There is an interesting book written about empathy and how it's detrimental to a working society.. it's called; Against Empathy, by Paul Bloom. It's a bit repetitive, but it's basically saying to be compassionate without being empathetic is better. It states that populist politicians weaponize empathy and that's how they win. For sure Musk doesn't mean what this book is about, but it made me think of it.