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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Vince Gill Musician, singer and songwriter
I don't know why that is. To me, they’re making much more... interesting records. They’re saying more things I’d prefer to hear, lyrically and song-wise, and that’s compelling.
Recorded Country Universe, Country Universe, 6 June 2015 source ↗
Susan Wojcicki Chief executive of YouTube; Google's first marketing manager
Coding is like writing, and we live in a time of the new industrial revolution.
Recorded TechRadar, 16 June 2026 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 ↗
Wendy Kopp Founder of Teach For America; chief executive of Teach For All
We focus on people and on cultivating local leadership: Wendy Kopp
Recorded Sachitra Gurung, Kathmandu Post, 28 July 2019 source ↗

More from Yaa Gyasi

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Question What is one of the best investments you have made — of money, time, or energy? Money & investment
The desk helps, now that I have it. I’ve stacked piles of books that I love on it to act as talismans. They help, too. The desk makes me feel like I’m going to work, even though work is located in a cramped but bright corner of my living room. […] I used to think of myself as someone with a great deal of discipline, but I lost it in the air somewhere over the Rocky Mountains. Now, instead of discipline, I have a desk, and every day that I sit at it I dig a little deeper.
Recorded The Guardian, 'My writing day' series, 28 October 2017 source ↗
Question What does the first hour of your day look like? Daily life
Usually, my irrational bargaining goes something like this: I start working at around 10 if I’m feeling motivated, 11 if I’m not. I reread the work from the day before and/or passages that I think I got right in order to try to set the tone. I write a sentence. I read it aloud. I delete the sentence. I look at the clock and wonder if it’s too early to think about lunch. I tell myself that, if I can make it to 300 words, I can break for lunch.
Recorded The Guardian, 'My writing day' series, 28 October 2017 source ↗

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Sarah Waters, Whitney Cummings, Werner Herzog, Wynton Marsalis, Blake Masters, Wendy Kopp

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