Re: Elon Musk’s lack of math skills is making me nervous
Written by Olivia Nater | Published: May 9, 2025
The Washington Post published an op-ed questioning Elon Musk’s grasp of numbers. We voiced our agreement in a letter to the editor, which wasn’t published, so we are featuring it here.
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Very pleased to see David Von Drehle point out the long-neglected fact that Elon Musk is, in fact, not at all the genius he has made himself out to be. Those of us working in the population field have been calling out his “population collapse” nonsense for years, and we are relieved that more people are beginning to realize that Musk is either ignorant, deceitful, or unhinged (or possibly all three).
Indeed, the world population is still very much growing, on track to peak at over 10 billion in the 2080s with no significant decline this century. This means that the vast majority of people alive today will likely (barring major disasters) never see a global population that is smaller than today’s.
And yes, Musk has also been spreading lies about women’s bodies and reproductive health. As well as his false claims about vaginal births, he has used his platform to spread misinformation intended to discourage women from using contraception.
It is tragic that such a dangerous person has been given so much power over government spending. Musk’s lack of empathy and megalomaniac motivations are killing millions of the world’s most vulnerable people. How ironic that he himself seems to now be engineering the “population collapse” he claims to fear.
Sincerely,
Olivia Nater
Communications Manager
Population Connection