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Elon Musk: People ought to think more about who wrote the software running in their heads; it is probably not themselves

Shopify Vice President of Engineering Farhan Thawar relayed Elon Musk’s 2012 original words on X on 2026-10-30, saying that people ought to think more about who wrote the software running in their heads (sigh). It probably was not themselves. About 9 hours later, Elon Musk quoted the post and replied “Yes,” confirming the statement.

The original words were first posted by Elon Musk himself on 2012-08-01. Farhan Thawar clearly labeled in the post that they were said by Elon Musk, and Elon Musk’s reply added no further explanation.

Original sources:

  1. Title: Yes Publisher: Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Publication date: 2026-10-30 URL: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2116296050168508726 Source nature: original post by the person involved Verification status: Full text of the post and quoted content were read for this report, verification date 2026-10-30 Supporting content: Elon Musk quoted Farhan Thawar’s post and replied “Yes,” confirming the relevant statement

  2. Title: People ought to think more about who wrote the software that's running in their head (sigh). It probably wasn't them -- Elon Musk Publisher: Farhan Thawar (@fnthawar) Publication date: 2026-10-30 URL: https://x.com/fnthawar/status/2116156450233819385 Source nature: original post by the person involved Verification status: Full text of the post was read for this report, verification date 2026-10-30 Supporting content: Farhan Thawar relayed and labeled it as Elon Musk’s view

  3. Title: People ought to think more about who wrote the software that's running in their head (sigh). It probably wasn't them. Publisher: Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Publication date: 2012-08-01 URL: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/230491286489161729 Source nature: original post by the person involved Verification status: The original text and date were confirmed through search results for this report, verification date 2026-10-30 Supporting content: the original 2012 statement does not prove any subsequent specific policy or product action

ABAB AI Insight

When Elon Musk first posted this statement on 2012-08-01, Tesla and SpaceX were in their early expansion stages. He later said in a related discussion in 2021-11 that better mental firewalls needed to be built, and suggested making critical thinking and first principles compulsory subjects in middle school; in 2024-09 he posted that you can change the software running in your head that was put there by others, continuing the same theme.

Farhan Thawar is currently Shopify’s Vice President of Engineering, and previously worked at companies including Helpful (acquired), Pivotal, and Microsoft. This time he chose to relay and label Elon Musk’s words from 14 years ago, and Elon Musk responded with a single word, Yes, without expanding on a new point.

Discussion likening human thought to software that can be written by external forces is not uncommon in tech circles. Compared with Elon Musk’s 2012 original post, the key similarity in this interaction is the renewed emphasis on the influence of an external source on cognition; the difference is that 2012 was a proactive post, while 2026 was a confirmation of a third-party relay, and the 14-year gap did not change the core wording.

Elon Musk’s Yes gave the 2012 statement public backing from him again in 2026, reinforcing his consistent stance on the role of external input in the formation of cognition. This confirmation itself does not change any company product, regulatory status, or capital arrangement, but it places a long-standing view back into the current information environment.

ABAB News · Cognitive Law

  1. Confirmation of the same viewpoint can keep the original wording unchanged across more than a decade.

  2. A third-party relay plus a one-word response from the person involved is enough to publicly re-endorse an old statement.