The Greatest Life Lesson: Why Tesla Died Poor While Edison Was Rich and Famous
Notated
First, answer a few questions,
- Would you be able to list ten scientists from your home country?
- Can you name five environmental or social activists off the top of your head?
- Or do you know who won the Nobel prize this year?
Most people would be left blank, but I am sure all of us are aware of the Shark Tank judges, or the Kardashians sisters.
And it’s not our fault because these are the “Hero” that dominate the media and narrative.
The people who can put up a show and themselves for public consumption are the only people recorded and rewarded.
Edison was a businessman and inventor but Edison was just the latter.
Unlike the average Joe………
Tesla wasn’t lucky enough to lack consciousness or possess a dash of a psychopath and that heart of gold repelled any real gold.
Leading to his sincerity becoming a sin.
Tesla thought the business aspect was too beneath him hence he learned the important lesson of “money is king” the hard way, that was when he ran out of money for further reacher or basic livelihood.
Nikola Tesla was the poster boy of the classic “mad genius” ie very prolific, but not practical for most people.
In William Terbo, Nicolas Tesla’s grand nephew’s words —
“ He was totally disinterested in business. He did not meet the relationship between the importance of business in the importance of his invention and discovery. ”
The price of true passion
A common trait among geniuses or introverts for that matter is that they keep up to themselves and master their theories or inventions in solitary.
May it be Vincent van Gogh, Marie Curie and Galileo Galilei all of them were deeply consumed with their work and research that either they ended up insane or lonely.
Similarly, Tesla lacked one most crucial traits of Successfully people ie Narcissism.
Now,
Can you recall two other names from the Apollo 11 moon mission besides Neil Armstrong or maybe Buzz Aldrin?
Do you believe Elon Musk has single-handedly achieved SpaceX’s falcon flights or the Mars mission projects?
Do you think the masses would care about Elon Musk or know about his existence if he didn’t Rock the Met Gala, the Hollywood ladies, or appear in Iron Man?
After all, you don’t know who’s the CEO of General Motors, or the Chief scientist at Nasa or maybe Nitin Arora?….FYI…..He is one of the brightest minds at SpaceX. And both Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are locking horns, to keep him or bring him on board.
This is so because unfortunately we only care about Pop on page 3 and saucy scandals on prime time.
The paradox of brilliance and dumbness
Being your attorney can go both ways, but in Tesla’s case, it was a hell hole.
Hence when he chose to be his Intellectual property lawyer in the infamous radio rights case against Guglielmo Marconi, he got a fool for a client.
And that is why we must let the professionals do their job because no matter if you are a genius knowing ten things, it doesn’t make you capable to handle the eleventh.
No doubt Tesla was a pioneer in electrical engineering but unfortunately, he did some of his most prominent and economically viable projects such as improving on the DC generators etc while working for Edison and thus never got the patents for the same.
While the patents Tesla owned were too far from being commercial or imaginable and were too ahead of his time.
Neither did Tesla steal but nor did he fight for what was rightfully his. He simply didn’t care when he should have and then it was too late.
Being a genius is never enough.
Nicolas Tesla was a man of passion and synonymous with generosity. And the good of his heart did not serve him well.
The fact that he wanted to offer his intellect and services for free and human good at large did not sit well with the business prospect of his brilliance.
He failed to commercialise his ideas and to raise or sustain funds, nor was he able to make diplomatic ties and friendships that would serve him in times of need.
He failed to be brutal to his rivals when needed, he wasn’t indifferent when he was supposed to be.
He lacked judgment or diabolical. Besides his immigrant status and lack of connections his animosity with the wrong people also played a great role in his overall failure.
As a society, it’s our failure that we have outcasted and outshine instead of respecting the real talent and goodness of the human heart.
After all,
“If not a dip, a splash of evil is must to baptise into the world of wealth and fame” ~ By yours truly
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