It’s been 9 years since I watched this Peter Thiel talk, and it continues to haunt me.
Conversation
“I think this is the challenge all of us have. It’s to work towards a future that’s not just static like a dead channel on tv, but that’s a definite future and that’s a radically better future that can motivate, coordinate and inspire a number of people to change the world.”
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“… and to go to a world where luck is something for us to overcome as we go along the way, but not something that becomes this absolute dominating force that stops all thought before it even starts.”
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I don’t agree with all the assertions Thiel makes, but the argument should be taken seriously. It probably *is* better for the world to believe in a determinate future, and to make plans.
Whereas a bias for hedging and optionality stems from an indeterminate view of the future.
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Scott Alexander, on Thiel’s Zero To One:
“If you write a book that goes ‘hey guys, conspiracies are doable and often successful’, and then a few years later succeed at multiple ambitious conspiracies … I think you are allowed to say this is something other than coincidence”
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Replying to
His book review of this Herbert Hoover biography may be the best book review I’ve ever read:
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You’re right, this is the most incredible book review I’ve ever read. What the actual f this is amazing!
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