Musk and Hughes and Neurodivergence
The middle third of the Howard Hughes story is exciting and romantic and makes you proud to be an American. The first and third parts of the story are haunting and tragic and make you feel for what he must have gone through. Watching the Don Lemon interview with Elon Musk is like seeing the ghost of Howard Hughes.
People closely examine recordings of both Musk and Huges, looking for signs of neurodivergence. Neurodivergence is a term used to describe a number of symptoms and conditions, including ADHD, but more particularly Autism. Scientists first began using the term “autism” at the turn of the last century, with speculation that it might be a form of schizophrenia. It wasn’t until the nineteen forties that scientists dropped the suspected link to schizophrenia and began compiling the current list of symptoms that describe what we now consider autism.
Some scientists have been reexamining the link between autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia. In my generation of my family, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and my brother was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. I have three cousins with ADHD and one with bipolar disorder. None of this is proof of a connection, but genetics is very likely a strong factor involved in brain structure and function, which these things seem to be.
The first and middle third of Elon Musk’s life closely matches that of Howard Huges. Whether the last third will be like Hughes’ remains to be seen. Musk is just now getting old enough to consider it. Watching the interview between Musk and Don Lemon, I’m reminded strongly of the recordings of Hughes testifying before congress, leading into the days of his reclusive lifestyle.
We like to think that success in business is related just to hard work and devotion. It’s not. For the most part, success in business, particularly next-level success like Musk or Hughes, is related to timing and thinking about things in a different way.
Neurodivergency isn’t really a recipe for happiness. Many neurodivergent people spend their lives wondering if they are happy, if they will ever be happy, and what happiness is like. One day, Howard Huges decided to quit the struggle to live as a social being and locked himself away on the top floor of a casino he built. He died there. Musks’s future is unknown.
