Johnathan Bi (@JohnathanBi) / X

Johnathan Bi

2,389 posts

Johnathan Bi

@JohnathanBi

Join my newsletter for expert interviews on philosophy/religion/technology: greatbooks.io Founding Team Opto, Cosmos Columbia Phil & CS Canadian Math Olympiad

New York, USA

Joined March 2013

Pinned
Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jun 21
After interviewing dozens of leading AI experts and reading hundreds of books, these 4 books stood out as the most important for the AI-age. If you truly understand their insights, not only will you survive this revolution, you will thrive. 1. Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jun 6, 2024
1% of the world own 43% of the wealth. 1% of startups drive over 80% of returns. This power law is even stronger with books: 1% of books contain all the important ideas. My new lecture series will take you through the only books you'll ever need. Watch the launch trailer:
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Nov 6, 2024
My biggest issue with Nietzsche was his pathetic life: an incel, sickly, destitute, no readership in his sane years. When you look at modern far-right Nietzscheans, it's never the blonde beast or übermensch, it's always someone very much like Nietzsche: unattractive,
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Mar 19, 2022
Made possible by a generous grant from @tylercowen, @david_perell and I produced a 10+ hour long lecture series covering the entirety of René Girard's Mimetic Theory. These lectures will be made available to the public for free starting in April. 🧵 of what we will cover …
Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jun 7, 2024
Nietzsche's Guide to Greatness | Great Books Lecture On the Genealogy of Morality is one of Nietzsche's most important books, written to cultivate "higher men": the Napoleons, Goethes, and Shakespeares of the world. Nietzsche thinks that what is holding back higher men today is
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Sep 15, 2025
I’m fascinated with history’s thinker-doers: Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Benjamin Franklin. There’s no greater achievement than calling your shots: laying out a theoretical worldview, then executing ruthlessly to bend reality. There exist people like this today, who write a
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jul 3, 2025
Canadians scoff at America's inequality, yet the best in Canada immigrate to it. We come here precisely for this inequality and the unbounded limits of achievement it opens up. In Canada, all humans are given more respect regardless of their achievements. Society is materially
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Oct 3, 2025
America needs a natural aristocracy. Aristocracy just means “rule by the best” and Joe Lonsdale argues that it is an idea that is unduly demonized. Artificial, hereditary aristocracies are indeed a corrupting force, but to reject the idea that the most competent should rule is
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 16, 2025
Harvey Mansfield at 93 did a 3-hour interview with no break, sharp as ever. Here is the final product, a masterclass on Machiavelli: the Anti-Christ. According to Mansfield, Machiavelli is the very founder of modernity, responsible for establishing the very world you and I live
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Dec 5, 2024
Why are there so many tech leaders who studied philosophy? Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, Reid Hoffman, Alex Karp, Jonah Peretti, Sarah Tavel.. The answer is that building technology requires a profound understanding of human nature. This is what most technologists have overlooked:
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jan 14, 2023
All 7 lectures on René Girard's Mimetic Theory are live. Thank you all for the tremendous support and interest! Here's where to find all the lectures/transcripts/podcasts 👇
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
May 22, 2025
Harvey Mansfield at 93, did a 3 hour interview on Machiavelli with no break, sharp as ever. Incredible
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Dec 23, 2024
This is the wildest interview I’ve ever done. It led to me witnessing a literal Christian miracle! Yale's Carlos Eire provides robust evidence that Christians actually LEVITATED!! His new book on the subject is named: They Flew. This book isn’t wild speculation but rigorous
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jan 16, 2025
Many books claim to be life-changing, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is a rare one that actually is. Marcus was not just a stoic philosopher but the greatest emperor of Rome. And the exciting promise of his Meditations is that you can be like him: effective, resilient, and
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