Sponsors:

Freddie Figures, Figures Communications Jeffrey Meyerson, Software Engineering Daily Sumit, Original Capital

Introduction of Paul Martino:
He is a serial entrepreneur, prolific angel investor, and a friend of Lincoln’s from Pennsylvania. He runs a fund called Bullpen Capital out of Silicon Valley. He has been in the news for his advocacy for getting K through 12 kids back into school despite COVID. He is known for being at the intersection of politics and technology. He has hosted Peter for multiple events in the past and highly recommends her book, Unequally Yoked.

Overview of Bambi’s Book, Unequally Yoked:
It is a highly personal description of what it’s like to grow up as a Christian conservative in Silicon Valley and be part of a modern-day mixed marriage. Her husband Ezra is the liberal of the couple. The book offers advice on how to get along and listen to each other, something that is lacking in modern times.

Underlying Foundation:
Judeo-Christian heritage forms the foundation of our culture, morality, and social contracts.

Need for Understanding:
To steward the country effectively, it is essential to comprehend the lineage of our beliefs and their impact on society.

Desensitization and Hostility:
Society has become desensitized and sometimes hostile towards spiritual heritage due to the pursuit of rational and scientific explanations.

Profound Impacts:
The quest for rational explanations has greatly impacted our culture, affecting our understanding of the human condition, identity, relationships, and social contracts.

Yokes:
Bambi’s book, “Unequally Yoked,” delves into the yokes we have with each other, recognizing them as beautiful gifts that bring us together to achieve something greater than ourselves.

Identity:
Identity is shaped by our yokes, which define our roles and responsibilities in society.

Technology’s Impact on Social Order:
Technology has historically caused significant changes in social systems. Examples: Industrial Revolution, printing press, steam turbine, knitting machines led to a shift from feudalism to capitalism. New technologies like space exploration and virtual economies may bring about further transformations in our social order.

Freedom in the Context of Vaccine Mandates and Parental Rights:
Draymond Green criticized vaccine mandates as a violation of freedom, particularly in the context of basketball players in New York. Vaccine mandates limit the freedom of children to pursue education and parents to influence their children’s education. California, despite being relatively free, has implemented K-12 vaccine mandates, prompting some individuals to relocate to freer states.

Questions for Peter Thiel:
How do you define freedom in Miami, and how can it be maintained? How can we prevent societies created by great people from degenerating due to the influx of parasites?

The Multifaceted Nature of Freedom:
Freedom encompasses various dimensions, including regulatory, economic, and personal aspects. The recent regulatory insanity has highlighted the importance of freedom.

Freedom and Democracy:
Thiel discusses various aspects of freedom, including freedom from taxation, freedom of speech, religion, and thought. He emphasizes the importance of freedom of thought and independent thinking, which he sees as under attack in California, the United States, and the Western world.

Political Correctness and Conformity:
Thiel criticizes political correctness and the homogenization of thought in society, where everyone is expected to think the same way. He observes that orthodox Christians are perhaps the most heterodox independent thinkers left in the United States, highlighting a shift from the historical portrayal of religious figures as dogmatic.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of COVID Restrictions:
Thiel mentions a friend, a Stanford professor and anti-restriction COVID health economist, who faced persecution and deplatforming for questioning COVID restrictions. He emphasizes the need for cost-benefit analysis of restrictions, considering factors like the number of deaths due to lack of access to other healthcare and the potential role of obesity in the epidemic.

Transcendental Faith and Looking Up:
Thiel stresses the importance of transcendental faith in something beyond oneself, which helps individuals resist the pressure to conform to the crowd. He refers to the First and Tenth Commandments, suggesting that looking up to a higher power and avoiding excessive focus on material possessions can prevent getting caught up in mob consensus.

Wisdom of Crowds vs. Madness of Crowds:
Thiel discusses the concept of the “wisdom of crowds” in a democracy, where the majority is often assumed to be more right than wrong. He cautions against the extreme of 99.99% agreement, which he compares to North Korea and suggests a transition from the wisdom of crowds to the madness of crowds.

Classical Rationalist Tradition vs. Judeo-Christian Tradition:
Thiel contrasts the classical rationalist tradition, which emphasizes the wisdom of crowds and the consensus of intelligent people, with the Judeo-Christian tradition, which emphasizes the potential for unanimity to be wrong. He suggests that the current emphasis on the wisdom of crowds has gone too far and that a corrective towards awareness of the madness of crowds would be beneficial.

Technological Progress:
Thiel asserts that the rate of technological progress is not as rapid as advertised. He believes that instead of racing towards utopia or dystopia, we are experiencing relative stagnation.

Economic Manifestation:
The younger generation is not clearly doing better than their parents economically. Thiel coined the tagline, “They promised us flying cars and all we got was 140 characters,” to highlight the lack of transformative progress.

Twitter’s Success:
Thiel acknowledges Twitter’s success as a company and the benefits it provides to its employees. However, he questions its broader social and political impact.

Questioning the Transformative Nature of Technology:
Thiel wonders whether communication technologies are truly transformative and economically impactful. He compares the significance of the internet to the advancements of the horse to the car and indoor plumbing.

The Internet’s Impact:
The Internet’s impact on society has been overstated by its advertisers.

Make America Great Again Slogan:
Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is honest and pessimistic, acknowledging that the country is not as great as it claims to be. The slogan was particularly offensive to people in Silicon Valley, who felt it challenged their belief that they were building a great future.

Technology and Innovation:
It is important to examine which aspects of technology are truly transformative and which are stuck in stagnation.

Democracy and Freedom:
Democracy can be a loaded term, and the US is not a pure democracy but a constitutional republic. Voting serves as a check on elites, who have not been doing a good job.

Elites’ Performance:
Democracy should not be limited to political choices but should also encompass debates on important topics like technology, religion, philosophy, and science. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the shortcomings of experts, leading to skepticism about “science with a capital S.”

Critique of Democracy:
Walt Lippmann criticized democracy for its susceptibility to propaganda, arguing that uninformed citizens cannot make informed decisions. Peter Thiel agrees that people may not be well-informed, but he believes that they should have a basic check on those in power.

The Problem of Misinformation:
Thiel expresses concern about misinformation and fake news, but he cautions against centralized solutions like a “ministry of truth.” He suggests that excessive skepticism and excessive dogmatism are both detrimental to science. Science should strike a balance between these extremes to foster progress and innovation.

Science and Dissent:
Thiel argues that science has become too dogmatic and intolerant of dissent, skepticism, and heterodoxy. He believes that a certain level of misinformation and conspiracy theories can serve as a healthy corrective to centralized authority.

Woke Culture:
Thiel also sees the current woke culture as a manifestation of excessive dogmatism and intolerance of dissenting views.

Woke Culture as a Distorted Christianity:
Bambi Francisco Roizen sees the woke culture as a willful distortion of reality, a dogmatic worldview rooted in conservatism and Christianity. Peter Thiel suggests that woke culture is a specific form of Christianity or a Christian heresy, emerging from a society that has lost faith in Christ.

Excessive Skepticism vs. Dogmatism:
Thiel distinguishes between excessive skepticism (relativism) and excessive dogmatism (totalitarianism) in woke culture. He argues that it is more dogmatic than relativistic, often leading to 180-degree turns in beliefs, as seen in the changing views on vaccines and mask mandates.

Historical Parallels to Woke Culture:
Thiel compares woke culture to historical movements like the social gospel, communism, and Marcionism, which he sees as attempts to outdo Christianity in terms of caring for the poor and marginalized. He suggests that woke culture is an intensification of certain Christian ideas, particularly the concern for victims and the idea of being more Christian than the Christians.

Christian Roots and Anti-Christian Nature of Woke Culture:
Roizen views woke culture as anti-Christian, rooted in Marxist materialism and the belief in the inherent goodness of the human condition. Thiel agrees that woke culture can be anti-Christian but also sees it as an intensification of certain Christian ideas, especially the moralizing language and emphasis on virtue signaling. Thiel compares it to mainline Christianity in the 20th century, which he believes traded theology for politics.

The Rise of Victimhood Culture:
Roizen traces the rise of victimhood culture back to the removal of prayer from schools in the 1960s, arguing that it led to a loss of safety, gratitude, and transcendence for children. She emphasizes the importance of gratitude in releasing feel-good hormones and sees the removal of prayer as contributing to the growth of victimhood culture.

Taking Prayer Out of Schools:
Removing prayer from schools has led to a decline in moral values and a focus on self-identity. This has resulted in a “safetyism culture” where people are overly concerned with avoiding discomfort or harm.

Marxism and Wokism:
Marxism and Wokism can be seen as reductionist and materialist ideologies. However, they also have ideological and spiritual aspects, emphasizing interiority and self-awareness.

The Shift from Exteriority to Interiority:
The last 50 years have seen a shift from an emphasis on external factors to a focus on internal factors. This has been evident in the rise of yoga, meditation, and other practices that emphasize self-awareness and self-control.

Milton’s Paradise Lost and the Power of the Mind:
Milton’s Paradise Lost suggests that the mind has the power to create its own reality. This raises questions about the extent to which the mind is its own place and the role of external reality in shaping our experiences.

Psychology and the Search for Internal Mechanisms of Control:
Psychology emerged in the early 20th century as a way to create internal mechanisms for controlling behavior in the absence of external factors like religion. The effectiveness and long-term benefits of psychological interventions remain topics of debate.

The Journey from Self-Transformation to Self-Acceptance:
Many people seek therapy or engage in self-improvement practices with the goal of personal transformation. However, after years of such efforts, some individuals may reach a point of self-acceptance, where they no longer feel the need to change.

Psychology as a Shift from Exteriority to Interiority:
Peter Thiel identifies a shift from exteriority to interiority, where individuals focus more on internal states than external reality. He suggests that this shift, while potentially beneficial, has gone too far and resulted in an overemphasis on interiority.

Mental Health and Digital Therapeutics:
Bambi Francisco Roizen highlights the increased investment and focus on mental health, particularly through digital therapeutics and behavioral therapies. She sees a silver lining in the move away from psychotropics with their side effects.

Moral Awareness and Psychotherapy:
Roizen mentions Carl Jung’s quote, suggesting that with moral awareness, psychotherapy might not be necessary. She raises concerns about whether contemporary approaches to mental health address the underlying issues effectively.

The Internalization of Brokenness:
Roizen discusses the idea that modern approaches often internalize inherent brokenness, leading to a negative self-perception. She questions whether understanding one’s brokenness reduces mental disorders.

Concretizing the Discussion:
Thiel emphasizes the need for specific interventions and concrete examples to discuss mental health challenges coherently.

Challenges in Addressing Alcoholism:
Thiel acknowledges the difficulty in addressing severe problems like alcoholism. He suggests that Alcoholics Anonymous, while potentially effective, may be too psychological and not religious enough.

The Importance of Belief in Transformation:
Thiel proposes that for transformative interventions to be effective, individuals must genuinely believe in their possibility. He suggests that purely internal dramas may not be sufficient for lasting change.

Religious Conversion vs. Psychological Simulation:
Thiel believes that religious conversion can lead to significant change, while psychological simulations may not be as effective. He suggests that certain interventions, such as controlled psychedelic drug use, may help individuals gain perspective and overcome addiction.

MK Ultra and the Manson Family:
Thiel mentions MK Ultra and the Manson family as examples of how psychological and psychopharmacological interventions can be used for evil. He highlights the importance of the messaging and context in which these interventions are used.

Nazi Germany as a Psychological Event:
Thiel views Nazi Germany as a psychological phenomenon, emphasizing the role of propaganda and the Goebbels-type figure. He draws a comparison between Nazi Germany and communism, suggesting that the former had a more spiritual dimension.

Victimhood Culture and Misinformation:
The discussion briefly touches on victimhood culture and misinformation, but is cut short due to Thiel’s position on Facebook’s board.

Shifting Balance of Misinformation and Dogmatism:
Companies face the challenge of resolving misinformation in a world with various versions of truth. There is an ongoing debate about the role of companies in this issue, with criticisms directed at big tech companies like Facebook and YouTube.

Scapegoating Tech Companies:
Thiel suggests that it is unfair to solely blame tech companies for misinformation, as it is a complex issue involving government, media, and academia. He emphasizes the broader context of a shift towards a one-party state and the need to view the issue holistically.

Wide Range of Debate on the Internet:
Thiel acknowledges that the range of debate on the internet was initially broader than in other elite institutions like universities and mainstream media. However, he notes that this range has been reduced, which he considers unfortunate and harmful.

Political Dilemma for Tech Companies:
Thiel points out the challenging political landscape for tech companies, facing criticism from both conservatives and the left. Conservatives argue for more freedom of speech, while the left criticizes the allowance of excessive misinformation.

Government Pressure on Tech Companies:
Thiel believes that big tech companies often succumb to pressure from government actors in the US and other countries to align with governmental lines. He emphasizes the need for a check and balance against government power.

Crypto as an Example of Anti-Governmental Technology:
Thiel presents crypto as an example of a dissenting technology that genuinely challenges government authority. He speculates that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, learned from the example of e-gold, an earlier anonymous digital gold certificate, the importance of anonymity and decentralization.

Impact of e-gold and Bitcoin:
Thiel describes his involvement with e-gold, an early encrypted anonymous gold certificate, and its subsequent shutdown due to fraud and legal issues. He suggests that the experience with e-gold influenced Satoshi Nakamoto’s approach in creating Bitcoin, emphasizing the need for anonymity and a non-corporate structure.

Summary:
Peter Thiel offers a nuanced perspective on the issue of misinformation and dogmatism, highlighting the complex role of tech companies, government influence, and the broader societal context. He acknowledges the challenges faced by tech companies in navigating the political landscape while also recognizing the importance of dissenting technologies that challenge government power.

Big Tech and Misinformation:
Bambi Francisco Roizen highlights that the accusations of misinformation are often directed towards big tech companies, but they are rooted in broader concerns about capitalism.

Government Intervention:
Roizen generally expresses skepticism towards government intervention, believing that it can lead to the establishment of a “Ministry of Truth” that regulates misinformation.

Bloomberg’s Ban on Big Sodas:
Roizen cites Bloomberg’s ban on large sodas in New York City as an example of effective government intervention for the benefit of children’s health.

QAnon and Pizzagate:
Roizen emphasizes his preference for allowing misinformation, such as QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories, to exist rather than resorting to government regulation.

Pushback against Capitalism:
Peter Thiel acknowledges the pushback against capitalism and the need for nuanced understanding of its various aspects.

Diagnosing the Issues:
Thiel emphasizes the importance of careful diagnosis and differentiation when addressing concerns about capitalism.

Stagnation and Inequality:
Peter Thiel expresses concern about a period of relative stagnation in the economy, leading to a zero-sum scenario where winners and losers emerge.

Tech’s Dominance and its Consequences:
Tech has been the primary driver of growth, but this dominance has come at the expense of other sectors and industries, creating an unhealthy dynamic.

Media’s Opposition to Big Tech:
Thiel attributes the media’s opposition to big tech to the disruption of their business models, causing resentment and negativity toward tech companies.

Structural Problems:
Thiel acknowledges that the media’s resentment is rooted in structural issues, highlighting the need to address this problem.

Cultural and Political Stagnation:
Thiel suggests that economic stagnation may not be the only concern, as cultural and political stagnation may also be prevalent.

Guilt and Resentment:
Guilt and victimhood have been discussed as contributing factors to the current cultural and political climate, but more exploration is needed.

Existential Threats:
Thiel emphasizes the need to focus on existential threats like pandemics and climate change, highlighting the urgency of addressing these challenges.

Scientific Progress and Innovation:
Thiel encourages scientific progress and innovation as a way to overcome stagnation and create positive change.

Emergence of Totalitarianism:
Nietzsche’s perspective: Without a God, guilt arises, and society veers towards nihilism or totalitarianism. The left-center viewpoint often dismisses totalitarianism concerns, considering them fringe or unrealistic.

Social Control Mechanisms:
Peter Thiel suggests that the internet’s “hate factory,” particularly platforms like Twitter, serves as a social control mechanism. This “kayfabe” or “LARPing” behavior allows workers to vent their frustrations online, preventing them from engaging in actual revolutionary actions.

Precautionary Principle against Totalitarianism:
Thiel emphasizes the importance of addressing incipient totalitarianism early on, drawing lessons from the 20th century. Once totalitarianism gains momentum, it becomes difficult to stop, as seen in the Nazi regime’s rise in Germany.

Incipient Signs in Education:
Bambi Francisco Roizen observes signs of incipient totalitarianism in the education system, citing the FBI’s investigation of parents involved in their children’s education. Roizen highlights the obligation of parents in character building and suggests expanding school choice through vouchers.

Acknowledging the Problem in Education:
Thiel acknowledges the long-standing problems in the education system, particularly the lack of basic skills like reading and math. He suggests that exposing and puncturing the educational bubble is a crucial first step towards solving these issues.

Brainwashing and Indoctrination:
Thiel points to the brainwashing and indoctrination that occurs in the K-12 education system, emphasizing the need to address this problem.

Universities as the Core Problem:
Peter Thiel believes universities are the core problem in the current state of education and society. He compares them to the corrupt Catholic Church on the eve of the Reformation. Thiel emphasizes the importance of breaking the dominance of universities to address problems in K-12 education.

Political Correctness and Wokeness:
Thiel criticizes politically correct and woke ideologies, viewing them as harmful to education and life. He argues that these ideologies indoctrinate students and detract from teaching essential subjects like math and reading.

Universities as an Atheist Church:
Thiel draws a parallel between universities and a universal atheist church, criticizing their claim to absolute truth and dominance. He suggests that the pursuit of college admission as the primary goal of K-12 education perpetuates this problem.

Exit vs. Voice Dichotomy:
Thiel expresses his preference for exit over voice when dealing with toxic political systems. He believes that leaving a bad place, like San Francisco, is sufficient and valid without the need for extensive justification.

Decentralization and Technology:
Thiel sees decentralization as a positive trend and a potential solution to political and societal issues. He cites the recent movement of people out of megacities as a sign of decentralization’s increasing feasibility. Thiel supports political decentralization and the unbundling of education through technologies like crypto, Substack, and podcasting.

Technology’s Valence and AI Concerns:
Thiel believes that technologies have a certain valence, with some being inherently good or bad. He views crypto as a force for decentralization and AI, especially in its low-tech surveillance form, as communist and totalitarian. Thiel warns against the psychological motivation of AI researchers working on technology that could destroy the world.

Shift in the AGI Discussion:
Thiel observes a shift in the debate on artificial general intelligence (AGI) in Silicon Valley. He notes that the discussion has moved from utopian visions of AGI to a more Luddite perspective. Thiel speculates that the path to AGI may involve surveillance AI, which could be used to control people and prevent the development of AGI.

Atheist Rationalists and Friendly AI:
Thiel discusses the role of atheist rationalists in promoting friendly AI. He suggests that these rationalists have shifted from anti-Islamic stances to being apologists for Chinese totalitarian communism. Thiel believes that AGI discussions in 2021 are often associated with support for the Chinese Communist Party.

Erica Gemma’s Questions:
* Erica Gemma, founder of the first Bitcoin Center in Miami and a Miami-based blockchain venture fund, posed two questions to Peter Thiel.
* Her first question was about Thiel’s opinion on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
* Her second question asked about the top criteria Thiel uses when evaluating investment opportunities in blockchain projects.

Peter Thiel’s Response on Satoshi Nakamoto:
* Thiel declined to speculate on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, despite having an idea.
* He expressed his libertarian bias in favor of Satoshi and his reluctance to further explore the topic, believing it aligns with the anti-crypto stance.
* He emphasized the importance of uniqueness and distinctiveness when evaluating investment opportunities, rather than relying on generic formulas.

Peter Thiel’s Investment Criteria:
* Thiel expressed his opposition to formulas and systems in evaluating investment opportunities for companies.
* He believes that great companies are unique and distinctive, while failed companies tend to be generic.
* He emphasized the importance of identifying what is essential and unique in each case, rather than relying on predefined narratives.
* Thiel mentioned the example of Google in 1998, which was just another search engine among many, but stood out due to its machine-powered search technology.

Conclusion:
* Peter Thiel’s approach to investing in blockchain projects involves a focus on uniqueness, distinctiveness, and identifying what is essential and unique in each case, rather than relying on generic formulas or narratives.
* He believes that great companies are special and distinctive, while failed companies tend to be generic and failed.

Framing the Competition:
Peter Thiel challenges the idea of framing the competition between China and the U.S. as a historicist struggle between authoritarianism and democracy. He argues that extreme pessimism or optimism leads to inaction and encourages a more nuanced approach that recognizes the fluidity of the situation.

Fighting for Democracy:
Thiel emphasizes the need for an active and engaged stance in the face of competition with China. He believes that the outcome of the competition will depend on individual decisions and actions, rather than predetermined historical outcomes.

China’s Autistic Nature:
Thiel describes China as an “autistic country” that lacks charisma and strategic adaptability. He suggests that this may create opportunities for the U.S. to gain an advantage in the competition.

Tech Regulation:
Thiel criticizes the current level of understanding among politicians regarding contemporary tech issues, leading to ineffective and counterproductive regulation. He highlights the incompetence of the government in handling tech regulation, leading to proposals that would further expose their inability to effectively manage the sector.

The Bigger Problem:
Thiel argues that while there are problems with big tech companies, the government’s involvement in regulation poses even greater challenges. He believes that increased government intervention would exacerbate the problems rather than solving them.

Parents’ Control Over Children’s Education:
Bambi Francisco Roizen emphasizes the importance of parents taking back control over their children’s education, stating that they should never have relinquished it.

Personal Anecdote:
Roizen shares a personal anecdote where her son’s third-grade teacher limited his choice of historical leaders for a report, excluding Donald Trump.

Focus on Character Building:
Roizen stresses the significance of character building for children, believing that they should not be kept in safe places but instead be taught about suffering, tragedy, and forgiveness.

Teaching Children Agency:
Roizen wants her children to understand that they need forgiveness due to their ethical faults and that many of their negative circumstances are due to their own actions.

Balancing Modern Feminism and Parental Control:
The question of whether modern feminism should be dialed back to allow parents to take back control and teach their kids is not directly addressed in this segment.

Navigating Education:
Bambi Roizen emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in education and the need for schools to focus on individual agency. Peter Thiel highlights the significance of involvement in school boards and advocating for change within the current system. Thiel suggests considering homeschooling as a potential solution to address systemic issues in public education.

Bitcoin as a Hedge Against Financial Collapse:
In response to a hypothetical scenario, Thiel suggests that investing in Bitcoin could be a viable strategy to prepare for a potential collapse of the US dollar hegemony by 2030. Thiel acknowledges that Bitcoin’s recent performance raises questions about its potential for further growth.

Critique of Central Banking and the Federal Reserve:
Thiel draws parallels between the current monetary situation and the Wizard of Oz, using it as a parable to criticize central banking practices. Thiel’s concern is that the Federal Reserve’s actions could lead to a crisis, as evidenced by the resignations of several governors.

Identity and Dogmatism:
Roizen observes that elites tend to shift their narratives and identities frequently, making them hyper-dogmatic rather than stable in their beliefs. Roizen asks Thiel about his understanding of identity and where he derives his sense of self.

Christianity as a Source of Identity and Truth:
Thiel emphasizes the importance of Christianity in his own life, seeing it as a source of identity that transcends social constructs. Thiel believes that Christianity can help individuals understand truth and make sense of the world.