A very strange story appeared in the news last week. At the annual Tesla Motors shareholder conference a man named Roy Philipose asked the CEO of Tesla to “give him a second look” and allow him to “come on board as vice chairman of Tesla.” Roy described himself as a “super-genius” with a “vast mind.” It was a sad sight as attendees laughed the man to scorn. Roy did not plead his case for long, but gave up in an apparent fit of shame. In a later tweet, Roy said, “I am slightly offended you guys call me delusional and crazy. I am pretty brilliant and I hope someone recognizes me for it.” Now I happen to find this story extremely fascinating and interesting. I certainly hope we have not heard the last from this “super genius,” and I have some advice to assist his quest for recognition.
To claim to be a “super genius,” one has to be either insane or very sure of himself. We have no way of knowing, at this point, to which group Roy Philipose belongs. He claims he has been trying to gain an audience with the Tesla CEO for two years now, and has been waiting for ten long years for someone to give his “vast mind” a second look. That kind of determination and patience is impressive, but it obviously has not proved successful thus far. Instead of simply waiting around for recognition, Mr. Philipose needs to realize that he lives in America. We Americans write our own scripts here. We don’t sit around waiting for someone to discover our talents. If this man really is as brilliant as he asserts, he needs to prove it. And for that, he doesn’t need a rich and famous CEO.
The beautiful thing about America, the thing that most sets us apart from every other nation on Earth, is that we are permitted to construct our own lives. We are free to make our own life choices and then live with the results. The government does not dictate what our lives look like, and thus we cannot blame them for our failures nor thank them for our successes. Because we are free, society does not owe us a thing. We Americans only have ourselves to blame if we fail. If Roy Philipose is not being properly recognized for his superior intellect, it is because he has been waiting for society to notice him and reward him. America does not work this way, Roy. You are free to use your “super genius” powers however you see fit, and if you can’t succeed, well, maybe you aren’t so brilliant after all.
Thanks to our welfare state, Americans are becoming accustomed to the very un-American attitude of self-entitlement. This seems to the problem in this case with Roy. Rather than feeling entitled to a good job because of special talents and skills, all Americans must be aware of the value of hard work in this country. If our friend Roy were to work hard and work tirelessly towards his goal of living the American dream, he would be more likely to succeed. And even if he did fail to ever have the world recognize his apparent brilliance, he would be rewarded with the satisfaction of knowing he did everything in his power. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing you gave your all.
So, Roy, instead of begging for high-paying positions at big companies and making a fool of yourself, get to work! You don’t need a big shot CEO to hand your dream to you on a silver platter. Make this dream come true by your own hard work. You claim to be on “level two” with the Tesla CEO, so why don’t you prove it? Tesla has undoubtedly become what it is with countless hours of hard work and numerous failures along the way. Start at the bottom, Roy, and build your own company. Apply your genius to an area you are passionate about, and get to work. Maybe in a few years someone will be begging you for a job.
TomNaegeleBlogs 