Billionaire Peter Thiel, despite disdaining academia, has been giving controversial, off-the-record lectures on the Antichrist, revealing contradictory views on power, higher education, and apocalyptic thinking. His Silicon Valley-centric definition of the Antichrist ironically raises questions about his own role and influence.
Billionaire Peter Thiel, known for his disdain of higher education, has paradoxically engaged with academics in a series of off-the-record lectures on the Antichrist. These meandering talks, inspired by his former Stanford professor René Girard, are critiqued for their 'Dan Brown'-esque quality rather than scholarly depth. The article highlights Thiel's struggle to disidentify from his own immense power, even as he interprets the Antichrist as a world-controlling force, despite his significant influence in tech, politics, and funding far-right movements. Thiel, who believes higher education is a 'bubble' and 'diploma mills,' still seeks out academics to 'beta test' his ideas, suggesting a need for honest feedback he might not receive elsewhere. His Antichrist theory posits that society is both 'too apocalyptic' and 'not apocalyptic enough,' with the Antichrist potentially acting as the 'Katechon'—the force that delays but might also bring about the apocalypse. Thiel's list of apocalyptic threats (AI, bioweapons, fertility collapse) and his definition of the Antichrist (global regulatory regimes, opponents of AI) are seen as 'Silicon Valley-coded,' reflecting the concerns of his niche circle. The article critiques Thiel's double standards, applying rigorous output metrics to academia while engaging in speculative theorizing, and suggests his complex, often contradictory views on modernity and knowledge ultimately serve to justify his own autodidactism. Ultimately, the author posits that Thiel's description of the Antichrist, in a 'Girardian play with doubles,' might ironically apply to himself, questioning the true meaning and purpose of these lectures.
