Two high-profile skeptics gave World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab a reality check over his comments Monday about the future.

Schwab was speaking in Davos, Switzerland, as the WEF's annual meeting kicked off with the presentation of the Crystal Awards to various artists.

"We couldn't meet at a more challenging time,” Schwab said. "We are confronted with so many crises simultaneously."

"What does it mean to master the future?" he said. "I think to have a platform where all stakeholders of global society are engaged -- governments, business, civil societies, young generation, I could go on -- I think the first step is to meet all the challenges."

"But what is even more important is that we approach the future with a positive spirit, with a spirit which reflects human creativity and ingenuity," Schwab continued, citing the need for excellence in the arts.

Scott Adams and Elon Musk kicked the words "master the future" around Monday with something less than reverence.

“I’m skeptical of anything that can’t be explained in a sentence. What exactly do they do? And Why?” tweeted Adams, a cartoonist who dabbles as a Twitter gadfly when not drawing "Dilbert."

Musk, who owns Twitter and has been a critic of the World Economic Forum, replied.

"'Master the Future' doesn’t sound ominous at all," he said sarcastically, adding the eye-roll emoji.

"How is WEF/Davos even a thing? Are they trying to be the boss of the Earth?"

“Master the Future” doesn’t sound ominous at all … 🙄

How is WEF/Davos even a thing? Are they trying to be the boss of Earth!?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2023

Adams and Musk have sent other carping comments the WEF's way.

Sensible thread.

We shouldn’t be obsessed with WEF/Davos, but they take themselves sooo seriously that making fun of them is awesome 😎

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2023

I don't trust anyone on this list.

Ask them to explain what the WEF does and why. Watch them squirm. https://t.co/YTI06MRE8l

— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 17, 2023

The S in ESG stands for Satanic

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2023

In its outline of the meeting taking place in Davos, under the theme of "Cooperation in a Fragmented World," the WEF said the session will "reaffirm the value and imperative of dialogues and public-private cooperation, not only to navigate the current cascading crises but, more importantly, to drive tangible, system-positive change for the long term."

Writing for the Post Millennial, Libby Emmons offered this translation: "In other words, the plan is to harness these simultaneous crises, as Schwab elucidated, and use them to gain control, drive a new world view, and demand compliance from both private and public actors on the world stage."

[firefly_poll]

Emmons wrote that the vision driving the WEF is one of "entirely remaking the way that societies and economics operate, not in an organic way, but by intentional change, without concern for existing industries, the impact of the new technologies in terms of resource cultivation and disposal, and to attain goals the WEF set at the last meeting for how quickly these changes can be made."

The @wef's Annual Meeting 2023 takes place 16-20 January 2023 in Davos, Switzerland. Find out more here: https://t.co/pmGTXzWpLD #wef23 pic.twitter.com/zA73m6vUjP

— World Economic Forum (@wef) December 23, 2022

The World Economic Forum's annual gathering ends Friday.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.