Thanks for an interesting question @juvyjabian

I don't agree with the concept of being inherently 'smart' because it's so contextual. I'm not sure anyone is 'smart' independent of everything else.

For example, Bill Gates would have been unremarkable if born into a 18th Century farming community, while in late 20th Century California, he was very 'smart'.

In Elon's case:

I think understanding rocket engineering is 'smart'.

But I think building rockets at the cost of billions in the context of our current global situation is not very smart at all.

Smart is where ability meets context. For me: Elon is ability; with no consideration of context.

I feel he's in an unconscious repetition. People who are genuinely smart have skills that are useful in context; and are self-aware. No self-aware person would mistreat themselves and others like Elon has.

Hopefully he will figure this out soon. If he's smart enough :)