Oh most certainly. I'm not sure how Thiel actually exists in reality, but I do know that consistency-wise, the book he produces seems to match his energy, and even over the years. As far as the Charlotte Fang thing goes, like any other ideologue that seems to capture some part of the zeitgeist, they seem to have differentiated themselves enough and seem like they could have some pull in the years to come. I remember hearing about that data breach thing, although I don't think a data breach really compromises any of these Silicon Valley types when they can just keep going. Charlotte Fang seems to be another of these Thiel fellows, or at least Stanford-associated. I'm not sure to what extent the Miladies have been or remain relevant, but I'm curious to see what impact this whole Remilia ordeal has in the years to come, especially as AI-generated slop serves as good free psyop-promotional material, as seems to already be the case on the Twitter feeds. In any case, this forum has brought a breath of fresh air. I find myself in an almost entirely post-YouTube era, where there's nothing really left there. Reddit has limitations, especially when something as innocuous as cutting your steak the wrong way can lend you to get downvoted into the ground and unable to participate in the forum discussion. Here, though, it's a brand new world. I'm excited that there's this place here now where reading books is actually social and entertaining, and I am looking forward to actually reading some of these millions of books that I've got on all of these lists. The building toward a higher standard for Western literary academia/education begins here ;), ha!

Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate it. And that was a great comment thread to read!! Truly makes me happy to see this kind of discussions on this site. And thank you for making all these great lists. I do agree that the book still brings up poignant points, which probably only seem apparent to me because I read the book long time ago and internalized it as my own beliefs. Who knows what I will think about the issues he brings up in this book if I didn't encounter it once. It's a fascinating entry into this "category" of non-fiction that panders to the "FOUNDERS". But regardless, anyone can have takeaways from this book. IMO he is, no matter what, a true contrarian. Not a snark rsp poster contrarian, but someone who truly has convictions and is willing to put his money where his mouth is. IMO that persona and cult of personality around him is one of the most fascinating aspects of Thiel the human. That's so funny you mention Charlotte Fang. What an era that was, even though it was only a couple years ago. Miladys and everything he was tangentially associated with seems to be an almost distant past now, now it seems like no one cares or talks about NFTs or milady raves (or miladys) anymore. I guess the whole security breach (?) they had really did an number on them, at the end. Maybe that will finally drive down milady prices :)

All that to say, assuming the US doesn't fall into complete disarray, I foresee the average citizen facing increased destitution and heavy manipulation by psyops, whereupon they're probably better off pre-empting this by taking on the slightly Machiavellian ownership of (relevant) information that Thiel employs rather than waiting around and assuming everything will be fine, only to get their entire livelihoods carved up by a motley of foreign actors like it's post-Opium Wars China. By employing a little bit of 'Oriental Despotism' (another book I've got slated to read and review), people can get cued in and develop their data / rights before it's sold off to people that will seek to beat them over the head with it. I mean afterall, it's not like there's competition to the Internet these days so far as I can see; ICANN, or whoever, really has the monopoly like Thiel talks about in this book. Anyways, I could probably rant for a million years on all this. Thanks for the comment (was not expecting that so fast, haha!) and this site. It's finally given me a reason to stop putting off my massive 5 year long book list that I've collected from the RSP, /pol/, /lit/, Kiwifarms, Nick Land / Charlotte Fang Twitter threads, random offhand podcast comments, and references from Goodreads and YouTube comments. Cheers! /2

Ok, I had to take a second and breeze through the archive.org copy because it's been a few years and I wanted to sort of confirm my previous thoughts, but basically I'm pretty sure I disagree about your initial statement, although basically the rest of your assessment of Silicon Valley and the state of its culture nowadays I agree with. Coming from the standpoint of someone who has spent way too much time analyzing people's different political theory and the extent to which different individuals actually hold various levers of power, Thiel ostensibly seems to have followed his own advice and found value in it. Often times in the public sphere, you encounter individuals who either are successful but don't practice what they preach, or otherwise are unknown nobodies who may have profound thoughts but not too many cents to their name. As far as where I disagree with your statement of this book not having practical value to the layman, I'd question what books would have value to the layman. I mean it seems that Thiel did the right amount of networking, making the right calls, and building. He's one of the richest people alive, not just in money but also in data (harvested via Palantir). As far as what you say about Silicon Valley thinking that the world is at their fingertips, I mean, are they really wrong? All the VC/PE types conjure up massive amounts of dough nationally and internationally to throw at this part of the US, and we're all using the applications that they have built. Whether the East Coast Charles Johnson Fed types are able to (or even want to) rein in West Coast Silicon Valley profligation toward a unified Nationalist Synthesis remains to be seen, but I have my doubts that will happen...frankly too much Chinese, Russian, Saudi Arabian, Israeli, Japanese etc money to go around, although I admit that the situation does seem dynamic and moving toward an inevitable conclusion of some sort (perhaps the Davos Consensus). /1

Hm, I have a nit to pick about this book in general, and over time I grew to view it as a bunch of platitudes rather than something a layman can actually learn from. I haven't read it since high school, but I think this book demonstrates the life that Thiel led. Used to being the smartest person in the room, used to having the luxury to strategize from a high-level, used to being in remarkably lucky situations at the forefront of the internet, and used to surrounded by individuals who are at the top of their games. He's a deeply flawed individual with concerning ideologies, but no matter what you have to respect him at some level due to the sheer force of nature he became in this country and world with his wits and luck. He commands the same respect that someone like Kissinger does, for example. A true American original, and like many American originals, he wasn't born here. I lived in Silicon Valley for a year, and this way of thinking is incredibly apparent there. They think the world is really at their fingertips. They think they control the tides of the world, have their fingers at the pulse of technology. These guys were always the people meeting or exceeding high expectations placed upon them. They are used to hanging out in rooms where half the room went to Stanford and the other half went to MIT. They are used to making 6 figures at 22. Failure was never an option, and failure was never really tasted. These people start believing that their monetary and career success affords them this level of insight that... don't seem that poignant to someone outside of the valley circlejerk. Exceptions do exist. E.g. Paul Graham's essays are brilliant. YC has gone to complete shit (like Harvard now, they just take credit for your success IMO) without him helming it. The Lean Startup is also IMO a good book. Still relevant 10+ years later.