One of the most bizarre, fascinating and downright unusual YouTube vids I’ve had the pleasure to lay my eyes on recently?

A short clip of Lex Fridman interviewing Elon Musk about SpaceX, Elon’s spacecraft company.

In the video Lex turns to Elon and asks this question:

“When do you think SpaceX will land a human being on Mars?”

And Elon’s answer is captivating.

Not because of a hot new take…

Or an impossibly intelligent and insightful answer…

Or even the answer itself.

No, it’s something else altogether.

See, once the question is asked, Elon pauses.

That pause lasts a couple of seconds…

Then a few seconds more…

And then a few seconds more again…

Until 21 seconds later, Elon answers the question.

21 seconds of silence!

This isn’t something you see every day. 

In fact, it’s something I hardly see at all when two people are having a conversation.

Yet slowing down to the point of silence has a lot going for it.

See, what Elon’s silence told me is this:

First, there was trust between him and the interviewer.

Second, Elon actually listened to the question.  He didn't second-guessing it or presume he knew what was going to be asked.

And, most of all, Elon gave an authentic answer.  He considered the question then and there and actively decided how to respond.  He didn't trot out a rehearsed answer or follow a pre-written script.  And he certainly didn't buy into the common notion that the way to impress people is by having the answers at our fingertips.

So Elon was present in the moment and present in the conversation. 

And to my mind, it all adds up to this:

The answers are in the silence.  Not in the noise.

You could even say that presence and creation themselves come from silence.

That's my two pennies' worth for today.

Have a great weekend.

 - Tom

p.s. here’s the clip for anyone interested: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJ-hiZIHSg