In a conversation about innovation with Tyler Cowen, Peter Thiel made the point that we can always do more with more and conversely, less with less.

In order for an economy to prosper, there must be a high degree of trust in the system.

Prior to the 1900s, people did not believe an animal could go extinct–they assumed nature was endless.

Refers to the Leo Strauss notion that serious writers communicate ideas through many layers of meaning and abstraction which simultaneously protects the author from the ruling regime and attracts the right readers.

There are two different kinds of fun. Type I fun is when you are having fun and know you are having fun while doing it.

Capitalism has gone through several phases 1) local markets bounded by limited mobility 2) globalization where markets expanded beyond borders now 3) markets saturated bounded by consumption.

A policy of providing regular income to people who are not working or are unable to work to meet basic needs.

People who recently uncover an idea tend to be the most zealous in promoting and defending it because it becomes part of their identity and identity is a powerful motivation for behaviors.

Something you focus on seems more important than it actually is.

In plate tectonics, all of the interesting effects like mountain formation, earthquakes, happen on the edge of the plates.

The conceptualization of long periods and how they fit into our lives which was originated from studying geological strata.

A product team or organization that moves slowly (e.g. reviews, gatekeepers, heavy process) in introducing changes moves slower over time.

Make a little progress on your most important goals every day, even if it’s something small.

There is a tendency to write a problem statement as the problem you wantto solve (i.

In a note taking practice, the act of publishing and reviewing notes helps to visualize progress of growing your knowledge.

The act of writing notes of self contained ideas and facts leads to deeper understanding.

Thomas Malthus was an 18th-century economist who stated in ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ that population growth is exponential, but the production of food is linear.

Energy and growth are tightly correlated. The more energy consumption a society has the greater their GDP.

Recent research shows that Machu Picchu was purposely constructed on top of two intersecting fault lines.

Long term work on inter-generational problems (e.g. climate change) requires inter-generational partnership.

Caring for an object for the purpose of passing down to a future generation helps people think long term.

It’s unfortunate American values and belief systems are incompatible with successfully managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stock price of a corporation being added to an index fund increases along with it’s competitors that are also included in the index fund.

Prominent investor and founder of Berkshire Hathaway, known for thoughts about good decision making and applying a ‘latticework of mental models’ from a wide range of academic fields.