I know it's not an especially important thing at the moment, but I am struck by Elon Musk's deliberate trashing of his brand (and this is deliberate) of appealing to people with vague environmental concerns and science nerds to go full COVID-19 denial and MAGA RESISTANCE HERO. Not that all science nerds have good politics, of course, and not all science nerds are especially bright, but there is some degree of "RESPECT SCIENCE." Now the guy who makes electric cars that are going to save the planet and save humanity by building rockets to mars (this is dumb, but science nerds do dream) is denying the pandemic raging around him, peddling quack cures (he was an early chloroquinine pusher), and trying to get his workers killed. He's gone full Trump!
Musk's hardcore fans are generally pretty stupid. Musk is a dumb science nerd's idea of what a Smart Science Guy is, but Musk had a lot of general cultural branding of "VISIONARY SCIENCE SMART GUY WHO WILL SAVE THE WORLD" and lol that's all gone now.
