Peter Thiel

And then in some ways, I believe it's slowed down over the last 50 or so years, maybe 1970 or so is an inflection point one could cite. It doesn't mean it's stopped altogether, One way I've often summarized it is that we've continued to have progress in the world of bits. You know, computers, software, internet, mobile internet, maybe crypto, now AI.

But there's been much less progress in the world of atoms. And if you think about a university setting, most of the engineering and scientific subjects had to do more with this physical material world in which we're embedded. And I was an undergraduate at Stanford late 1980s, class of 89.

But there's been much less progress in the world of atoms. And if you think about a university setting, most of the engineering and scientific subjects had to do more with this physical material world in which we're embedded. And I was an undergraduate at Stanford late 1980s, class of 89.

But there's been much less progress in the world of atoms. And if you think about a university setting, most of the engineering and scientific subjects had to do more with this physical material world in which we're embedded. And I was an undergraduate at Stanford late 1980s, class of 89.

And it wasn't quite obvious at the time, but in retrospect, almost anything that was in the world of atoms would have been a bad field to go into. Physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, certainly aero-astroengineering, nuclear engineering, people already knew was kind of outlawed and over by the 1980s.

And it wasn't quite obvious at the time, but in retrospect, almost anything that was in the world of atoms would have been a bad field to go into. Physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, certainly aero-astroengineering, nuclear engineering, people already knew was kind of outlawed and over by the 1980s.

And it wasn't quite obvious at the time, but in retrospect, almost anything that was in the world of atoms would have been a bad field to go into. Physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, certainly aero-astroengineering, nuclear engineering, people already knew was kind of outlawed and over by the 1980s.

You could still maybe do electrical engineering, which was sort of the atoms that were used for semiconductors. But basically, the only STEM field that was going to be a really successful field for people to go into was computer science, which was kind of this marginal, almost fake field. Because I always have this riff where, you know, when you have...

You could still maybe do electrical engineering, which was sort of the atoms that were used for semiconductors. But basically, the only STEM field that was going to be a really successful field for people to go into was computer science, which was kind of this marginal, almost fake field. Because I always have this riff where, you know, when you have...

You could still maybe do electrical engineering, which was sort of the atoms that were used for semiconductors. But basically, the only STEM field that was going to be a really successful field for people to go into was computer science, which was kind of this marginal, almost fake field. Because I always have this riff where, you know, when you have...

I'm in favor of science, but I'm skeptical when people use the word science. So social science, political science, climate science are called science by people who have an inferiority complex and say, deep down, no, they're not really rigorous scientific fields. And something like this was true of computer science in the original day. It was people who were too dumb at math

I'm in favor of science, but I'm skeptical when people use the word science. So social science, political science, climate science are called science by people who have an inferiority complex and say, deep down, no, they're not really rigorous scientific fields. And something like this was true of computer science in the original day. It was people who were too dumb at math

I'm in favor of science, but I'm skeptical when people use the word science. So social science, political science, climate science are called science by people who have an inferiority complex and say, deep down, no, they're not really rigorous scientific fields. And something like this was true of computer science in the original day. It was people who were too dumb at math

to be in mathematics or physics or electrical engineering, and they sort of flunked out into computer science. And weirdly, this was a field that worked and it had a decent amount of impact. I don't think it was... And then it worked on the scale of people building some fantastic companies.

to be in mathematics or physics or electrical engineering, and they sort of flunked out into computer science. And weirdly, this was a field that worked and it had a decent amount of impact. I don't think it was... And then it worked on the scale of people building some fantastic companies.

to be in mathematics or physics or electrical engineering, and they sort of flunked out into computer science. And weirdly, this was a field that worked and it had a decent amount of impact. I don't think it was... And then it worked on the scale of people building some fantastic companies.

There were certainly some important cultural and social transformations that we had as we moved from the industrial age to the information age. I don't know if it's worked that well on, let's say, a broad economic level of well-being. So even if you measure it in terms of material well-being for people, The millennial generation in the U.S.

There were certainly some important cultural and social transformations that we had as we moved from the industrial age to the information age. I don't know if it's worked that well on, let's say, a broad economic level of well-being. So even if you measure it in terms of material well-being for people, The millennial generation in the U.S.

There were certainly some important cultural and social transformations that we had as we moved from the industrial age to the information age. I don't know if it's worked that well on, let's say, a broad economic level of well-being. So even if you measure it in terms of material well-being for people, The millennial generation in the U.S.

is probably in a lot of ways not even doing as well as their baby boomer parents. It's the first time we've had this sort of economic stagnation or even outright decline. And again, the naive view would be that all this progress somehow translates into a more successful economy. It's not the only way to measure things, but it's sort of a straightforward way to measure things.