It's also interesting that, if you become a symbolic leader, it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong: you're inspiring others to continue your work either way. What matters is that he had an idea/opinion, and shared it.
I feel the point there is that you can propose all day, until you try you never know, and it would have been a damn cool thing to pull off. He hedged a bet
Is this what Musk tried to do with Hyperloop?