Elon Musk: Pain, Suffering and Survival（下）

Summary

Pain is something inevitable and temporary that everyone must suffer. Before the success, SpaceX launched four times, taking six years and five hundred people to make this miracle of modern science and business happen. There are a lot of people who thought they couldn't do it. However, they showed people they can do it and it's just the first step of many. Unfortunately, the afterglow of this mammoth victory faded, the severity of SpaceX's financial hell became top of mind again fro Musk. Due to run out of money, he has to make a tough decision that only one company would likely even have a chance at sursival, SpaceX or Tesla. But, the harder it gets, the better he gets. He goes through the most difficult time. Anyone who saw what he went through firsthand came away with more respect for the guy.

感想

" There was a lot of schadenfreude at the time, and it was bad on so many levels. Justine was torturing me in the press. There were always all these negative articles about Tesla, and the stories about SpaceX's third failure. It hurt really bad. You have these huge doubts that your life is not working,  your car is not working, you're going through a divorce and all of those things. I felt like a pile of shit. I didn't thunk we would overcome it.  thought things were probably fucking doomed."

这是Musk在2008年最困难时的自述。riley began to see Musk's life as a Shakespearean tragedy，想象不到那是多么绝望和痛苦。连Musk这么强大的人都快要熬不住了，可庆幸的是他没有放弃，他坚持到了最后一刻。然后奇迹发生了。人生往往就是如此。你以为不行的时候，恰恰是个转折点，能不能扛过去就决定着你的命运。看到知乎上说“如何走出人生的阴霾？答：多走几步。” 就像马云那句话说的：今天很残酷，明天更残酷，后天很美好，但是大多数人死在明天晚上。如果感觉很艰难，那只要不放弃，你就赢了。

字词分享

1. hound

 Musk would hound the person responsible about the delays but, typically, he would also do everything in his power to help solve problems.

hound sb, constantly disturb or speak to you in an annoying or upsetting.

【例句】Newcomers are constantly hounding them for advice.

【仿句】The little sister is constantly hounding Tim for telling stories.

2. ins and outs

Two SpaceX marketing executives spent twenty minutes before the launch going through all the technical ins and outs of the launch.

ins and outs, all the detailed points and facts about it. 复杂详细，（上本书中也出现过）

【例句】 Dietary experts can advice on the ins and outs of dieting.

【仿句】We need more ins and outs about the project.

3. mounting pressure

Earlier in the day, Musk had tried to distract himself from the mounting pressure by going to Disneyland with his brother Kimbal and their children.

mounting pressure, 新的搭配，可以形容巨大的压力。mounting指数量上的多。

【例句】 He ignored his mounting debts.

【仿句】He tried to distract himself from the mounting problems.

4.mammoth victory

The afterglow of this mammoth victory faded soon after the party ended, and the severity of SpaceX's financial hell became top of mind again for Musk.

mammoth, to emphasize that a task for change is very large and needs a lot of effort to achieve. （改变）巨大的，重大的；（任务）庞大的，艰巨的

【例句】This mammoth undertaking was completed in 18 months.

【仿句】This mammoth tak took almost 3 years to achieve.

5. balk/brass

Salzman balked and told Musk to come in the following week at 7 A.M. to present to VantagePoint's top brass.

balk at, you definitely do not want to do it or let it happen. 畏缩，回避

syn: baffle, curcumvent, dash, thwart

【例句】 Even biology undergraduates may balk at animal experiments.

【仿句】She balked at the vile weather.