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5 Oct, 5 tweets, 3 min read
Here's a fascinating answer to "Is Peter Thiel Very Smart?" from @RyanHoliday.

I love this line: “The things that I think I’m right about other people are in some sense not even wrong about, because they’re not thinking about them.”

Here are my favorite quotes.
This is a beautiful way to think about thinking.

“Peter is of two minds on everything. If you were able to open his skull, you would see a number of Mexican standoffs between powerful antagonistic ideas you wouldn’t think could be safely housed in the same brain.”
"Thiel is extremely well-read and again, tends to focus on talking about and thinking about deep, obscure topics rather than superficial, trivial matters."

Here's the original article.

quora.com/Is-Peter-Thiel…
"When I mentioned an obscure chapter in Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy, Thiel could cite it from memory and discuss at length... Thiel is extremely well-read and again, tends to focus on talking about and thinking about deep, obscure topics rather than superficial matters."
"People say that Thiel is a "contrarian" but it's more accurate to say he is anti-mimetic." — @RyanHoliday

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More from @david_perell

David Perell Profile picture
5 Oct
My favorite way to find interesting ideas is to look for things that don't make sense.

When something doesn't make sense, most people turn away and focus on something else. Don't do that. Think of it as an invitation to learn instead.

Here's my short article.
I first heard this idea in 2016 while attending an interview with @IAmAdamRobinson.

He said: "One of the key things to investing is to be aware when you hear a voice in your head that says it doesn’t make sense. That’s where the gold mine is — things that don’t make sense.”
When the world does the opposite of what you think it’s going to do, it’s not the world that’s wrong. It’s you.

Here's the key point: The factor causing the world to behave differently than you think is more influential than ALL the ones you’re considering.
Read 4 tweets
David Perell Profile picture
4 Oct
One of the weirdest things about modern urbanism is that we build the opposite of what we like.

We adore Europe’s narrow streets, but build skyscraper-lined cities with six-lane roads and sterile shopping malls, that are impossible to walk.
Right now, I’m living in a suburb of Austin, Texas. I don’t have a car so I’m entirely dependent on delivery workers and my roommates (who have cars) if I want to go anywhere.

Tires, not feet, are the engines of practical reality which makes you feel powerless as a meager human.
American society is entirely oriented around the car.

I saw this when I registered to vote last week. To prove identity, the form asked for my driver’s license, not my passport. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it reveals how we serve cars instead of making them serve us.
Read 6 tweets
David Perell Profile picture
27 Sep
Officially obsessed with Oxford’s “Very Short Introduction” series.

The books are generally well-written and don’t have any fluff, which is everything I want from non-fiction. Plus, they’re short enough to read in 2-3 nights.

Highly recommend.
If you only read these books for a decade you’d be better educated, across a wide variety of disciplines, than almost anybody in your social circle.

Here’s the full list of books.

global.oup.com/academic/conte…
My five roommates and I are studying American government, so we’re reading the one about the U.S. Constitution together.

We have ~40 of them in the house, so I skim through a different one every day. Combined, the collection is like a tour guide for polymaths.
Read 5 tweets
David Perell Profile picture
25 Sep
New long-form article!

This deep dive is all about podcasting. It's everything I've learned in four years, across more than 100 interviews, about preparation, production, and promotion.

I've also shared my favorite ideas in this thread.

perell.com/blog/how-i-pro…
1. Cold email is your best friend

Contact people directly if you can. Almost everybody, no matter how powerful they are, reads their personal email. If you can’t find somebody’s email with a Google search, find their personal website or the website of the company they work for.
2. Contacting big-name writers

Many writers only do podcasts when they're promoting a book. Email authors right when you hear they’re releasing a new book. When you do, offer to record the podcast early but release it when the book comes out.

That's what I did with Seth Godin.
Read 10 tweets
David Perell Profile picture
20 Sep
Bryson DeChambeau might be the most innovative athlete in the world right now.

He just won his first major championship and is changing how golf is played at the highest levels. People call him "The Mad Scientist of Golf." Here's what you can learn from him.

THREAD
1. Great ideas are buried in history

Bryson's swing is inspired by a 1969 book called The Golfing Machine. It describes 144 ways you can swing a club and inspired Bryson to adopt a "single plane swing." It's one of the most controversial books ever written about golf. ImageImage
2. Experiment with yourself

Most players have irons of different lengths, but all of Bryson's are 37.5 inches long. Unlike other pros, all his irons have the same swing weight. Their lie angles are 10 degrees more upright than usual, which is why his swing looks funky. Image
Read 25 tweets
David Perell Profile picture
17 Sep
Roam and Notion aren’t major competitors.

Roam is a programming language for ideas, geared towards individuals.

Notion bundles project management, corporate communications and knowledge management, and it’s geared towards teams.
To see the differences, look at their pricing strategies.

Roam wants to make a lot of money from a small number of loyal users.

Notion wants to make a little bit of money from a lot of users. It’s free to invite co-workers, but they make you pay for enterprise-grade features.
Roam is built for obsessives, Notion is built for everyday people.

Roam is built for individuals, Notion works better with teams.

Roam is better for ideas, Notion is better for tasks.

Roam is designed to be powerful, Notion is designed to be clean and beautiful.
Read 4 tweets

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