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What Important Lesson Peter Thiel Taught Chamath Palihapitiya // The magics of mimetic theory from Rene Girard // What will happen to Cancel Culture and how it will eventually end 

original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b0rCYoD_2E&ab_channel=All-InPodcast

Episode #51 
Date: Oct 15, 2021

This is a this is my maybe my 1 and only grand tribute to Peter Thiel.

He's a huge supporter of a philosopher named Rene Girard.

And basically, it's called mimetic theory.

And the idea is you're born without preferences.

And then you kind of just copy what's around you.

And so what the other person wants is what you want.

And that's what ultimately leads to a lot of conflict.

And the only way to resolve conflict is with a huge grand sacrifice of some kind, okay.

And if you think about it here, if you're going to really put, you know, cancel culture, if you're going to kill it, there needs to be some just massive escalation and conflict around this idea that allows us to resolve it in 1 way or the other in 1 direction or the other.

Quite honestly, I think it's a little bit sort of like, you know, there's folks like us that love comedy.

And we're willing to keep it in a very strict box, which is let people say what they're going to say, be shocked with it.

And don't, you know, and go and reflect it into the world.

And you can, you know, it's like, I choose not to watch violent stuff, because I don't like it.

I find it I find it very offensive, or, you know, I don't play first person shooters, I find it really unsettling.

You know, grand theft auto, I found it really outrageous.

And other people will feel like that about Chappelle.

My whole thing is we should all be allowed to make those judgments.

Because I think we're all still pretty rational people at the end of the day and do the right thing in the normal world.

But this isn't the thing that's going to get this issue to be resolved.

So I don't know how it comes there needs to be some huge escalation around this thing.

I suspect what happens is it actually just dissipates and goes away.

And the reason is because everybody who's much younger than us has such a huge digital footprint that they've created through their whole life risk.

God, yes, that they just have no choice but to let everybody else off the hook.

We we are in a very different situation because we were doing some fucking shady stuff.

You would you would roll deep and you would just you would pretend you would not, you know, and now the culture is very different.

And I think with that comes a lot of acceptance.

Every you know, every kid at some point, may or may not be on Tinder, Bumble, Ria, you know, grinder, whatever.

So there's going to be a body of that content that's up.

Every kid will have said something crazy, you know, on Tick Tock.

And so you'll have a choice, which is if you're going to hold me accountable, I'm going to hold you accountable.

And so it's mutually assured destruction.

And I think that's what causes cancel culture to go away in time.

It's the last vestige of very guilty people of our generation.


Speaker 0: There's a really great philosopher. This is a this is my maybe my 1 and only grand tribute to Peter Thiel. But he he is. He's a huge supporter of a philosopher named Rene Girard. And I agree with a lot of a lot of that.

A lot of Rene Girard's philosophies. And basically, it's called mimetic theory. And the idea is you're born without preferences. And then you kind of just copy what's around you. And so what the other person wants is what you want.

And that's what ultimately leads to a lot of conflict. And the only way to resolve conflict is with a huge grand sacrifice of some kind, okay. And if you think about it here, if you're going to really put, you know, cancel culture, if you're going to kill it, there needs to be some just massive escalation and conflict around this idea that allows us to resolve it in 1 way or the other in 1 direction or the other. And I don't think this is it. I think it's not big enough.

Quite honestly, I think it's a little bit sort of like, you know, there's folks like us that love comedy. And we're willing to keep it in a very strict box, which is let people say what they're going to say, be shocked with it. And don't take it on to yourself. And don't, you know, and go and reflect it into the world. It's entertainment.

And you can, you know, it's like, I choose not to watch violent stuff, because I don't like it. I find it I find it very offensive, or, you know, I don't play first person shooters, I find it really unsettling. You know, grand theft auto, I found it really outrageous. And other people will feel like that about Chappelle. My whole thing is we should all be allowed to make those judgments.

Because I think we're all still pretty rational people at the end of the day and do the right thing in the normal world. But this isn't the thing that's going to get this issue to be resolved. So I don't know how it comes there needs to be some huge escalation around this thing. I suspect what happens is it actually just dissipates and goes away. And the reason is because everybody who's much younger than us has such a huge digital footprint that they've created through their whole life risk.

There is so much shit that's out there. God, yes, that they just have no choice but to let everybody else off the hook. We we are in a very different situation because we were doing some fucking shady stuff. Always on the download. Whoa, he's hidden.

Whoa, he's here. But that that's how it was. We were not our child. You're largely anonymous. You would you would roll deep and you would just you would pretend you would not, you know, and now the culture is very different.

And I think with that comes a lot of acceptance. Every you know, every kid at some point, may or may not be on Tinder, Bumble, Ria, you know, grinder, whatever. So there's going to be a body of that content that's up. Every kid will have said something crazy, you know, on Tick Tock. And all of this stuff will be there.

And so you'll have a choice, which is if you're going to hold me accountable, I'm going to hold you accountable. And so it's mutually assured destruction. And I think that's what causes cancel culture to go away in time. It's the last vestige of very guilty people of our generation.

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What Important Lesson Peter Thiel Taught Chamath Palihapitiya