It was recently reported that Elon Musk said on Twitter on Thursday that he is becoming politically active to stop “the woke mind virus” from preventing humankind from reaching Mars.
Musk made the remarks while responding to a Twitter user’s questions on an earlier tweet by the billionaire. On Wednesday, Musk posted on the platform claiming that “political attacks” on him would “escalate dramatically in coming months.”
“Just curious…what is your motivation to become politically active? Why make yourself a target?” the Twitter user asked. “You are trying to get mankind to Mars and alert the public to the danger of AI. Why sabotage these worthwhile goals by wading into political controversy? Is it worth it?”
In response, Musk wrote: “Unless it is stopped, the woke mind virus will destroy civilization and humanity will never reached Mars.”
Over the last month, Musk has mentioned the “woke mind virus” on several occasions. On Wednesday, he called Yale the “epicenter of the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization.”
And in April, Musk used the term in a tweet, stating that it is “making Netflix unwatchable.” While Musk hasn’t outlined what he thinks constitutes the “woke mind virus,” the word “woke” has been co-opted and weaponized by right-wing figures to mock progressive causes.
Musk also bashed the Democratic party in a tweet on Wednesday, calling it “the party of division and hate.” In the same tweet, he doubled down on his resolution to vote Republican this election — several days after he first stated that stance during a tech conference.
Musk’s comments on Thursday came in the wake of a bombshell Insider article detailing how his aerospace firm, SpaceX, paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against the billionaire.
The Daily Star went on to report that Musk started the tweet conversation by stating that “political attacks” on him will “escalate dramatically in coming months”. This prompted user The Angry Astronaut to tweet: “Just curious…what is your motivation to become politically active?
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“Why make yourself a target?
“You are trying to get mankind to Mars and alert the public to the danger of AI.
“Why sabotage these worthwhile goals by wading into political controversy?
“Is it worth it?”
His response was the aforementioned comment on the “woke mind virus tweet, which prompted ridicule from other users.
Writer for the Atlantic, Molly Jong-Fast tweeted that she was “excited” for Musk to go to Mars, while media campaign group Sleeping Giants asked if he had started “investing in cocaine”.
While a third user, Aamina Suleman, was more philosophical.
She tweeted: “Humanity won’t ever reach Mars because humans were made to live on Earth for a purpose and if this planet is gone, so are we.
“This, let’s try to preserve what we have rather than dream an impossible dream.
“No one is truly needed.
“We prove our worth before becoming worthy of any need.”
