Like Trump, Elon Musk reveals a vapid mind super-charged by wealth and ego | Siva Vaidhyanathan

It took less than 48 hours for Elon Musk to reveal just how dangerous his new toy can be to this world. Replying to a tweet from former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the man worth more than $210bn with more than 112 million Twitter followers spread a dangerous conspiracy theory intended to distract people from an attempted political assassination just one week before a major US election.

Like Trump, Musk is as much a symptom of the current malady as a cause. And, like Trump, Musk gives us insight into a vapid mind super-charged by wealth, ego and a cult following. We are in the uncomfortable position of having to take Musk more seriously than he takes us. To ignore or dismiss him would be a big mistake.