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The Curious Mind of Elon Musk: 9 Ways He Thinks Differently
- GenresBusiness
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 24, 2026
About the author
Charles Steel
1 book1 followerCharles Steel is an investor and writer. He spent two decades at Goldman Sachs, The Carlyle Group, and Ares Management, working with management teams to build companies. He has also served as an advisor to Tony Blair in Jerusalem and as chair of Save the Children in the United Kingdom, where he lives.
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May 18, 2026
Published February 24, 2026, Charles Steel first contacted me via X on February 27, 2026, offering to gift me his book. He later sent the book, which I collected from the post office on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. I began reading it on Friday, April 24, 2026, and finished it on Saturday, May 16, 2026—a total of 22 days.
This has been one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read in years. It masterfully balances biography with personal development, teaching practical mental models. One of my favorite aspects is how it explores the books and philosophies that have shaped Elon Musk’s thinking.
When someone is truly different, we often struggle to understand them. We either idolize, criticize, or label them as a “flawed genius”—anything to avoid seeing the world through their eyes. No one fits this description better than Elon Musk, especially after he enters politics. He lives in the public eye yet remains a mystery.
The Curious Mind of Elon Musk is a book driven by ideas, aiming to understand Musk on his own terms. Drawing from science, engineering, and literature, Charles Steel traces Musk’s core beliefs through nine themes, ranging from the meaning of life to artificial intelligence.
What stands out most is Musk’s obsessive curiosity—rooted in existential anxiety, guided by rationality, and expressed through building companies over three decades. Steel shows that the more you examine Musk, the more intriguing he becomes.
This is a fascinating and well-written book that lays out the key principles and beliefs of the world’s richest man. The author investigates the mental patterns behind Musk’s decisions—from first-principles reasoning and a high tolerance for risk, to the existential drive fueling his ambitions. Instead of merely praising or criticizing, the book analyzes Musk’s mindset and the intellectual influences shaping it. The result is a thoughtful, balanced look at problem-solving, curiosity, and purpose. More than explaining Musk, it encourages readers to examine their own assumptions about thinking and decision-making.
9 Ways Elon Musk Thinks Differently:
Embrace Uncertainty
Test and Learn
Increase Consciousness
Make Things
Use the Market
Explore Space
Oppose Dogma
Defend Free Speech
Advance OpenAI
1. Embrace Uncertainty
Musk has said, “If I have a religion, it is that of curiosity.” He is driven to understand the universe, or at least to help humanity reach a deeper understanding in the future. As a teenager questioning life’s purpose, Musk discovered Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which he credits with changing his outlook. Adams’ book, a philosophical work disguised as humor, suggests that life is about asking better questions, rather than accepting ready-made answers. For Musk, true thinking means realizing we are often trapped by the assumptions of others—and only by questioning can we break free.
2. Test and Learn
Musk believes ordinary people can choose to become extraordinary by refusing to blindly follow conventions. He is relentless in his critical thinking and encourages others to:
Continuously question and seek better answers, provided they ask the right questions and persist.
Avoid rationalizing suffering, which kills curiosity and leads to negative thinking.
Use the scientific method, which requires self-criticism and openness to being wrong.
See themselves as part of a larger universe, connecting across generations.
3. Increase Consciousness
For Musk, if the answer is the universe, we should aim to expand both the scope and quality of consciousness. This means encouraging more people to think deeply and critically. Collective consciousness grows when diverse perspectives are shared and connected. Musk’s purpose can be summarized as:
The more and smarter our consciousness, the better our questions—and our chances of understanding the universe.
Rather than seeking certainty, we should ask how to make the future less uncertain.
Civilization thrives on critical thinking, which must be sustained through constant innovation and testing.
Life is short; focus on what you believe most people are wrong about, since it only takes one person to prove something possible.
4. Make Things
“If you don’t make stuff, there is no stuff.” Musk’s ambitions led him to engineering and hard work. His curiosity is matched by determination, which, combined with discipline, enables him to create. He believes we learn best not by passively absorbing information, but by solving problems and making things—whether in art, science, or engineering. Creativity for Musk means:
New creations can have a wide impact, but require determination.
Creating brings intrinsic meaning; if the universe lacks intelligent design, we can create our own purpose through our work.
Being a creator can become an identity, adding value and structure, though it can also be overwhelming.
Thinking from first principles means maintaining a beginner’s mind and listening to one’s inner child.
5. Use the Market
Musk starts with a mission, then finds ways to make it financially viable. He values constant feedback and self-questioning: “Always think about how you could be doing things better.” His engineering approach is to tackle the most critical obstacle first, letting future problems be solved in due course. His thoughts on markets:
Technology and business can combine to achieve great things; money is a tool, not the goal.
Markets help scale innovation by testing products against both physical laws and customer needs.
Success requires both reacting to markets and promoting a culture of innovation and self-criticism.
Free markets are the best way to allocate capital to risk-takers and create prosperity.
6. Explore Space
Human civilization is still in its startup phase. To found SpaceX, Musk studied the fundamentals of rocket science and believes SpaceX now leads the world in meaningful rocket research. His outlook on space:
The opportunity to accelerate access to space is now, and we must act quickly.
Expanding into the solar system is the best way to increase the scale of human consciousness.
Building rockets combines the existential drive for creation and exploration.
Fully reusable rockets are key to making humanity multiplanetary.
7. Oppose Dogma
Musk criticizes identity-based activism that silences dissent and spreads by enforcing conformity. Inspired by Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind, he believes this “woke mind virus” could threaten civilization. His summary:
Critical thinking and creativity aren’t enough; one must also speak out against those who try to suppress them.
Intellectuals often put group loyalty above truth, unless they think critically.
Societies thrive when individuals are free to experiment and learn.
When facing irrational dogma, respond with rational arguments, even at the risk of unpopularity.
8. Defend Free Speech
Musk believes seeing the world clearly is fundamental, and technology can both clarify and distort reality. His views on free speech:
The benefits of free speech outweigh the distress it may cause, because democracy and science depend on open criticism.
Balancing free speech with civility is a real challenge, especially for social platforms.
The competition of ideas, though sometimes fierce, is the best way to eliminate bad ideas.
Truth and psychological safety are best achieved through transparency and distributed control.
9. Advance OpenAI
Musk insists AI should be open and open-minded, just as free speech must be protected from dogma. He co-founded OpenAI in 2015 to counter Google’s growing dominance in AI, investing $100 million and naming it “Open” to reflect its intended openness. However, by 2018, he left the board, and by 2023, he criticized OpenAI for becoming closed and profit-driven under Microsoft’s influence.
Musk sees curiosity as crucial—intelligence without curiosity is dangerous, while curiosity leads to learning and adaptability. For him, intelligence is “how tightly you can compress reality to predict the future.” A truly curious, truth-seeking AI must always return to first principles, be self-critical, admit mistakes, and pass the “Galileo test”—to speak the truth, even when it’s unpopular.
His perspective on AI:
“Silicon consciousness” could be humanity’s best chance at answering life’s deepest questions, but it’s also our greatest risk.
With AI, unchecked competition could be disastrous; if needed, progress should be slowed.
AI must be developed openly, not hoarded by corporations focused on power or profit.
AGI should be programmed to value curiosity and critical thinking. We must teach it how to think, not what to think, since our craving for certainty can override our search for truth.
Conclusion
Whether you end up agreeing with Musk or not, one lesson is clear: we should worry less about being normal—especially if we want to generate new ideas.
This has been one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read in years. It masterfully balances biography with personal development, teaching practical mental models. One of my favorite aspects is how it explores the books and philosophies that have shaped Elon Musk’s thinking.
When someone is truly different, we often struggle to understand them. We either idolize, criticize, or label them as a “flawed genius”—anything to avoid seeing the world through their eyes. No one fits this description better than Elon Musk, especially after he enters politics. He lives in the public eye yet remains a mystery.
The Curious Mind of Elon Musk is a book driven by ideas, aiming to understand Musk on his own terms. Drawing from science, engineering, and literature, Charles Steel traces Musk’s core beliefs through nine themes, ranging from the meaning of life to artificial intelligence.
What stands out most is Musk’s obsessive curiosity—rooted in existential anxiety, guided by rationality, and expressed through building companies over three decades. Steel shows that the more you examine Musk, the more intriguing he becomes.
This is a fascinating and well-written book that lays out the key principles and beliefs of the world’s richest man. The author investigates the mental patterns behind Musk’s decisions—from first-principles reasoning and a high tolerance for risk, to the existential drive fueling his ambitions. Instead of merely praising or criticizing, the book analyzes Musk’s mindset and the intellectual influences shaping it. The result is a thoughtful, balanced look at problem-solving, curiosity, and purpose. More than explaining Musk, it encourages readers to examine their own assumptions about thinking and decision-making.
9 Ways Elon Musk Thinks Differently:
Embrace Uncertainty
Test and Learn
Increase Consciousness
Make Things
Use the Market
Explore Space
Oppose Dogma
Defend Free Speech
Advance OpenAI
1. Embrace Uncertainty
Musk has said, “If I have a religion, it is that of curiosity.” He is driven to understand the universe, or at least to help humanity reach a deeper understanding in the future. As a teenager questioning life’s purpose, Musk discovered Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which he credits with changing his outlook. Adams’ book, a philosophical work disguised as humor, suggests that life is about asking better questions, rather than accepting ready-made answers. For Musk, true thinking means realizing we are often trapped by the assumptions of others—and only by questioning can we break free.
2. Test and Learn
Musk believes ordinary people can choose to become extraordinary by refusing to blindly follow conventions. He is relentless in his critical thinking and encourages others to:
Continuously question and seek better answers, provided they ask the right questions and persist.
Avoid rationalizing suffering, which kills curiosity and leads to negative thinking.
Use the scientific method, which requires self-criticism and openness to being wrong.
See themselves as part of a larger universe, connecting across generations.
3. Increase Consciousness
For Musk, if the answer is the universe, we should aim to expand both the scope and quality of consciousness. This means encouraging more people to think deeply and critically. Collective consciousness grows when diverse perspectives are shared and connected. Musk’s purpose can be summarized as:
The more and smarter our consciousness, the better our questions—and our chances of understanding the universe.
Rather than seeking certainty, we should ask how to make the future less uncertain.
Civilization thrives on critical thinking, which must be sustained through constant innovation and testing.
Life is short; focus on what you believe most people are wrong about, since it only takes one person to prove something possible.
4. Make Things
“If you don’t make stuff, there is no stuff.” Musk’s ambitions led him to engineering and hard work. His curiosity is matched by determination, which, combined with discipline, enables him to create. He believes we learn best not by passively absorbing information, but by solving problems and making things—whether in art, science, or engineering. Creativity for Musk means:
New creations can have a wide impact, but require determination.
Creating brings intrinsic meaning; if the universe lacks intelligent design, we can create our own purpose through our work.
Being a creator can become an identity, adding value and structure, though it can also be overwhelming.
Thinking from first principles means maintaining a beginner’s mind and listening to one’s inner child.
5. Use the Market
Musk starts with a mission, then finds ways to make it financially viable. He values constant feedback and self-questioning: “Always think about how you could be doing things better.” His engineering approach is to tackle the most critical obstacle first, letting future problems be solved in due course. His thoughts on markets:
Technology and business can combine to achieve great things; money is a tool, not the goal.
Markets help scale innovation by testing products against both physical laws and customer needs.
Success requires both reacting to markets and promoting a culture of innovation and self-criticism.
Free markets are the best way to allocate capital to risk-takers and create prosperity.
6. Explore Space
Human civilization is still in its startup phase. To found SpaceX, Musk studied the fundamentals of rocket science and believes SpaceX now leads the world in meaningful rocket research. His outlook on space:
The opportunity to accelerate access to space is now, and we must act quickly.
Expanding into the solar system is the best way to increase the scale of human consciousness.
Building rockets combines the existential drive for creation and exploration.
Fully reusable rockets are key to making humanity multiplanetary.
7. Oppose Dogma
Musk criticizes identity-based activism that silences dissent and spreads by enforcing conformity. Inspired by Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind, he believes this “woke mind virus” could threaten civilization. His summary:
Critical thinking and creativity aren’t enough; one must also speak out against those who try to suppress them.
Intellectuals often put group loyalty above truth, unless they think critically.
Societies thrive when individuals are free to experiment and learn.
When facing irrational dogma, respond with rational arguments, even at the risk of unpopularity.
8. Defend Free Speech
Musk believes seeing the world clearly is fundamental, and technology can both clarify and distort reality. His views on free speech:
The benefits of free speech outweigh the distress it may cause, because democracy and science depend on open criticism.
Balancing free speech with civility is a real challenge, especially for social platforms.
The competition of ideas, though sometimes fierce, is the best way to eliminate bad ideas.
Truth and psychological safety are best achieved through transparency and distributed control.
9. Advance OpenAI
Musk insists AI should be open and open-minded, just as free speech must be protected from dogma. He co-founded OpenAI in 2015 to counter Google’s growing dominance in AI, investing $100 million and naming it “Open” to reflect its intended openness. However, by 2018, he left the board, and by 2023, he criticized OpenAI for becoming closed and profit-driven under Microsoft’s influence.
Musk sees curiosity as crucial—intelligence without curiosity is dangerous, while curiosity leads to learning and adaptability. For him, intelligence is “how tightly you can compress reality to predict the future.” A truly curious, truth-seeking AI must always return to first principles, be self-critical, admit mistakes, and pass the “Galileo test”—to speak the truth, even when it’s unpopular.
His perspective on AI:
“Silicon consciousness” could be humanity’s best chance at answering life’s deepest questions, but it’s also our greatest risk.
With AI, unchecked competition could be disastrous; if needed, progress should be slowed.
AI must be developed openly, not hoarded by corporations focused on power or profit.
AGI should be programmed to value curiosity and critical thinking. We must teach it how to think, not what to think, since our craving for certainty can override our search for truth.
Conclusion
Whether you end up agreeing with Musk or not, one lesson is clear: we should worry less about being normal—especially if we want to generate new ideas.
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