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The question

What belief do you hold that most people around you would reject or find surprising?

Originally asked

Peter Thiel, to job candidates, Zero to One, chapter 1, 2014

Peter Thiel, Zero to One, chapter 1, where it is introduced as his job-interview question. Thiel supplies his own standard: a good answer takes the form "most people believe x, but the truth is the opposite of x."

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Others on this question

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Sonny Rollins Jazz tenor saxophonist and composer
I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I'm a person who believes this life isn't the be-all and end-all of everything.
Recorded MusicRadar, Interview, MusicRadar, 25 May 2026 source ↗
Werner Herzog Film director, screenwriter and opera director
I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony; but chaos, hostility and murder.
Recorded Anonymous, Goodreads, 1 June 2024 source ↗
Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States, 1901–1909; Governor of New York 1899–1900; Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1897–1898
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
Recorded Mental Floss, 10 March 2023 source ↗
Tegan Quin Singer-songwriter, one half of Tegan and Sara
I have a lot of compassion for everybody, even fake Tegan, honestly. Life’s hard. The world’s hard. Navigating this is hard. We all have issues.
Recorded Pride, Interview, Pride, 15 November 2022 source ↗

More from Tara VanDerveer

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Question What fills you with the most pride? Identity & self
I’m probably—I’m probably most proud of, you know, just the relationships that I have with the players I’ve coached. When, you know, one of—you know, different player will, like, text me, like, you know, “I just had, you know, just had our daughter.” And I’m like, after an hour, I’m like, you know, that like, “Don’t you have something better to do?” You know, you’re an hour into having a newborn. But it’s great, you know. Or being invited to a wedding. You know, just being part of people’s lives
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, New York City, 22 September 2024 source ↗

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David Vélez, Peter Thiel, Hillary Clinton, Seth Godin, Tabita Rezaire, Wendy Kopp

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