Peter Thiel on the Dangers of Progress | Hacker News Reader

Peter Thiel on the Dangers of Progress

unherd.com

6 pointsrrishi5 comments

This was way too long and shallow to be read 2x. There is literally nothing new under the sun there: even in the Akkadian stone (2500 BCE) writings one can read:

We have fallen upon evil times and the world has waxed very old and wicked. Politics are very corrupt. Children are no longer respectful to their parents.

Similarly, Plato, Horace, but also scholars from Japan and China basically follow this trend from times immemorial (I will not even list contemporary philosophers striking this note). I wonder why is it that there is no recognition (or study) of the mechanisms and processes behind these common phases everyone is so keen to perceive. Narrating examples of where one's world view can explain the subjective interpretations is not a proof of a principle. It just does not have any significance to the broader audience (definitely not to me).

> I wonder why is it that there is no recognition (or study) of the mechanisms and processes behind these common phases everyone is so keen to perceive.

Now that you've mentioned it, it does seem like the idea that the world is about to end or has drifted into laxity/morally corruptness, the new generation being incompetent etc are ideas that have been consistently repeated so often in the past that there must be some underlying psychological or sociological reason for it.

Anywho, I am glad that the HN comments have turned sour toward Peter Thiel. I liked his book Zero to One, and some of his early interviews, but lately he has just lost my respect.

Peter Thiel is someone who's thought processes make very little sense to me.

I see very little evidence for any kind of direct causal connection between Christianity and Western progress.

I wonder if these people claiming Christianity supports their belief system have even read the New Testament. You would be very hard pressed to find a quote from Jesus that supports the notion that the most important thing for people to do is to go out fix the world and make a lot of money doing it. When asked how people should live their lives his answer was always that spiritual pursuits were more important than material ones (see, for example, the story of Martha and Mary) and within the realm of material activities the most important thing was helping people.

I have to agree. Peter Thiel's has turned into one of those who speak a lot without saying anything much of value. The causal relation he seeks to establish between Christianity and Western progress feel shoddy at best.

... to his christo-fascists political aspirations.

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