Myles' 1-2: Nobody Has Original Thoughts
The estimated reading time is 4 minutes
There are many tough interview questions out there- my least favorite is “describe yourself”. However, that is not the hardest I have come across. Read below to find the hardest question I have come across!
1: Peter Thiel’s Question
Peter Thiel (pronounced Teal) is a legendary entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded PayPal (now worth $225B), Palantir ($38B), and was Facebook/Meta’s ($917B) first outside investor at a $5M valuation.
Peter Thiel is also great at not paying capital gains taxes! (You may recognize this article from a previous post)
In From Zero to One, Peter Thiel lays out his favorite interview question:
What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Before you continue reading- take a minute to think about this question!
Now ask:
Why is this a hard question to answer?
We are taught that truth is conventional, that everybody agrees on it!
A “correct” answer draws criticism & rejection- and people hate rejection!
We lack self-awareness in thinking our answer is unique
We have few original ideas
His answers:
All businesses are monopolies or in perfect competition (Competition is for Losers)
There are still secrets to be discovered (there are many great solvable questions)
The future will be defined by innovation not globalization (globalization is copying how others build wealth, technology creates new methods of wealth)
2: My Answer
I am not sure I have a great answer to this question. It is certainly a tough one for the reasons laid out above!
However, my immediate answer would be something along the lines of:
All actions, thoughts, and desires are not intrinsic- but are artificial reflections of other’s actions, thoughts, etc. The reason you or I do anything is simply us copying others.
In short, nobody inherently knows what they should desire- so we imitate others (who have imitated others). Our wants are not a reflection of the unique self- but are instead a reflection of our closest friends and family.
If my question caused immediate dismissal, disagreement, and rejection- then I have succeeded. If not- then back to the drawing board!