I enjoy Thiel's incredible optimism, but he does have a tendency to be a little too devout to a fixed set of controversial ideologies [1]. Jeff Bezos famously

I enjoy Thiel's incredible optimism, but he does have a tendency to be a little too devout to a fixed set of controversial ideologies [1]. Jeff Bezos famously said that smart people often change their minds [2]. I would encourage Thiel to challenge many of his deeply held beliefs about the history and nature of scientific and technological progress, and empirically compare our current system with that of the past. Especially if he wants to see cancer cured (!!!!) in the next decade (!!!!). Thiel and his colleagues have a unique opportunity to set mankind back on our path of scientific and technological discovery. But in order to do this, we have to thoroughly understand the environment and factors which nurture scientific progress. With NIH and NSF funding in freefall, and corporations cutting R&D spending across the board, I would argue we are moving in precisely the wrong direction. Crowdfunding won't cure Cancer, and neither will startups. These are very hard problems, that take a very long time to solve. Round up some VCs and fund a dozen Janelia Farms for the next 20 years. Only then can we talk about human longevity as a long term goal. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8337837 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8337837 2. https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-bezos https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-be...