American Dream Reconsidered 2016: A Conversation with Peter Thiel

Moderated by Stuart Warner, philosophy professor and director, Montesquieu Forum for the Study of Civic Life, Roosevelt University
Sponsored by the Jack Miller Center

[@trajandeathimus2165]

thiel is the only person who can say um 5 times in a sentence and make you come away feeling like you’re dumb ... next level genius

[@waielbagh5691]

😂 facts tho

[@rantg]

Only because he is not going with the fashion of - "I am another CEO who also hate Trump on Twitter and that makes me intelligent and smart and liberal", the tech industry now banned him. I think he is one of the smartest people on earth right now.

[@calabazascalabazas8158]

Mr. Thiel is intelligent and smart. That's for sure. If doctor says the pill is poison that will kill, what's the sense of taking it? Committing suicide is not a cure for a disease. Mr. Trump honestly draws the dictatorship picture when he gets elected. No myth in it. What kind of diversity is it? What does it have anything to do with diversity?

[@harveylin3548]

I have always admired this guy, read his book "Zero to one" and was very impressed. I was shocked he was supporting Trump, but now I will never doubt this guy ever again!

[@FilipeBrasAlmeida]

American Trumpist proto-fascism has found its financier.

[@MrDemonshalo]

wow lots of big words there. watch out! choo choo

[@soulscanner66]

So you like him because he likes Trump just like you. Welcome to the echo chamber.

[@ironmountain7907]

Lol at some people in this comment section claiming Peter is anything less than an amazing business man. The man got into STANFORD and co founded PAYPAL, those aren't small achievements; a lot of you who claim he's a pseudo-intellectual are emotionally driven by some of his political points of view...get over it. People aren't, "stupid," because they have different opinions. I'd like to hear how any of you haters have impacted industry or how recently you were asked to give a lecture at a university.

[@hindenburgminsky7638]

He worked with Elon Musk. If it wasn't for Thiel, there would be no SpaceX, no Tesla... Life would be pretty dull.

[@shanebrock1748]

@@hindenburgminsky7638 I don't know about you, but Tesla or SpaceX haven't really improved my quality of life.

[@JernejJerin]

I really like the way he thinks about our world. He kind of has a common sense understanding of how things work.

[@dualesstudiumguru4683]

Peter Thiel really has a unique perspective towards education and innovation

[@FilipeBrasAlmeida]

He should start by educating himself on climate change.

[@dualesstudiumguru4683]

I agree with you. But still when we disagree with Peter in one area, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't listen to him anymore in other areas. Honestly I think listening to people with other opinions and ideologies is even more important.

[@FilipeBrasAlmeida]

Naturally, I agree with that. Despite there being a decidedly sulphurous odour to Thiel, I'm currently midway through a Thiel youtube rabbit hole myself. His perspectives are at times fascinating.

[@sineadtbc3338]

+Filipe Almeida I still feel like he is holding back deeper, more useful even, opinions but having said that, I have learned a lot from him and he is always worth listening to.

[@joebo1041]

No he doesn't. STFU

[@Max-nx4nq]

Peter Thiel and his education is the best thing on the internet world.

[@joebo1041]

Stfu

[@dubrunna]

SO many brilliant insights here from Peter. Well worth watching, even 20-30 minutes deep.

[@nurlanmustafayev1901]

Peter Thiel's realist approach to the themes is really enlightening. His "Straussian Moment" was a sort of eye-opener for me.

[@joebo1041]

Stfu

[@roughdraught153]

I think my IQ went up 15 points just listening to Peter Thiel for 20 minutes.

[@vairagya108]

Rough Draught Damn right. Same here.

[@hindenburgminsky7638]

i learnt more from this video than I learnt from school in 20 years

[@joebo1041]

STFU

[@fredconcklin1094]

Does he control you as a Cyborg with a brain on a chip hooked up to a satellite after leaking him in GloboDatabase in a firestorm?

[@SteveBlom]

The interviewer asks some great questions

[@leonardbaumgardt]

Great interviewer. One of the best discussions with Thiel I have watched.

[@doublesushi5990]

Peter Thiel is amazing, ty so much.

[@PlaneToTheBrainES]

Love this guy. And great, great interview (experience machine question included).

[@123asdzxc7]

Take a shot everytime he says 'um'

[@cpk01]

I'm wasted

[@MrDivad006]

- the American dream: a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are capable, regardless of the circumstances of birth or position. - 30:50 - 33:20 summary of Thiel's early life - lots of talented people too quickly copy what everybody else is doing and too quickly get caught up in super competitive things (start a business like everybody else is starting). - we basically outlawed everything having to do with the world of stuff, and the only thing you are allowed to do is in the world of bits.

[@jeffbeamer9882]

Difficult to underestimate the importance of having a businessman as brilliant as Peter Thiel giving the introductory speech at the RNC. He will help pierce the hysterical Anti-Trump intellectual bubble of Silicon Valley.

[@SturFriedBrains]

Between Peter Thiel and Nassim Taleb I learned how to live. Between the two of them I was given a worldview within which I could be idealistic and functional. It also happens that I've been incredibly successful on the stock market since learning their principles of investing.

[@DheerajBhaskar]

4:00 when it begins

[@kouohhashi]

Imitating is not necessarily be against innovation. I live in the Silicon Valley and imitating each others is exactly what is happening in the Valley. Innovators find something new after following all predecessor's work.

[@sineadtbc3338]

Lovely moderation work too Prof!

[@victormckeown4887]

Nice to see the professor being educated. Great delivery Peter.

[@Wasgehtdichdasan16]

It would be so interesting to see Peter Thiel and Ben Shapiro campaigning against each other on big stage

[@ryanonthego7159]

I strive to be this intelligent one day.

[@netabaughman3079]

I love what the opening speaker had to say. Blessings xoxox

[@ratikantajena08]

Peter Thiel is an American genius

[@dicktracy3787]

OMG the US was not founded on the irrationalism of Hegel or his idea of individualism. It was founded on reason and Locke's idea of individualism, which is based in rights not democracy.

[@devinheiner5692]

Great discussion

[@plica06]

I've watched a lot of these discussions on KZbin featuring Peter Thiel going back more than ten years. I really admire how he analyses things and I agree with most of his views. But he does come out with the exact same stories over and over again and his hesitant - uhm and ah - speaking style is hard to listen to.

[@movement2contact]

Yeah, Musk does that too; really gets on my nerves... -_-

[@harryradley]

It took me a while to get past all the ums and ahs. After his appearance on Eric Weinstein's podcast I decided it was well worth putting up with the minor irritants of his speech pattern to hear his ideas.

[@josephmelton4721]

Jesus thats how he talks. He's got more on his mind than you do

[@movement2contact]

@@josephmelton4721 nice white-knighting...

[@josephmelton4721]

@@movement2contact white knighting? Good luck with being racist about everything. It will get you nowhere

[@martinwagner5566]

Cool man

[@xKoeix]

In the comments section, you can observe the example Peter Thiel have given on extreme optimism and extreme pessimism whereby people either @1:06:27 Extreme pessimisim: Claims negatively strongly that Peter's a intellgient fraud, supporter of racism and bigotry because of Trump and being an billionaire, etc Extreme optimisim: America is gonna be a great place because we have people like Peter who helped to come up with innovations and good ideas on behalf for us Both shares reasons for not to be like him or don't have to be like him which leads to inaction and not doing anything.

[@eligho8767]

Mr. Thiel describes the general environment at Business Schools in the US as hyper imitation venues. He is right. The interdisciplinary skills required to truly innovate are not developed in B-school students. I experienced this while attending a high profile business school on the West Coast. My ideas were copied and stolen. My contacts to high profile personalities and business leaders were circumvented. Group projects were never cooperative and very shark-like in terms of gaining the spot light with very little or no input by those looking to copy and hi-jack others' ideas. The cross-disciplinary skills necessary for professionals to significantly impact their communities, their companies, their families and their colleagues takes more than the quintessential MBA designation. Peter Thiel explains this so well.

[@alexandercle]

And therefore, for the sake of Oneself, humanity, and immortality, according to the Ancient Chinese Secret Wisdom Tradition, what are the five kinds of most prosperous, most powerful knowledge and wisdom that every individual could and should possess? altc, Paideia Esoteric Society

[@BK-qx6pl]

Peter Theil better run for President some day.

[@joebo1041]

Stfu

[@myassessmentadres1349]

What is a relay race ?

[@swapanjain892]

Peter Theil and Yuval Noah Harari-2 really sane people to listen to and read their books.

[@FilipeBrasAlmeida]

He's wrong about Norm Angell. He stated war in a globalized economy would be futile. Not impossible. First rate people get their facts straight.

[@kiqyou]

fucking love thiel

[@MsFutureguy]

I love to compare our 2020 civilization to societies who are thousands and millions of years beyond us. So, I always feel a bit like I am living in the stone age here, even while i.spend lots of time on my smart phone and other devices. I know why we are all here. It's ok to continue taking all our baby steps here. I feel we are ready to make a major shift. This is what I think and plan every day, how to bring about a $1,000 trillion a year sustainable world economy. That is 12 times the size of the current annual size of the world economy.

[@zb6298]

ricardo montabon?

[@GOLDVIOLINbowofdeath]

I wish the questioner would not guess what he means and talk over him. Charlie Rose did that to the extreme to try and show how smart he was.

[@ThePipip]

No student debt in Europe dear American friend ;)

[@simonheaney8721]

Huge income taxes by the state to pay for it

[@peterhooper2643]

@@simonheaney8721 I see Americans still love their shackles

[@dougdewar5445]

Peter Thiel I have a tech start up idea. Message me I need some SMEs

[@dideroteffect]

55:28 Socrates would be proud

[@landgabriel]

The next stage of disruption might be in biotech.

[@anonymoustraveller2254]

30:52 to 33:25 is what i too felt & many other college students may relate it.

[@RAMSEY1987]

Thiel ran for office how could Americans not vote for him?

[@netabaughman3079]

The stock market needs to be reset. It no longer works the way it should.

[@hamankooo]

10:28

[@JohnMichaelBurns]

Thiel is a fascinating speaker but I reckon he averages about 12 uhs or ums per minute, or 1 every 5 seconds. He would be a much more dynamic and popular intellectual if he could cut down on his ums.

[@charmander777]

Just like Elon Musk..Peter Thiel doesn't need to be a "dynamic and popular". They actually have real innovative accomplishments unlike some people who need to make up for their lack of world changing accomplishments by being a dynamic speaker and popular like Neil DeGrasse Tyson or Bill Nye

[@youmothershouldknow4905]

Wish Thiel ran rather than the other two, but hopefully Trump listens to Thiel very carefully.

[@eliafqreink805]

We have met the limit of human imagination

[@martinzitter4725]

One thing the Japanese or Germans didn't copy after WW2 was the U.S. auto industry.

[@MaximHarper]

Cities comment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3i5h4Wkgppjr7sh17m37s

[@landgabriel]

Maybe Thiel goes wrong when he says 'we need to innovate in the realm of atoms rather than bits'. This is a mechanistic view, from the perspective of hard sciences. Cells are alive, an atom is not. Cells can replicate, atoms can not.

[@brummms2862]

Cells are made of atoms. It’s about a whole new realm of moving atoms in nano space with intelligent design/intervention. When AI merges with nanobots. We are done. I’ve heard it described as “Gray World”

[@carlostrebbau2516]

A tradeoff between globalization and innovation... that´s an over exaggeration of quite a manageable dichotomy, if there is even one.

[@good2btheking]

he said Ass burgers :P

[@netabaughman3079]

Real - but even before Snowden, we knew there was a big brother watching. We are over it.

[@matthewjackson9615]

Is Thiel being sincere here or is he pressing on people's pain points with the end goal of selling his books ? We all know the system is highly competitive and slavish but when has it not been this way ? In our modern era ,Capitalistic output and production are paramount forcing humanity and culture to take a seat and very back of the bus. How many times have I heard this lament? This is nothing new.

[@doorran]

the democrat party is not the American dream.

[@BleakVision]

Such an educated and well spoken man. Too bad about the sexual degeneracy.

[@movement2contact]

"well spoken"- are you sure..? "sexual degeneracy"- gimme a break...

[@benjaminfonseka4951]

A known racist and genius. Terrible combination. He will go down infamous

[@geot4647]

As climate change denier, this guy can't really be all that bright or future-aware, just ambitious and money-hungry, like Trump..

[@gbiota1]

Can you reference his denial of climate change? and what type of climate change are you talking about, man made, not man made, positive consequenced, or negative consequenced? Because I'll say right now climate hysterics don't seem either bright nor future aware to me, as the planet has never been greener than it is now after 500 years of accelerating carbon release, and the polar bear populations are at an all time high, and every previous period of warming has had entirely positive consequences for humanity.

[@purrup1]

"Climate is always changing" - that's true, but the rate at which the climate change is changing right now is completely unprecedented. The change in temperature that we have experienced in the last 200 years is something that takes tens of thousands of years with natural climate change. It's impossible to prove anything, but there are things we know which are very likely, and things that we are 50-50 on. Climate change is something we can safely state that there is a high likelihood it is caused by humans. On a macro scale, the climate is susceptible to incredibly small changes in CO2 levels. We have doubled them in roughly 200 years, something that takes tens of thousands of years in other cases. The greenhouse effect is well proven and demonstrable, which is why global temperature is going up. Oceanic acidity is increasing as the ocean is taking some of this CO2 in solution, and we know that CO2 dissolved in water makes the water acidic. Human activity is a perfect explanation for climate change in the last 100-200 years.

[@ar053x]

lmao, climate change denier? NASA said the sun is wussing out and its gonna be 15 years of cold weather, C02 and the sea-levels naturally (before humans) have been thousands of feet lower and higher, fossilized ferns discovered @ the north pole from millions of years ago? and c02 levels above 400ppm will INCREASE plant growth which means MORE food not less (hence why the dutch use 1600ppm co2 in their commercial greenhouses), climate-assholes just wanna TAX everyone for breathing and control developing nations, pure bullshit, all-around.STFU

[@joebo1041]

@@gbiota1 stfu, psychopath

[@netabaughman3079]

Could you innovate without making a profit off of the middle and lower class. Is that to scary for you Mr. Thiel? I find your thinking scary.

[@Jack-hv3uj]

The middle and lower class represent the majority of the population. This is reasonably where most of the money is to be made sheerly by numbers.