Imitation is linked to forms of intelligence that are unique to humans, especially culture and language. A quick browse through the history books shows that Americans, and especially the government, used to make big plans and live with Definite Optimism. Imitation draws people together. I re-write my 25-year vision multiple times per year. They’re so obvious that nobody thinks about them. If you’re Christian, follow Jesus, and if you’re not, follow an intellectual hero who is way ahead of you. Ritual protects communities from the great violence of Mimetic disorder thanks to the real and symbolic violence of sacrifice. Once you watch these ideas impact your family, your friends, and your coworkers, you will have the same revelation Peter Thiel had as a student in Girard’s class at Stanford. No matter the obstacles, certainty about the future gives you the confidence to act in the present. Then, we’ll return to the tenets of the Christian story. “I am the Lord your God.” — 1st Commandment. He believed that strong businesses aim to be unique, not the best. Scientists would ask proxy questions for determining a culture’s time horizon, and use it to evaluate its impact on productivity growth. All evils will be repaired, and the pain of existence will vanish like evaporating water after a thunderstorm. You don’t want to be the first to act, you want to be the last man standing.”. Greatness is like chess. Like all scapegoat victims, Jesus is killed despite his innocence. In one of his talks, he spoke about the human transition from hope to optimism. In my experience, “learning a lot” is code for “boring, but I’m putting up with it.”. True to the observations of Shakespeare, Freud, and Hobbes, academics are famous for institutional elbow-knocking. But to others, religion is the foundation of human culture. To echo the point, Thiel likes to quote a 1967 best-selling book called The American Challenge. In one study, Henrich found that babies engaged in social referencing four times more often when an ambiguous toy was placed in front of them. War production board chief Donald Nelson captured the ambition of the moment: “When we are talking about America’s war production job we are discussing the biggest job in all of history.”. Firms don’t have market power, so their prices are determined by the iron laws of supply and demand. Adam Grant does a masterful job showing that is not the case; we are lucky to have him as a guide.” Sheryl Sandberg: “Originals is one of the most important and captivating books I have ever read, full of surprising and powerful ideas. The similarities are stunning. Instead, we say “Let’s improve the economy” or “promote information.” We doubt the potential of grand plans. Cover Photo: JD Lasica | CC 2.0 License via Flickr. And once you learn about them, you’ll pinch yourself for not seeing them before. When you compete to be the best, you imitate. In response, we’ve lowered our efficiency standards. This drive towards imitation separates us from other animals, and historically, it enabled our evolution from earlier primates to humans. For some, the Christian cross is too strange to be taken seriously. His book, The City of God, was the first full-blown philosophy of world history. As he proclaimed, “you are not a lottery ticket… you can either dispassionately accept the universe for what it is, or put your dent in it, but not both.”. Peter Thiel’s Philosophy on Setting Goals. He cofounded PayPal, led it as CEO, and took it public; he made the first outside investment in Facebook, where he serves as a director; and he cofounded Palantir Technologies, where he serves as chairman. Inevitably, some of it is wrong. So let’s cut to the chase and begin dissecting the philosophy behind Peter Thiel investments in order to uncover the three best technology stocks for 2017. Peter Thiel’s Latest Venture Is the American Government. “When I left after seven months and three days, one of the lawyers down the hall from me said, ‘You know, I had no idea it was possible to escape from Alcatraz.’ Of course that was not literally true, since all you had to do was go out the front door and not come back. Is religion a superfluous add-on or the origin of everything? If I met Thiel, this is the section I would focus on. That’s why we need to believe that our lives are marching towards an end that’s worth striving for. Children born in 1940 had a 90% chance of earning more than their parents. Progress, though, is not guaranteed. Christoper Kurz, an economist at the Federal Reserve has shown that millennial households had an average net worth of about $92,000 in 2016, nearly 40% less than Gen X households in 2001, adjusted for inflation, and about 20% less than baby boomer households in 1989. Peter Thiel, the first outside investor in Facebook, shares a similar philosophy on productivity and management that he developed while turning PayPal into a billion-dollar company. If Girard is right, we are not as individualistic as we think we are. Every single moment is a possibility to go to these new places and explore them.”. Without a positive vision for their future, these young Americans are stuck playing vicious, zero-sum status games. The postmodern world would differ from the modern world in a way that is much worse or much better — the limitless violence of runaway mimesis or the peace of the kingdom of God… One must never forget that one day all will be revealed, that all injustices will be exposed, and that those who perpetrated them will be held to account.”. As I’ve written before, the speed of technology and the hyperconnectivity of society have placed us in a “never-ending now.” Like hamsters running on a wheel, we live in an endless cycle of ephemeral content consumption — a merry-go-round that spins faster and faster but never goes anywhere. Peter Andreas Thiel (teel; born October 11, 1967) is an American entrepreneur. We can avoid the kinds of competition that lead to violence. Naturally, Thiel speaks about luck in the context of startup investing. We’re swimming in money, but starving for ambition. Relationships were shattered by sour resentment. Thank you to the other people who contributed to this essay through feedback and conversation: Brent Beshore, Lyn Cook, Nick Maggiulli, Sid Jha, Bushra Farooqui, Jeremy Giffon, James Patterson, Manan Hora, Ben Colley, and Michael Naka. Thiel was born in Frankfurt. Peter Thiel. Like Girard, Thiel, believes that Western political philosophy cannot cope with global violence. True to the scapegoat phenomenon, Jesus is not killed by the Romans, the Jewish priests, or by the crowd alone, but by everybody. As Peter Thiel reminds us: “Progress is neither automatic nor mechanistic; it is rare. Work to prevent runaway Girardian violence. As the Gospel of John says: “It is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed… They hated me for no reason.”. Before playing a game, you have to know the rules. Successful strategies attract imitators, so the best businesses are difficult to copy. Buffett’s firm has poured millions of dollars into renewable energy. Why Peter Thiel's Philosophy on Hiring Is Hurting Silicon Valley. And in 4th grade, I brought a chocolate ice cream cake to school to celebrate his birthday. After all, if people fight on social media, they won’t fight on the streets. Thank you to Kevin Harrington for the conversations that led to this post. Air travel is an “elastic good.” Small changes in price lead to big changes in demand for a flight. With Jesus as its savior, Christianity is the only religion that sees a human as the Son of God. I don’t agree with all of Thiel’s conclusions, but I admire his rigorous and independent thought. – Quora, 3 Ways Productivity Increases When You Take Control of Your Health, Unlock Intrinsic Motivation to Inspire Your Salespeople, Writing is Power: Supercharge Your Writing Process. Guided by the Cain and Abel story, remember the danger of imitating the wrong person. Harvard anthropologist Joseph Henrich found empirical evidence for Girard’s observations about children and toys. The Reber Plan is my favorite example of Definite Optimism. Newspaper boards across California endorsed it. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” — 1 John 2: 15–17. We copy other people spontaneously, automatically, and unconsciously. Aside from violent rainstorms and purple-painted sunsets, synthetic city environments take us away from nature. As Girard once said: “There are fundamentally only two ways of looking at religion: as superfluous, added on—or as the origin of everything.” If there can be no in-between, I suspect that like Girard, Thiel sees religion as the origin of everything. I scavenged the kids’ section for his jerseys and waited patiently for autographs at the annual Giants meet-and-greet. I suspect Thiel holds this philosophy. in Philosophy at Stanford University in 1989. The Book of Revelation is the last chapter in the New Testament. To offer solutions, Thiel turns to the Christian value of hope. You have one life. Better yet, you can copy more than their writing. Jim told me he liked his job because it taught him how to “collaborate” and “work with people.” His words sounded like they were parroted from the company’s Human Resources department. Indeed, the unique history of the West proves the exception to the rule that most human beings through the millennia have existed in a naturally brutal, unchanging, and impoverished state. It’s like a search for keys. In life, you have two options: (1) you can dispassionately accept the universe for what it is, or (2) you can put your dent in it. They were responsible for one job, one metric, and one part of the business. After Americans stepped foot on the moon, the airline’s customer center was inundated with phone calls from around the country. I wrote this essay because I’m fascinated by Christianity and impressed with Thiel. Snow, the first basemen for the San Francisco Giants. Not because they needed money or material goods, but because they felt surges of envy. 80 years later, The Freedom Tower took more than 12 years to build. YouTube celebrities and Instagram influencers sell the exact kinds of behaviors that the Bible warns us about. Initially, Cain admires Abel. The pull towards Girardian conflict stems from pessimism and short-term thinking. Max Levchin had attended a lecture by Peter Thiel at Stanford University in 1998, and the next morning pitched him his idea for a startup. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. Thiel’s favorite chess player was José Raúl Capablanca who said: “To begin you must study the end. They have freedom to pursue bizarre ideas and people who don’t fit the standard mold. Mimesis is the Greek word for imitation. She couldn’t leave her books in the library. Win the decade, not the day. “Enter through the narrow gate. Western civilization is built on these ideals. The Apollo Project didn’t just shake the Florida launchpads. And everything, from our bodies to our souls, would be purified. They have a point. He studied philosophy and law at Stanford University. Two of America’s founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin operated with a similar progress-inspired philosophy. We no longer trust amateurs with vast imaginations, and we no longer challenge people to imagine futures that look radically different from the present. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Facebook. That way, when the Day of Judgement comes, we’ll lean towards the side of the good. After all, a community can’t scapegoat somebody unless it thinks the scapegoat is guilty. Christianity promises a Living Hope that enables believers to endure unimaginable suffering. Then, the culture lives peacefully for a short time. 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