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At the risk of dating myself, I recently recalled one of the catchiest politically inspired catchphrases of all time after listening to a recent review of Lucid's CEO claiming that Tesla will not solve FSD until sometime in the 2030’s―"Nattering nabobs of negativity."
Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity
In essence, nattering nabobs of negativity refer to people who are always quick to criticize but never provide solutions for the very problems they bemoan and claim to be experts on.
Incidentally, "Nattering nabobs of negativity" is attributed to American journalist and popular columnist William Safire who wrote a speech containing the phrase for vice-president Spiro Agnew during the Nixon administration in 1968.
One factoid that makes the phrase interesting and applicable today is that while many believe it was directed at journalists, it was actually an attack against politicians who were not aligned with Nixon's policies. However, "…within a year, journalists began to usurp the aphorism and conflate it with Agnew's celebrated November 1969 speeches criticizing the news media," according to an article published in American Journalism.
Tesla Will Not Solve the FSD Problem for Another Decade
This momentary step back in my mental time machine was initiated by a recent episode of The Electric Viking YouTube channel where the host (Sam Evans) discusses Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson’s prediction that Tesla will not solve all of its FSD problem for at least another decade. This is in contrast to Tesla stating that Full FSD will be approved next year in California and/or Texas.
During the discussion, the host uses an apt metaphor of looking through a dirty prism and what a person sees is a refraction of what he or she internally wants to see and not what else there is externally to see. Furthermore, the idea that just because there may always remain a 0.001 percent of imperfection, will it mean that full FSD does not or cannot ever truly exist?!
If History is Ever a Predictor of Anything, It Favors FSD
History can be a good teacher. For example, a short list of things that people once believed were impossible but were later achieved include:
- Flying
- Space Travel
- Breaking the Four-Minute Mile
- Breaking the Sound Barrier
- Heart Transplants
- Curing Infectious Diseases
- Wireless Communication
- Mapping the Human Genome
- Cloning
- Quantum Computing
- Electric Cars
- Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
- Eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes
In other words, history repeatedly demonstrates that human ingenuity and perseverance have overcome what was once thought to be impossible or, at the very least, naysaid as impractical and something that would happen "maybe later."
The Value of All Those Naysayers Out There
However, naysaying does have its own intrinsic, if not indirect, value―motivation. Tell the right (or sometimes the wrong) person something cannot be done, and you are likely to have provided them with the kick in the seat of the pants to prove you wrong. It just doesn't get any more American than that—spite with purpose.
That said, here is the video posted below that I highly recommend watching as a lesson to why you should listen to―but not believe―Tesla naysayers and discover from the host who he believes has the better EV battery and is at the lead of what has become an interesting race in EV evolution.
World's highest paid CEO says Tesla will not solve FSD until the 2030's
For additional articles related to EV development, here are two for your consideration:
- 4 New Tesla Batteries Expected, Announcement
- The Most Honest Tesla Cybertruck Review You Will Ever Hear
Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWritesfor daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.
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