Our society is ruled by a Narrative which has no basis in reality and is essentially religious in character. Every component of the Narrative is at best unjustified by actual evidence, and at worst absurd on the face of it. Moreover, most leading public intellectuals never seriously question the Narrative because to do so is to be expelled from their positions of prestige. The only people who can really poke holes in the Narrative are people like Peter Thiel and Nassim Taleb, whose positions of wealth and prestige are independently guaranteed.
The lesson is that in the modern world, if you want to be a philosopher, you should first become a billionaire. Then and only then will you have the independence necessary to pursue truth.
This seems obvious to me. Except that in order to become a billionaire you need to act exactly as if you believe in the narrative and probably come to believe it.
EDIT: Though I fail to see how Thiel pokes ‘the narrative’ - it seems to me he doubles down even harder on large chunks of it.
EDIT: Though I fail to see how Thiel pokes ‘the narrative’ - it seems to me he doubles down even harder on large chunks of it.
Probably you and Daniel Burfoot are thinking of different Narratives. I guess the one he’s thinking about is what Moldbug calls “Universalism”, “the blue pill”, “M.42”, and other such deliberately silly names.
Our society is ruled by a Narrative which has no basis in reality and is essentially religious in character. Every component of the Narrative is at best unjustified by actual evidence, and at worst absurd on the face of it. Moreover, most leading public intellectuals never seriously question the Narrative because to do so is to be expelled from their positions of prestige. The only people who can really poke holes in the Narrative are people like Peter Thiel and Nassim Taleb, whose positions of wealth and prestige are independently guaranteed.
The lesson is that in the modern world, if you want to be a philosopher, you should first become a billionaire. Then and only then will you have the independence necessary to pursue truth.
What exactly does that Narrative say?
Why would he answer you without first being a billionaire?
Read “How Dawkins Got Pwned” by Mencius Moldbug. (Warning: it’s long.)
What possible evidence can you have for the existence of a great truth which is by definition not available to you?
It’s available to me, I just can’t talk about it with other people.
This seems obvious to me. Except that in order to become a billionaire you need to act exactly as if you believe in the narrative and probably come to believe it.
EDIT: Though I fail to see how Thiel pokes ‘the narrative’ - it seems to me he doubles down even harder on large chunks of it.
Probably you and Daniel Burfoot are thinking of different Narratives. I guess the one he’s thinking about is what Moldbug calls “Universalism”, “the blue pill”, “M.42”, and other such deliberately silly names.