Elon Musk — How Did He Learn Anything, Anywhere? (2024)

Elon has his own way of learning anything he wants because he has honed certain techniques for learning, and if you acquire these techniques, you become a much better version of yourself, that’s for sure. Elon Musk attended the University of Pennsylvania and received his bachelor’s degrees in both economics and physics. He intended to obtain his PHD from Stanford University in California, but left soon after to co-found the web software company zip2 with his brother Kimball. He never looked back. Musk has been very local in his criticism of the modern education system. Quite simply, he doesn’t think that students are learning rapidly and thoroughly enough. He certainly thinks that there is enough emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving. Musk decided to take his education into his own hands, turning instead to text books and individuals with specialized knowledge to help guide him.

One of the earliest people he reached out to was a man named Jim Cantrell. Cantrell defines himself as a subject matter expert in satellite systems on his LinkedIn profile. Cantrell worked for the French space agency CNES from 1990 to 1992 before returning to the United States to consult for aerospace companies. Musk heard about Cantrell and realized how useful a person he would be, so he phoned him out of the blue in 2001. Musk informed Cantrell over the phone that the two of them needed to speak, and he ultimately probed Cantrell for information regarding the feasibility of sending a spaceship to Mars. Cantrell, who had never heard of Musk, subsequently regarded him as “the brightest guy I’ve ever met.” Musk was not a billionaire at the time, though he had made a few million, so he couldn’t afford what they were asking. His solution: build the rockets himself, which is where Cantrell came in. Cantrell, intrigued by the proposition, allowed Musk to borrow some of his text books, which included titles like rocket propulsion elements, fundamentals of astrodynamics, and international reference guide to space launch systems, to name a few. Musk poured over these textbooks, and Cantrell later stated that he was not sure whether Musk took notes on the information in…