Peter Thiel: The Stagnation of Science and the AI Revolution

this is my favorite World of DaaS episode. jam-packed learnings.

What a world we live in... that I can, in my PJs wake up early and listen to the nuanced views of Thiel. Thank you!

The amount of thought that goes into each thing Peter talks about is astonishing. Wow, wow, epic, thank you both for creating this.

One thing I appreciated was the long pauses where Peter was really thinking about his answers.

I think technological progress has slowed since the 1970s for the following reasons. 1. An Older Population - As life expectancy went up and birth rates fell, the average age of the population has increased. As the population got older, we became less innovative since younger people tend to be the ones with all of the new ideas. 2. Bloated Government - The number of federal regulations has exploded in the past several decades which has increased regulatory compliance cost and litigation risk which makes regulation harder. 3. The Repeal of Prohibitions Against Stock Buyback - In the early 1980s, the U.S government repealed a law which forbad companies from buying their own stock. The result is that corporate America has reduced their R&D budgets in favor of inflating their stock values. 4. Low-Interest Rates - Interest rates starting in the 2000s entered into low-interest rate territory which had negative implications for the overall rate of innovation. This is because if the interest rates become too low, non-productive companies can exist indefinitely by borrowing more money. Over time if the rates remain low like they have been, non-productive companies share of the overall economy increases which reduces the overall innovation rate since capital allocation isn't being directed towards innovative companies like they should be. 5. Comfort - Human beings are aggressive and driven in a state of survival and non-aggressive in a state of comfort. By 1970, everything needed for a comfortable and happy life were in place which led to a drop in our collective ambition to engage in further innovation.

Peter's insight on springing simulation theory as a mental balm by technology buffs to solve the existential question of upcoming AGI alignment problem is spot on.

I spent a month in China, Bejing and Shanghai. When I returned to Los Angeles, the city felt underdeveloped and stagnant.

Interesting how Peter seems to take each question very seriously

Great interview. Good questions and just let the guest speak. Thank you!

I wish I could meet Peter one day. He has impacted a lot of my thinking.

It is so inspiring to see someone who is so intelligent show that there is a depth of knowledge or theories that he doesn't have an answer for. That to me, is the true sign of an intellectual.

Amazing. First time I watched World of DaaS, definitely the best one yet!

When he talks about the biomedical stuff I can tell you why it is so slow...healthcare is 14% of the workforce. We could probably make half those jobs redundant in a few years if we did an adequate job with nutrition. But that would be very bad for the healthcare industry so you see them continually turning a blind eye to it, making a good living mopping without ever turning off the faucet. For example this is why the American Dental Association tells people to limit sugar intake but never advocates for regulation of refined sugar. It's the only thing that really makes sense in a country where the average person eats 60lbs sugar a year and has dental decay, but it would be devastating for the dental industry. So we have this continual thing in healthcare of pretend like we don't know the cause or have no control and make $ "managing" the preventible problem.

Great episode. Always love hearing from Peter.

There were some uniquely interesting points in the views expressed by Peter Thiel here. The significances of atheism and simulation hypothesis, for example.

this was epic, well done for getting Peter to think about his answers instead of getting him to repeat his well known cliches!

These are really interesting points! 9:47 10:08 11:05 13:18 38:35 38:51 40:03 43:22 This is my favorite 45:01 47:22 Good point, if the pie doesn't grow, it will be a zero sum game, and then to get ahead, you'd have to take it from someone else. 50:25 55:06

Wow, excellent chat guys! Thanks so much for bringing Peter, he is a treasure of knowledge. Could you maybe bring on Alex Karp, Peter’s co-founder from Palantir? That would be amazing.

watching this video in southkorea's army.. awesome insights

Great podcast!