--- title: Elon Musk on How to Build Knowledge description: "Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can" canonical: https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-25T11:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:34.827Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Elon Musk on How To Build Knowledge og:description: "Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can" og:url: https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6415a8d7249ce28/6987eaa9428a9eda49ccadbc/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Elon Musk at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California on March 17, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elon Musk on How To Build Knowledge twitter:description: "Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6415a8d7249ce28/6987eaa9428a9eda49ccadbc/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elon Musk on How to Build Knowledge > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: 10 Questions for Elon Musk [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions for Elon Musk](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ojvQqx85.m3u8) (6:01)  _Published 2010-07-08. The engineer-magnate is a co-founder of electric-car maker Tesla Motors. Elon Musk will now take your questions._ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish May 25, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Elon Musk at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California on March 17, 2015. Elon Musk at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California on March 17, 2015. David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish May 25, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Elon Musk recently did an [AMA on reddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i%5Fam%5Felon%5Fmusk%5Fceocto%5Fof%5Fa%5Frocket%5Fcompany%5Fama/). Here are three question-and-response pairs that I enjoyed, including how to build knowledge. He knows how to say [I don’t know](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/05/the-power-of-i-dont-know/). --- > “” --- Everyone has that one teacher… --- > “” --- Finally, his answer on building knowledge reminds me of [The Five Elements of Effective Thinking](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/07/five-elements-of-effective-thinking/) and the [latticework of mental models](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/). --- > “” --- **_Follow your curiosity_** _to_ [_Elon Musk Recommends 12 Books_](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/11/elon-musk-book-recommendations/)_._ **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/"},"headline":"Elon Musk on How to Build Knowledge","datePublished":"2015-05-25T11:00:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:34.827Z","description":"\"Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can\"","url":"https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/","keywords":["Psychology","Elon Musk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6415a8d7249ce28/6987eaa9428a9eda49ccadbc/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6415a8d7249ce28/6987eaa9428a9eda49ccadbc/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elon Musk at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California on March 17, 2015.","caption":"Elon Musk at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California on March 17, 2015.","creditText":"David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3818261/elon-musk-knowledge/","name":"Elon Musk on How to Build Knowledge"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions for Elon Musk","description":"The engineer-magnate is a co-founder of electric-car maker Tesla Motors. 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