Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

perell.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 94 posts

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#81

Post by s1artibartfast »

mythrwy wrote: post #71
KerrAvon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He literally funded Trump. “Productive” sometimes isn’t desirable.

Off topic, but why do so many statements about Trump contain the word "Literally!"? He either funded Trump in which case one could just say so, or else he didn't. "Literally" appears to be some sort of emphasis or "alarm" term? "He's literally Hitler!" (no, he's literally not). Also, he contributed to a politician you don't agree with. So what? Did someone else "Literally!" fund Joe Biden? Does that "Literally!" make…

Some people find it shocking and implausible that someone would actually vote for Trump. It is also important to distinguish between people who voted for a centrist democrat, and therefore practically voted for Trump.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#82

Post by JaimeThompson »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #79
JaimeThompson wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His support of politicians who want to remove the rights homosexuals currently have. His views on women having equal rights to men are bothersome too. His stated views on individual rights do not mesh with the company he started to spy on everyone then sell the information to governments.

Interesting, my understanding is that he is prettymuch a bog standard libertarian, and believes in equality under the law for gays and women.

He said this which shows he doesn't care for women having the right to vote. He funds anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-gay politicians regularly.

"The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of "capitalist democracy" into an oxymoron."

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#83

Post by jrm4 »

tartoran wrote: post #24
KerrAvon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He literally funded Trump. “Productive” sometimes isn’t desirable.

Was surprised by that too and am wondering what he could have gained out of that. Thiel is an intelligent guy but something about him seems dubious but can’t really point my finger at it.

This is a really easy question if you pay attention to his whole "maybe people don't know what's best for themselves" schtick.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#84

Post by ectopod »

someperson wrote: post #70
ectopod wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Around that time" is referring to 2004.

> Around that time, an anthropologist who had recently returned from Chinese refugee camps saw how people would sacrifice half their disposable income just to own an iPhone. The original iPhone was released in June 2007. The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake matches up.

You're right of course. The original anecdote makes no sense then.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#85

Post by ksec »

kcplate wrote: post #76
coolso wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He literally funded Trump. You stop here as if to assume this is enough info to prove his productivity was undesirable, and that everyone will understand and degree, but that’s an incorrect assumption. What specifically was undesirable? Most people remember spending $1.50/less per gallon, spending less on everything else thanks to low inflation, the lowest illegal border crossings in decades, lower taxes, finally f…

> You stop here as if to assume this is enough info to prove his productivity was undesirable, and that everyone will understand… Everyone seems to forget how problematic the Democrat’s nominees were in 2016 and 2020. Support for Trump is not necessary hard to understand for someone like Thiel when the alternatives were Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Both candidates were well saturated with scandal, both openly dabbl…

Not an expert on US politics. I believe Thiel supported other republican candidate before he switched to Trump?

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#86

Post by ksec »

d12bb wrote: post #10

For all the Germans here: ZDF Magazin Royale just yesterday did the show on Peter Thiel: https://www.zdf.de/comedy/zdf-magazin-royale/zdf-magazin-roy...

Completely off Topic:

The video player is very nice. Instead of mbps bit rate we use in video encoding which most users dont have a clue. They are showing MB / Min. So the user know how much data the could be using when switching quality. I wish more player do they same. ( But leave an advance mode to show mbps for us nerds )

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#87

Post by Zigurd »

d3vmax wrote: post #41
Zigurd wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many years ago I was traveling with an Ericsson executive who knew exactly the opposite: Mobile networks and phones were how the developing world would connect to the internet's resources. I'm certain Nokia's leadership knew exactly the same thing. I am familiar enough with Nokia's early smartphones to know they held nothing back, even though, at the time, Series 40 was the mass-market device, Series 60, was high-end…

Nokia was already failing prior to MS coming into the picture.

If Nokia was standing on a burning platform, Stephen Elop hosed them down with gasoline.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#88

Post by kcplate »

ksec wrote: post #85
kcplate wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You stop here as if to assume this is enough info to prove his productivity was undesirable, and that everyone will understand… Everyone seems to forget how problematic the Democrat’s nominees were in 2016 and 2020. Support for Trump is not necessary hard to understand for someone like Thiel when the alternatives were Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Both candidates were well saturated with scandal, both openly dabbl…

Not an expert on US politics. I believe Thiel supported other republican candidate before he switched to Trump?

He did/does. However, I thought the complaint was that his judgement should be questioned because he supported Trump specifically, not republicans generally. If the complaint is that “he supports republicans, so don’t trust him.” That complaint is simply generically partisan. At least for me, general partisanship or party alignment doesn’t sway my opinion of an individual.

Trump is divisive and an atypical republican, so I can certainly see how someone supporting him could raise an eyebrow to folks with conventional political wisdom, even if I understand why someone like Thiel would support him.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#89

Post by jrm4 »

mrandish wrote: post #35
jrm4 wrote: post #3

Perfect example of a brilliant thinker who needs to be contained. It's great to begin with ways of thinking like he does; but his love for secrets make him dangerous; people like him do more harm than good to the world because they're very bad at the whole "don't tear a fence down until you know why it was put up" thing.

> but his love for secrets make him dangerous I understood the part about "secrets" differently. I read Thiel's book about entrepreneurial mindset, Zero to One, a few years ago and found it valuable. As a long-time serial entrepreneur myself (initially unsuccessful and eventually quite successful), Thiel clearly understands the complex dynamics deeply and offers actionable insights. One of the things Thiel touches on…

I don't disagree with a single thing you're saying here. I really like Zero to One as well, and I think a lot of people could benefit from that theory--

--but still, scale matters. Once a guy in love with that kind of theory begins to be this rich and powerful, he becomes dangerous.

Re: Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending ‘Secrets’

#90

Post by s1artibartfast »

JaimeThompson wrote: post #82
s1artibartfast wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, my understanding is that he is prettymuch a bog standard libertarian, and believes in equality under the law for gays and women.

He said this which shows he doesn't care for women having the right to vote. He funds anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-gay politicians regularly. "The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for l…

>He said this which shows he doesn't care for women having the right to vote.

I think you are adding a statement to the quote that isn't there. He didn't say that women shouldn't be able to vote. He said the chance of a libertarian government died when they got the vote.

>He funds anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-gay politicians regularly.

Seems like you think that anyone who has other political priorities is actively against these things. I don't think that Theil is anti-gay ect, he is just willing to compromise on those values.

Post reply on HN