing the earth is sustainable energy, that is, how to produce and consume energy in a sustainable way. If we can't solve this problem in the 21st century, we will face disaster. Another big problem that may affect human survival is how to migrate to other planets.

If you have a dream, you should do it

The first question prompted me to set up Tesla and SolarCity (the largest supplier of rooftop solar systems in the United States); The second question led me to set up SpaceX, a space technology company.

In 22, I set up SpaceX to solve the problem of space transportation. Everyone I talked to at that time advised me not to do it, and a friend even went to find a video of a rocket explosion to show me (laughter). He is actually right. I have never made a physical product, so it was really difficult at first. The rocket launch failed three times in a row, which was very painful.

But we learned from every failure, and finally succeeded in the fourth launch in 28, putting Falcon-1 into Earth orbit. At that time, I had used up all my funds, but fortunately it succeeded.

After that, our transport rocket was transformed from Falcon 1 to Falcon 9, and the Feilong spacecraft was developed. Recently, after its launch, Feilong successfully connected with the International Space Station and returned to Earth. I really broke into a cold sweat. I can't believe we did it.

However, there are still more goals to be achieved if people want to migrate to other planets. So, I hope you can join SpaceX or other space exploration companies. This is not to look down on the earth. In fact, I am quite optimistic about the future of the earth. I think there is a 99% chance that human beings can live in peace for a long time. However, even if the future risk of the earth is only 1%, it is enough to stimulate us to prepare in advance and do a good job of "planet backup".

In 23, in order to prove the potential of electric vehicles, I founded Tesla Corporation. In the past, many people thought that electric cars were too slow, not far away and ugly, just like golf carts. In order to change people's impression, we have developed Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car with fast speed, long running distance and stylish appearance.

So, if you want to start a company, you must actually make a product prototype. Because, no matter how wonderful the paper homework and PowerPoint report are, they are not as convincing as taking out the actual products.

After the Roadster came out, someone said, "Even if you can make an expensive limited-edition sports car, can you make a real mass-produced car?" No problem, we will launch the four-door RV Model S and prove it to everyone.

This is my entrepreneurial journey. What I want to say is that you are all wizards in the 21st century, and there is no limit to your imagination. Don't let anything stop you, just do your magic.

Below, I want to share a few secrets of pursuing success, some of which you may have heard, but they are worth emphasizing again.

I will encourage you. Now is the best time to take risks. If you have a dream, just do it and make sure you won't regret it!

aim at the moon. If you fail, you can at least fall on the clouds.

I think people can choose an extraordinary life.

If they don't fail several times, they will miss the opportunity to challenge themselves to the limit.

People are too afraid of failure. People exaggerate their fear of failure. Imagine what it would be like to fail. I may be hungry and lose my house, but I think I have to have the courage to try. Sometimes, people self-limit their abilities, and they don't actually realize how big their abilities are.

The course of life is always accompanied by countless successes and failures. Since we choose innovation, we can't be afraid of failure, but chew the essence of things from every failure. Through constant experimentation, you can finally succeed.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll Never give up. I mean, never!

Accept failure, but don't accept giving up.

Your goal is very important: if I just want to optimize my net worth, I won't choose these companies. I'll be in real estate or finance, or, frankly, in oil.

But what we need to consider is what people live for. What is the meaning of living? Is what we are doing expanding the territory of human wisdom?

When I was in college, I always thought about what would most affect the future of mankind. In fact, the only meaningful thing to do is to strive to improve the wisdom of all mankind and work hard for a higher level of collective civilization. This is the meaning of living.

along the way from PayPal, I have been thinking, "well, what is the most likely factor that will affect the future of mankind?" Instead of thinking about "what is the best way to make money?"

For me, what I want to do is something meaningful, and try my best to make the world a better place. This is what I want to do. I want to change the world, and I hope I can do my best to create a new world and make people enjoy life. This is what I want to do. For this, I don't mind taking risks.

I hope what I do will have a far-reaching impact on people's lives. Either don't do it, or do it historically.

Finally, it is worrying that the motivation of children's learning and progress today comes almost entirely from external pressure and rewards. As a result, they will have neither grand goals nor perseverance. I don't want to imagine such a future.

I believe that as long as there is enough internal drive, ordinary children can also achieve extraordinary achievements.

All my achievements today stem from the words of the author of 21: A Space Odyssey: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is no different from magic."

(This article is recommended by Teacher Yong and selected from "Chinese and American Scholars", and the copyright belongs to the original author)