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[Ronan @Ronanchamberss]

This is why Peter Thiel was so successful. One of his biggest inspirations was the French philosopher René Girard for his work on mimetic desire (and it's consequences) - here's how it links to @shaunmmaguire's points:

"I left Silicon Valley... Because it's a monoculture... The most extreme group think of any place on the planet."

Girard's central thesis was basically: humans don't desire things autonomously, they copy the desire of others.

People fiercely defend the belief that their desires are individual/authentic (according to Girard "romantic illusion") when in reality they subtly train each other to want the exact same thing (in this particular monoculture it would be status associated with being a tech founder - ARR metrics, raise sizes, valuations, "frontier" ideas etc).

"So what do they do? They start stack-ranking each other... founder of co $100B market cap > founder of co with $50B market cap..."

Girard believed that when actors are in close status, they become mimetic rivals. Everyone is competing for the same narrow definition of success within the same tight ecosystem. They end up trapped in an ordered hierarchy where minute differences in status ($100B vs. $50B drive some sort of psychological rivalry).

"Pure toxicity that nerfs creativity... Reject this nonsense. Stay weird. Think independently."

Girard believes that intense mimetic competition creates homogeneity, sheep like or heard like behaviour. Instead of thinking about how can I create novel technology (a Facebook, a SpaceX, an AirBnB) new entrants focus on "how do i beet my peers at the game?"

This was probably the most dangerous part of a monoculture made up of mimetic rivals (from an investors point of view) - because theres no real alpha left - the competition just competes it all away. Everyones fighting over the same piece of the pie.

Where do you think he got his "competition is for losers" line from?

He got it from Girard.

Founders Fund was basically Thiel's vehicle to invest in anti-memetic ideas that Silicon Valley actively ignored.

1. Palantir - defence was taboo + governments were the anti-thesis of any start-ups philosophy

2. SapceX: Manufacturing and CapEx intense businesses were to be avoided - light scalable software was better

3. FB: Literally a real world social graph built around mimetic cultures (here i guess he was like ok we can profit of mimetic cultures lol).

Everyone should go study René Girard and then go look at all of Thiel's conference talks - it's the same lines over and over again.

pretty cool!

p.s. this is not exclusive to SF - it's exclusive to humans

[Kalshi @Kalshi]

JUST IN: Malaysia now has the 2nd most powerful passport in the world

[Jacob Zietek @JacobZietek]

I left a16z to start Ixian Robotics!

I’m very grateful for the people I got to learn from at a16z, and excited to be building again. The last couple of months have felt like knocking down dominoes I’ve spent years putting up.

Wrote a bit about the last year and what I want to build next: https://t.co/UZkyYG5e64

[Loges @logeswaryX]

@gabrielchua This looks very cool!

[Loges @logeswaryX]

@yasser_elsaid_ @chatbase As a Malaysian this is going to change the game. Thanks and congrats!

[Loges @logeswaryX]

lol

[анатолий капустин @A_Kapustin]

finally

[Loges @logeswaryX]

@boardyai Rank this @boardyai https://t.co/Y6qTjNR6yd

[Loges @logeswaryX]

@masterofnone Collaborate with Tourism Malaysia

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Day in the life vids?

[Tech in Asia @techinasia]

Workers across Southeast Asia are turning everyday jobs into a side hustle: recording themselves for robot training.

Could Southeast Asia capture more than just the low-value end of the robotics data economy?

https://t.co/pupm04YPa5

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Beautiful!

[Tech in Asia @techinasia]

Southeast Asia’s physical AI race is taking shape. 🤖

We found 35 startups across the region that have collectively raised US$496.5M.

Here’s who’s building it: https://t.co/vXHQ1neQTZ

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Completely agree. Children should take the self initiative to teach themselves things they are most keen on knowing

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Children need to be teach-yourself-on-YouTube-maxxing

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Excellent!

[Ekonomi Rakyat @EkonomiRakyatMY]

PM Anwar Ibrahim menggesa pengukuhan ekosistem STEM bagi melahirkan bakat muda, selain mahu National Science Challenge (NSC) dijadikan platform pembangunan bakat melalui universiti, institusi penyelidikan dan industri.

Beliau turut menekankan bahawa Malaysia perlu beralih daripada sekadar pengguna kepada pencipta dan penguasa teknologi, terutamanya dalam menangani cabaran seperti keterjaminan makanan, tenaga, kesihatan, air, perubahan iklim dan AI.

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Would you pay to watch robots in a boxing match?

[Loges @logeswaryX]

So it’s hazy and there are still people who decide to burn things.

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Bangkit bina Malaysia!

[malaysiakini.com @malaysiakini]

Anwar: No more tech users - M'sia must become a master https://t.co/nYEZwxZbA4

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Mega

[Bloomberg @business]

Japanese startup Preferred Networks is seeking to go public to mass-produce its chips, a reflection of the rising cost and scale needed to stay relevant in a global AI race https://t.co/fuC4dAOIcQ

[Loges @logeswaryX]

I’m looking to connect with founders in #SoutheastAsia. DMs are always open

[Loges @logeswaryX]

Huawei has entered the race and is about to dominate.

[Bloomberg @business]

Malaysia is leaning toward relying on Huawei's artificial intelligence chips to power its sovereign AI efforts https://t.co/N7ck92i3ja

[Loges @logeswaryX]

@vovudebosh I've used this and it has been great! Very helpful!

[Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team @MercedesAMGF1]

FORZA KIMI! 🇮🇹🏆