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Peter Thiel was greatly influenced by Girard at Stanford [1] and he worked to create the nonprofit that supports the proliferation and application of Girard's t

by keane 11y ago

Peter Thiel was greatly influenced by Girard at Stanford [1] and he worked to create the nonprofit that supports the proliferation and application of Girard's theories, Imitatio [2]. You can get an idea of some of Girard's thought and of related works that engage with it at the free collection of writings maintained by Paul Nuechterlein [3]. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-on-rene-girards-influence-2014-11 http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-on-rene-girards-i... [2] http://www.imitatio.org/ http://www.imitatio.org/ [3] http://www.girardianlectionary.net/ http://www.girardianlectionary.net/

amadeusw 11y ago
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a comprehensive, yet concise writeup on Girard's theories [1]. Interestingly, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has no article on him [2] - is it because he worked there? [1] http://www.iep.utm.edu/girard http://www.iep.utm.edu/girard [2] http://plato.stanford.edu/search/search?query=girard+rene http://plato.stanford.edu/search/search?query=girard+rene
- jessriedel 11y ago
  > the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has no article on him It might be because the SEP is (I think) geared toward analytic philosophy, whereas Girard sounds like he's more from the continental tradition.
bambax 11y ago
In the first article you point to, Thiel says that: > Economics will tell you that competition dilutes profits, and that’s one big reason to question it. Hmm, actually, no and no. Economics don't tell you that competition dilutes profits, it tells you that competition drives down prices until profits are zero, which isn't the same thing. And it also tells you that low prices are good, not bad; only companies care about "profits", but the public at large benefits not from profits but from low prices. Walmart is the best thing that ever happened to the US, economy-wise. Didn't know that Peter Thiel was an admirer of René Girard, but since he's also a disciple of Ayn Rand, I guess it makes sense (in that he revels in big empty bullshit).
- auganov 11y ago
  Peter doesn't argue that competition is bad in some general sense. He's merely speaking form an entrepreneur's perspective. For whom competition is very much about diluting profit. Peter gets a lot of flak from people interpreting his writings in the context of the general economy/society rather than the context of startups.
- treehau5 11y ago
  > Walmart is the best thing that ever happened to the US, economy-wise. Care to elaborate? From my school of thought, Walmart is the worst thing that has ever happened to the US economy. Sure they might have that scotch tape you want for 50 cents cheaper, but that came at the cost of less small businesses and lower wages overall. Scores of businesses and shops that were once thriving and profitable in small town main streets are now empty because Walmart opened up on the other side of town. Walmart also only lets their buddies near their shopping centers, and charge a high premium to any mom and pop stores or restaurants to in the shopping center, which is why if you drive across the South you always see the same 3-4 stores in a Walmart shopping center.
  - Pyxl101 11y ago
    Yes, and before we had efficient textile factories, scores of small businesses and individuals worked as wool spinners - many of them women (the origin of the term "spinster"). These businesses went kaput when industrialization came along. Same thing with farming. In the middle ages, and long after then, there were many small businesses engaged in farming. In fact, quite a lot of it was subsistence farming. Fortunately, textile manufacturing brought down the price of clothing from thousands of dollars per suit to far less, and industrial farming has made food (by comparison to the past) cheap and plentiful. In the course of it, this shut down many small businesses who could not compete with the scale and efficiency of larger ones, but it brings down prices for everyone - as bambax mentioned, the general public cares about prices, not how goods are provided. In the modern age, we live better than kings did in the middle ages, with electricity, sanitation, health/vision/dental care, access to food and water, fuel, entertainment in our homes - all of the benefits of modern life come from the steadily lowering price of technology and scale and knowledge. Small businesses are not intrinsically good, and large ones are not intrinsically bad. Large businesses tend to have economies of scale and investment in technology that small do not, which brings down prices and raises the quality of living for everyone.

by keane 11y ago

amadeusw 11y ago

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a comprehensive, yet concise writeup on Girard's theories [1]. Interestingly, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has no article on him [2] - is it because he worked there? [1] http://www.iep.utm.edu/girard http://www.iep.utm.edu/girard [2] http://plato.stanford.edu/search/search?query=girard+rene http://plato.stanford.edu/search/search?query=girard+rene

jessriedel 11y ago
> the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has no article on him It might be because the SEP is (I think) geared toward analytic philosophy, whereas Girard sounds like he's more from the continental tradition.

bambax 11y ago

In the first article you point to, Thiel says that: > Economics will tell you that competition dilutes profits, and that’s one big reason to question it. Hmm, actually, no and no. Economics don't tell you that competition dilutes profits, it tells you that competition drives down prices until profits are zero, which isn't the same thing. And it also tells you that low prices are good, not bad; only companies care about "profits", but the public at large benefits not from profits but from low prices. Walmart is the best thing that ever happened to the US, economy-wise. Didn't know that Peter Thiel was an admirer of René Girard, but since he's also a disciple of Ayn Rand, I guess it makes sense (in that he revels in big empty bullshit).

auganov 11y ago
Peter doesn't argue that competition is bad in some general sense. He's merely speaking form an entrepreneur's perspective. For whom competition is very much about diluting profit. Peter gets a lot of flak from people interpreting his writings in the context of the general economy/society rather than the context of startups.
treehau5 11y ago
> Walmart is the best thing that ever happened to the US, economy-wise. Care to elaborate? From my school of thought, Walmart is the worst thing that has ever happened to the US economy. Sure they might have that scotch tape you want for 50 cents cheaper, but that came at the cost of less small businesses and lower wages overall. Scores of businesses and shops that were once thriving and profitable in small town main streets are now empty because Walmart opened up on the other side of town. Walmart also only lets their buddies near their shopping centers, and charge a high premium to any mom and pop stores or restaurants to in the shopping center, which is why if you drive across the South you always see the same 3-4 stores in a Walmart shopping center.
- Pyxl101 11y ago
  Yes, and before we had efficient textile factories, scores of small businesses and individuals worked as wool spinners - many of them women (the origin of the term "spinster"). These businesses went kaput when industrialization came along. Same thing with farming. In the middle ages, and long after then, there were many small businesses engaged in farming. In fact, quite a lot of it was subsistence farming. Fortunately, textile manufacturing brought down the price of clothing from thousands of dollars per suit to far less, and industrial farming has made food (by comparison to the past) cheap and plentiful. In the course of it, this shut down many small businesses who could not compete with the scale and efficiency of larger ones, but it brings down prices for everyone - as bambax mentioned, the general public cares about prices, not how goods are provided. In the modern age, we live better than kings did in the middle ages, with electricity, sanitation, health/vision/dental care, access to food and water, fuel, entertainment in our homes - all of the benefits of modern life come from the steadily lowering price of technology and scale and knowledge. Small businesses are not intrinsically good, and large ones are not intrinsically bad. Large businesses tend to have economies of scale and investment in technology that small do not, which brings down prices and raises the quality of living for everyone.