Its ever so convenient. “Im such a smart and unconventional guy I know all these important things that nobody will say. But i’ll just tell you I know them without saying them.”
He gets to sound wise without needing to actually say anything at all, and everyone gets to project whatever non-popular ideas they have onto him and conclude he is One Of Us.
Thiel enjoys the spotlight, he’s his own boss and could spend all day rolling around in giant piles of money if he wanted to, he’s said plenty of things publicly that are way more NRx-y than the monopoly thing and he’s obviously fine.
A billionaire who enjoys the spotlight does something like buying a professional sports team or media company or running for office. Thiel’s behavior is not consistent with him craving publicity.
Theres a difference between Trump-style publicity cravings and the narrower tastes of the nerdier subsets, I think. Status games are played in the arenas one cares about.
Seems that you’re arguing that it would be consistent with the behaviour of someone of Thiel’s stripe. I don’t believe that’s fair, it smacks to me of begging the question (i.e. he’s a prima donna and therefore his current behaviour is that of a prima donna).
Straussian thinking seems like a deep well full of status moves !
Level 0 - Laugh at the conspiracy-like idea. Shows you are in the pack.
Level 1 - As Strauss does, explain it / present instances of it. Shows you are the guru.
Level 2 - Like Thiel, hint at it while playing the Straussian game. Shows you are an initiate.
Level 3 - Criticize it for failing too often (bad thinking attractor, ideas that are hard to check and deploy usual rationality tools on). Shows you see through the phyg’s distortion field.
Ooh ooh I have one:
That Thiel’s real reason for saying such things is pure self-promotion.
Should we conclude that it is for any particular reason?
Its ever so convenient. “Im such a smart and unconventional guy I know all these important things that nobody will say. But i’ll just tell you I know them without saying them.”
He gets to sound wise without needing to actually say anything at all, and everyone gets to project whatever non-popular ideas they have onto him and conclude he is One Of Us.
Brilliant really.
That’s uncharitable. Has Thiel done or said things (which I must be unaware of) the earn the reputation of a viper?
Thiel enjoys the spotlight, he’s his own boss and could spend all day rolling around in giant piles of money if he wanted to, he’s said plenty of things publicly that are way more NRx-y than the monopoly thing and he’s obviously fine.
A billionaire who enjoys the spotlight does something like buying a professional sports team or media company or running for office. Thiel’s behavior is not consistent with him craving publicity.
Theres a difference between Trump-style publicity cravings and the narrower tastes of the nerdier subsets, I think. Status games are played in the arenas one cares about.
Seems that you’re arguing that it would be consistent with the behaviour of someone of Thiel’s stripe. I don’t believe that’s fair, it smacks to me of begging the question (i.e. he’s a prima donna and therefore his current behaviour is that of a prima donna).
Straussian thinking seems like a deep well full of status moves !
Level 0 - Laugh at the conspiracy-like idea. Shows you are in the pack.
Level 1 - As Strauss does, explain it / present instances of it. Shows you are the guru.
Level 2 - Like Thiel, hint at it while playing the Straussian game. Shows you are an initiate.
Level 3 - Criticize it for failing too often (bad thinking attractor, ideas that are hard to check and deploy usual rationality tools on). Shows you see through the phyg’s distortion field.