Elon Musk is not one to ever hold back on an opinion, and recently he thrust himself into controversy by promoting sexist comments that seemed to suggest only “high T alpha males” should be the decision-makers and participants in democracy.
On X, the billionaire reposted a theory that said people who “can’t defend themselves physically (women and low T men)” are “very malleable to brute force manufactured consensus.” The post concluded that “a Republic of high status males” is best for decision-making, proposing a democracy exclusive to “high T alpha males and aneurotypical people” who can critically assess information.
The original theory first appeared on 4chan in 2021, and the most recent X post was titled “the Reich effect,” apparently referring to Germany’s pre–World War II state name.
Musk’s post came with the comment, “interesting observation,” thereby making many to believe that he gives credence to the ideology. The now-viral post, viewed by 19 million users on the platform, received huge criticism-mostly from women-who discredit the innuendos that they cannot think for themselves, and others too, citing that it’s backwards and stereotypical.
As the criticism piled on, one user exclaimed on X: “I love how he’s so stupid that he thinks he has some kind of plausible deniability by saying ‘interesting observation’.” Another found Musk’s stance ironic: “Amazing how all of these ‘free-thinking alpha males’ reach the same conclusions on everything.”
One female responded, “I’m a woman and I ask ‘is this true?’ all of the time, dipshit. For example: ‘is this absurd opinion that’s written as fact true?’ NO!” Another one added, “Critical thinking isn’t reserved to the select few; it’s enriched by varied experiences of all people. A healthy society is nurtured on inclusion, not elitism.
Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief AI expert, was one who brought the argument directly to him, Musk, saying, “So, you’ve gone full-throttle sexist now?” as he pointed out flaws in the theory.
The next day, Musk posted a meme on X about concerns over the increasing inability of independent thoughts and belief in people.