I had this thought too but there’s kind of a problem, which is that the more compelling the example of “tall poppy”, the more politically controversial which can distract from and undermine your message. I kinda think Elon Musk is the perfect example to use though. I wish the post could somehow autodetect the reader’s politics and select statements about Elon accordingly.
“Elon Musk [lately seems to be going off the antisemitism deep end/does a lot of securities fraud/comes up with dumb fake ideas like Hyperloop/calls people pedos for no reason/exaggerates how good Tesla autopilot is in a way that seems likely to kill people] but I still really appreciate how he [jump-started the modern electric car industry/brought innovation back to space launches/something something Starlink].
I think it’s more so a counterexample, considering his 25 year track record of consistently taking the option of being the ‘tallest poppy’, and succeeding and outdoing his would be ‘bandits’ every time.
It shows that it’s possible to deflect and reflect ‘bandits’ into a beneficial force, even at the scale of buying a sizable tech company in SV while aiming for maximum tall poppiness.
I had this thought too but there’s kind of a problem, which is that the more compelling the example of “tall poppy”, the more politically controversial which can distract from and undermine your message. I kinda think Elon Musk is the perfect example to use though. I wish the post could somehow autodetect the reader’s politics and select statements about Elon accordingly.
“Elon Musk [lately seems to be going off the antisemitism deep end/does a lot of securities fraud/comes up with dumb fake ideas like Hyperloop/calls people pedos for no reason/exaggerates how good Tesla autopilot is in a way that seems likely to kill people] but I still really appreciate how he [jump-started the modern electric car industry/brought innovation back to space launches/something something Starlink].
I think it’s more so a counterexample, considering his 25 year track record of consistently taking the option of being the ‘tallest poppy’, and succeeding and outdoing his would be ‘bandits’ every time.
It shows that it’s possible to deflect and reflect ‘bandits’ into a beneficial force, even at the scale of buying a sizable tech company in SV while aiming for maximum tall poppiness.