Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagPeter Thiel

COSM2022-Wed-174A9344-Peter-Thiel-George-Gilder
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post
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News
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September 14, 2023
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Artificial Intelligence
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AI: Intelligent, Conscious, or Merely Evil? 

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel addresses burning questions surrounding AI at last year's COSM conference
News
September 14, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

In today’s featured video, watch Peter Thiel from COSM 2022 speak on how we should think about artificial intelligence. Is it really intelligent and even conscious? And is it likely to be a force for good, or does it have the dangerous potential to control us? Listen in to learn more on this broad and often contentious topic. Peter Thiel is an internationally known venture capitalist and investor. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it. From artificial intelligence to 5G and WiFi6, from tokenized time to blockchain, from cloud computing to the quantum revolution, and from biotech to the nanotech revolution, COSM brings together some Read More ›

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Shanghai, China
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Author
News
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July 31, 2023
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China, Technology
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Big Tech and China

Evaluating the technological competition between the two superpowers
News
July 31, 2023
1
China, Technology

How should the United States deal with China? Jay Richards interviews Dr. Bob Kelly, Managing Partner of Ignition Partners, on a panel he was included in. The panel explored the technological competition between the U.S. and China, what it means for the future, and presented differing schools of thought on how the United States should approach China moving forward. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Read More ›

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Business using smartphone,with wifi icon,business communication social network concept.
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News
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July 19, 2023
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Technology
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Will Wi-Fi 6 and LEOs Be the Real 5G?

Considering the future of mobile networks with George Gilder and Richard Vigilante
News
July 19, 2023
1
Technology

In today’s featured COSM video, Richard Vigilante and George Gilder moderate a panel exploring the future of mobile networks. Panelists include Gilad Garon, co-founder and CEO Of ASOCS, and Stephen Cohen, Chief Architect of Worldwide Enterprise Services at Microsoft. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author of Life After Capitalism: The Meaning of Wealth, the Future of the Economy, and the Time Theory of Read More ›

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Planet earth from space, zoom in to the middle east, Saudi Arabia, world skyline, globe
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News
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July 17, 2023
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Economics
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Why So Blue? Look at the Progress We’ve Made

Even though there are reasons to celebrate, the mainstream narrative hides them
News
July 17, 2023
3
Economics

We’ve cited the groundbreaking book Superabundance several times here at Mind Matters, mainly in connection to its co-author, Gale Pooley, a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty, and a speaker at the 2021 COSM conference, the yearly technology summit that has attracted speakers like Carver Mead, Peter Thiel, and others. Pooley’s co-author, Marian Tupy, who lectured at COSM 2022 on the book, does work on human progress at the Cato Institute, and published a post showing the many ways humanity has benefitted over the last century. He stands opposed to the mainstream approximations of doom that declare our world’s swift-approaching expiration date, writing, The chance of a person dying in a natural catastrophe — earthquake, Read More ›

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A futuristic glowing quantum computer unit, 3d render
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Author
News
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July 4, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Quantum Computing: What Does it Change?

Microsoft's Julie Love discusses the myths and challenges of quantum computing
News
July 4, 2023
1
Technology

in today’s featured video from the 2022 COSM conference, Dr. Julie Love, Director of Quantum Computing Business Development at Microsoft, describes the challenges of quantum computing, exposes some of the myths regarding the technology, and describes the types of applications that quantum computers are best suited to address—including clean combustion, energy, and water, and energy efficiency. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author Read More ›

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Peter Thiel on General Artificial Intelligence at COSM 2021
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News
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June 11, 2023
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Technology
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Peter Thiel on Big Tech: A Throwback Lecture

Peter Thiel opens up about how artificial intelligence, 5G wireless, and blockchain security are converging in a new era
News
June 11, 2023
1
Technology

We’ve been sharing and promoting several videos from the 2022 COSM conference, but there’s also a wealth of material to be found in the YouTube archives. Today, we’d like to share a lecture from the 2019 conference featuring prominent venture capitalist and technology innovator Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel opens up about how artificial intelligence, 5G wireless, and blockchain security are converging in a new era. In a substantive and wide-ranging discussion with tech guru George Gilder, Thiel outlines how new Internet and monetary systems can remedy the currently torturous relations between the U.S. and China, and how understanding money as time overthrows the prevailing economic and technological models and opens the way to a cornucopian future.

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online payments. Girl holds a smartphone and a credit card. European woman shopping online. Beautiful young woman using a credit card and mobile phone for online shopping.
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News
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December 22, 2022
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Business and Finance, Censorship
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PayPal Today Betrays Its Founders’ Vision for Democratizing Money

The payments processor, famously, now often drops customers for what appear to be political reasons, as Indian economist Rupa Subramanya explains
News
December 22, 2022
5
Business and Finance, Censorship

Earlier this year, we wrote about PayPal starting to “fine” users for “misinformation” and wrongthink. While there is certainly misinformation out there, the alarming Disinformation Governance Board proposal and the Twitter files revelations underline the limits of what Big Government, Big Tech, or Big Business can do beyond simply imposing an official opinion. Of course, the official opinion may be based on a faulty understanding of the problem. The banned individuals may merely be better informed. PayPal, famously, now often drops customers for what appear to be political reasons, as Indian economist Rupa Subramanya explains: One by one, they go to start their business day only to find a baffling message from their payments app informing them: “You can no Read More ›

COSM2022-Wed-174A9344-Peter-Thiel-George-Gilder
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post
Author
News
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November 11, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Peter Thiel’s Take on What Has Really Happened With AI

The trouble is, who is AI really benefiting?
News
November 11, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence

Peter Thiel is a classic in people you should know about but possibly don’t. He helped get PayPal and LinkedIn started and he tries to think about where new tech is taking us. He spoke at COSM 2022 on that topic and he mentions a book that should set us thinking: The high-level question I want to ask today is, basically, how should we think about AI? Should we think of it as intelligent, conscious, or merely evil? The book that I think is interesting is that of Wang Huning, who’s the number four guy in the entire communist government [of China]. He’s sort of the professor and theorist of Xi Jinping thought. And he wrote this book [about his Read More ›

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Peter Thiel via videoconference at COSM 2022
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post
Author
News
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November 10, 2022
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Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
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Peter Thiel: The Multiverse Is a “Gateway Drug”

It’s a gateway drug to other crazy ideas, like the belief we live in a simulation
News
November 10, 2022
5
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

BELLEVUE, WA — Speaking to tech leaders and investors at COSM 2022 in the Seattle area, entrepreneur Peter Thiel provocatively asked “why do so many people in Silicon Valley believe in the simulation hypothesis that the entire universe, the cosmos, is just a computer simulation? Why do they believe something as crazy as this?” Actually, noted Thiel, the belief that our world is a simulation has now faded somewhat: I think probably the peak belief in the simulation hypothesis was maybe something like a decade ago, maybe circa 2012 to 2015, and it has probably faded some. We’ll still have Gen Z people say that things are a glitch in the simulation or there’s still some sort of passive reference Read More ›

COSM-2022-george-gilder
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Author
George Gilder
Date
September 22, 2022
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Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Events
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Is AI Sentient? Where’s the Economy Headed? Join Me at COSM 2022!

We’ll find out together from a remarkable lineup of insightful movers, shakers, and thinkers
George Gilder
September 22, 2022
2
Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Events

Where is the U.S. economy headed in the next year? Is decoupling from China realistic, or even possible? Is our country ready for widescale electric vehicle adoption? And what are the cutting-edge technologies that will change the world? These are just a few of the questions we will grapple with at COSM 2022. Register now for COSM 2022, Nov. 9-11 in Seattle Another is whether AI will ever achieve consciousness. Remember the Google engineer who made national headlines a month ago for claiming that the company’s AI had become sentient? His name is Blake Lemoine, and he will be making his case — in one of his first public appearances — at COSM 2022 in November. We have also added Read More ›

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Stand out from the crowd and different creative idea concepts One red 3d social media notification love like heart pin icon pop up from others on light green pastel color wall background 3D rendering
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 18, 2021
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Censorship, Social Media
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Indie Social Medium Now Shows Big Gain Due to Big Tech Censorship

Rumble recently received backing from venture capitalist Peter Thiel, PayPal and Facebook co-founder
Denyse O'Leary
November 18, 2021
3
Censorship, Social Media

In the current issue of City Journal, Steven Malanga looks at the traffic Silicon Valley is losing. Not much was expected of Rumble, an alternative YouTube founded in 2013 by Canadian entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski. But it hung on until 2020, when YouTube stepped up its efforts to remove content inconsistent with its public-spirited values or with its parent company Google’s political alliances — depending on who you talk to. At any rate, high-profile commentators were looking fora new home. And they found one: In just ten months, Rumble’s online viewership has increased 25-fold. The company has attracted funding from prominent venture capitalists and recently completed a series of deals to bring such outspoken voices as Greenwald, Gabbard, and Joe Rogan Read More ›

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Girl in orange shirt standing near house robot
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Author
News
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November 13, 2021
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Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Silicon Valley Insider: Why Friendly Super-AI Won’t Happen

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel talks about the Great Filter hypothesis: Why should we assume a superior artificial intelligence would be friendly?
News
November 13, 2021
4
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

In a wide-ranging talk at the recent COSM 2021 conference (November 10–12), Peter Thiel (a PayPal and Facebook founder) expressed concern that people worry a great deal about artificial intelligence that thinks like people (AGI) but the real push now is for massive “dumb” surveillance AI peering into every detail of our lives, for the benefit of either government or the corporate world. He went on to say that he doubts that artificial general intelligence (AGI) — “superhuman software that can do everything that we can do” — would, in any event, be “friendly.” That is, that it “won’t kill us.” If it is intelligent enough to be independent, why should we assume so? “Friendly” is a human value, hard Read More ›

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Indian ethnicity woman wearing headphones listens educational course studying online
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Author
News
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October 29, 2021
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Economics, Education
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Is Online Learning Poised To Replace Universities?

Perhaps sooner than we think, if present trends continue. A degree may confer only social status — which depends on others’ acceptance
News
October 29, 2021
6
Economics, Education

In 2019, freelance writer Allen Farrington wrote an insightful piece, asking a question many have avoided. Does the acceptance of Cancel Culture signal the irretrievable decline of universities? He begins by discussing a short documentary on the Bret Weinstein affair at Evergreen State College in Washington State in 2017. Weinstein, along with his wife Heather Heying, was driven from the campus by angry students because he spoke out against racial exclusion policies. Both were biology teachers with fairly liberal views: No matter how closely you followed the debacle at the time, there is really no substitute for this fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. Evergreen academics can be seen meekly and repeatedly submitting to ideological manipulation, and on a number of Read More ›

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Blockchain , cryptocurrencies , bitcoin and distributed ledger technology concept..Block chain , network connect icons and earth furnished by NASA.
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Author
News
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October 22, 2021
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Business and Finance, Economics, Global Technology
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Is Bitcoin Just a Flash in the Pan? Peter Thiel Responds

He reveals that PayPal started out as a libertarian project to free money from central control but that proved harder than anticipated
News
October 22, 2021
10
Business and Finance, Economics, Global Technology

In this fourth and final episode based on his talk at COSM 2019, Peter Thiel — who founded PayPal in part to help break up currency monopolies — offers some thoughts on cryptocurrencies’ future. In the earlier episodes of his discussion at COSM 1919 with philosopher of technology George Gilder, top venture capitalist Peter Thiel offered Three Contrarian Ideas: 1.Big Tech, as it operates today, is communist. 2. Big Tech is also slowing down. And 3. Learning today has almost nothing to do with the so-called educational system. Now, about the future of cryptos: This portion begins at 27:21 min. A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. George Gilder: Peter, you started PayPal, in part to Read More ›

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Businessman in blue shirt is holding a magnifying
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post
Author
News
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October 21, 2021
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Business and Finance, Education, Philosophy of Mind
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Top Venture Capitalist on Tackling the Big, Corrupt Universities

Peter Thiel: Online education is great for learning, but unfortunately, learning has almost nothing to do with the so-called educational system
News
October 21, 2021
12
Business and Finance, Education, Philosophy of Mind

In this third episode — on Peter Thiel’s Third Contrarian Idea — philosopher of technology George Gilder revisits world class tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s live streamed talk at COSM 2019 in “ The failures and self-hatred of Big Tech.” In the first episode, Thiel noted that the way Big Tech operates today has more in common with a communist state than with a democracy. So his First Contrarian Idea, set out there, is that decentralization is coming. In the second episode, he talked about his Second Contrarian Idea: If you look at the big picture over the past few years, Big Tech’s progress is slowing. That’s not the hype we hear but then Thiel didn’t make nearly $4 billion Read More ›

datenverkehr-im-internet-im-schneckentempo-stockpack-adobe-stock
Datenverkehr im Internet im Schneckentempo
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post
Author
News
Date
October 19, 2021
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Business and Finance, Economics
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Peter Thiel Says, Forget the Hype: Big Tech Is Slowing Down

Second Contrarian Idea: We can see the slowdown clearly if we look past the hype
News
October 19, 2021
10
Business and Finance, Economics

Philosopher of technology George Gilder revisits world class tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s live streamed talk at COSM 2019 in “ The failures and self-hatred of Big Tech.” Ih the first part, Thiel noted that the way Big Tech operates today has more in common with a communist state than with a democracy. His First Contrarian Idea, set out there, is that decentralization is coming. In this part, he talks about his Second Contrarian Idea: If you look at the big picture over the past few years, Big Tech’s progress is slowing. Thiel, the author of Zero to One (2014) will attend COSM 2021 (November 10–12) in person this time, along with Gilder. Note: You can get the best rate Read More ›

army-of-artificial-workers-stockpack-adobe-stock
army of artificial workers
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post
Author
News
Date
October 18, 2021
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Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Technocracy
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Peter Thiel: Big Tech, As It Operates Today, Is Communist

Visions of the computer age have swung from big centralization in 1969 through big decentralization in 1999. Neither got it quite right, Thiel says
News
October 18, 2021
8
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Technocracy

Philosopher of technology George Gilder revisits world class tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s live streamed talk at COSM 2019 in “ The failures and self-hatred of Big Tech.” Thiel, the author of Zero to One (2014) will attend COSM 2021 (November 10–12) in person this time, along with Gilder. Note: You can get the best rate if you register before October 31. The focus of the 2021 meet will be the paradoxes of the new world of technology. As we will see, Thiel is an expert at defining that world. This is the first of a four-part series on his view of the future, starting with his First Contrarian Idea, that the way Big Tech operates today is communist and Read More ›

gold-bitcoin-on-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Gold bitcoin on dark background
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podcast
Author
George Gilder
Date
October 14, 2021
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COSM Speaker Peter Thiel: The Failures and “Self-Hatred” of Big Tech

George Gilder
October 14, 2021
1

Listen to maverick entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s talk from last year’s COSM conference. Thiel discusses his views of artificial intelligence, Big Tech’s monopoly, China, and the future of technology with legendary tech guru George Gilder. You can register now to hear Peter Thiel and George Gilder at this year’s COSM conference in November. Show Notes Additional Resources

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グローバルネットワーク　デジタルコンテンツ
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post
Author
News
Date
August 25, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Economics
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Peter Thiel Speaking in Person at COSM, Seattle, November 10

As a world class venture capitalist, he is known for bluntness about what works and what doesn’t
News
August 25, 2021
3
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Economics

COSM 2021 is the place to be, November 10–12, to get the inside track on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it. This year, iconic Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel will be speaking in person, addressing the question “Is Technology Soaring or Slumping?” At the first COSM in October 2019, Peter Thiel spoke by interactive video. Not one to mince words, he told the attendees bluntly that Silicon Valley is losing its touch and compared universities today to the Catholic Church at its worst. He has a remarkable history in both areas. He has been a prime mover in PayPal, Facebook, Palantir, Airbnb, Lyft, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. And he had intended to found a university. But, Read More ›

female-artist-works-on-abstract-oil-painting-moving-paint-brush-energetically-she-creates-modern-masterpiece-dark-creative-studio-where-large-canvas-stands-on-easel-illuminated-low-angle-close-up-stockpack-adobe-stock
Female Artist Works on Abstract Oil Painting, Moving Paint Brush Energetically She Creates Modern Masterpiece. Dark Creative Studio where Large Canvas Stands on Easel Illuminated. Low Angle Close-up
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
June 15, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Science
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Intelligent Design Is Not What Most People Think It Is

Widespread confusion about Intelligent Design leads us to address the question: What exactly is it?
Jonathan Bartlett
June 15, 2021
8
Business and Finance, Science

When I tell people that I do work in Intelligent Design (ID) research, either the person I’m talking to has no idea what Intelligent Design is, or they have quite a faulty idea of what Intelligent Design is. This isn’t their fault — media reports don’t seem to be able to make sense of what we are doing either. Some people have attributed this to malice, and, while I’m sure there’s plenty of that to go around, I think that it is in large part actually the result of Intelligent Design doing something genuinely new, making it difficult for people to shove us into existing boxes. Intelligent Design, at its core, says that agency is a distinct causal category in the world. That Read More ›