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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.

Peter Thiel

Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir; venture capitalist

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
My own answer to the contrarian question is that most people think the future of the world will be defined by globalization, but the truth is that technology matters more. Without technological change, if China doubles its energy production over the next two decades, it will also double its air pollution. If every one of India's hundreds of millions of households were to live the way Americans already do — using only today's tools — the result would be environmentally catastrophic. Spreading old ways to create wealth around the world will result in devastation, not riches. In a world of scarce resources, globalization without new technology is unsustainable.

Excerpt from Zero to One (2014), reproduced by Quartz, Quartz (quoting Zero to One), 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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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 ↗
Blake Masters Venture capitalist; co-author of Zero to One; 2022 U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona
Well, I'd say that I'm actually optimistic about the future of our country. That's not a sentiment most people share today. Especially on the Right, it's increasingly common to feel pessimistic about America. You know, to be 'blackpilled', as they say online. And it's understandable – I too see all the chaos and destruction this Regime is inflicting on our country and the American people. But I really do believe that we can get the pendulum to swing back our way, that we can win this fight and rebuild America. That's why I'm running for office.
Recorded Mark Granza, IM—1776 interview, recorded via Zoom, 8 December 2021, 17 December 2021 source ↗
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 ↗
David Vélez Co-founder and chief executive of Nubank
Pix is probably the most successful payment infrastructure run by a government in history. I think Pix has been what has allowed a country like Brazil to leapfrog developed economies like the U.S. and in Europe, and has positioned Brazil today probably five years ahead of the U.S. I don't think anybody understands that, and probably in the U.S. they didn't really expect that.
Recorded Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, interview, Fortune, 9 October 2023 source ↗

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David Vélez, Susan Wojcicki, Vince Gill, Tegan Quin, Sonny Rollins, Tara VanDerveer

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