Elon Musk Says the US Has 'Very, Very Ancient Lea…

Musk is weird and yet sage at times.

When Musk was asked about humans having "a significantly increased lifespan," he offered a straightforward view about human life.

"I don't think we should try to have people live for a really long time," he told Döpfner. "That it would cause asphyxiation of society because the truth is, most people don't change their mind. They just die."

He continued: "So if they don't die, we will be stuck with old ideas and society wouldn't advance."

Musk then said that a "gerontocracy" — where a government is essentially controlled by citizens significantly older than the bulk of the population — is not healthy.

"I think we already have quite a serious issue with gerontocracy, where the leaders of so many countries are extremely old," he revealed. "In the US, it's a very, very ancient leadership. And it is just impossible to stay in touch with the people if you are many generations older than them."

He added: "The founders of the USA put minimum ages for a local office. But they did not put maximum ages because they did not expect that people will be living so long. They should have. Because for a democracy to function, the leaders must be reasonably in touch with the bulk of the population. And if you're too young or too old, you can't say that you will be attached."

Musk said that he'd like to see political leaders "be ideally within 10 or at least, 20 years of the average age of the population."