Scores by kind of claim
Each kind of claim is scored on its own, out of 100: the share that held up, with the range it likely falls in. Fewer resolved claims give a wider range.
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Factual claims
Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
71 64 78 -
Predictions
Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?
Insufficient record: 0 predictions resolved, 5 needed for a score.
All types combined: 71 (likely 64 to 78, medium confidence), from 55 claims: 55 factual claims. It mixes kinds of claim in different proportions for different people, so compare people kind by kind.
Peter Thiel's claims
34 claims
“I was arguing for a certain depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics.”
Peter Thiel, interviewee 25 September 2026 Peter Thiel interview: AI, Europe, Trump, democracy and longevity (Hvylya)
Thiel's 2009 article argued for depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics.
Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.
The second judge said resolved true; the verdict shown is the first judge's.
The evidence is the person's or their organisation's own records.
What would count as true or false
The claim is judged on the text of Thiel's 2009 Cato Unbound essay 'The Education of a Libertarian'. True: the essay, read as a whole, advocates reducing or escaping the intensity of politics, for example by seeking freedom through means outside politics such as technology, cyberspace, the oceans or space, as an escape from politics. Mostly true: the essay mainly argues for escaping politics, which is broadly a call for depoliticization, but does not frame it as reducing political intensity, or it contains strongly political elements alongside. Mixed: the essay contains both depoliticizing and clearly politicizing arguments in roughly equal measure. Mostly false: depoliticizing themes are marginal, and the essay's main thrust is something else, such as a political argument against democracy. False: the essay argues for more political engagement or intensity, or no such 2009 article exists.
Evidence
- The Education of a Libertarian Cato Unbound · 13 April 2009 Own record
“In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an escape from politics in all its forms — from the totalitarian and fundamentalist catastrophes to the unthinking demos that guides so-called “social democracy.””
- The Education of a Libertarian Cato Unbound · 13 April 2009 Own record
“I believe that politics is way too intense. That’s why I’m a libertarian. Politics gets people angry, destroys relationships, and polarizes peoples’ vision: the world is us versus them; good people versus the other.”
- The Education of a Libertarian Cato Unbound · 13 April 2009 Own record
“Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
- Fukuyama, Thiel, and the Revenge of the Last Man | Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations · 9 October 2026
“The great task for libertarians, then, was to “find an escape from politics in all its forms.””
Reasoning
The claim is judged on the essay's own text. The essay says the great task for libertarians is "to find an escape from politics in all its forms" [E1]. Remarks printed on the same page say "politics is way too intense" [E2], which matches the claim's wording about reducing political intensity. The essay also contains a strongly political line: Thiel says he no longer believes freedom and democracy are compatible [E3]. This fits the criteria's "mostly true" case, an essay that mainly argues for escaping politics but has strongly political elements alongside.
Cite this claim
Peter Thiel, “Thiel's 2009 article argued for depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics.” (said 25 September 2026). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_f5c2ea5c186e, method 0.1.0+3e03e2df. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_f5c2ea5c186e
Claims without a verdict
Is a verdict here wrong, or do you speak for Peter Thiel? Reply on the claim's own page, with the form at its foot (how replies work). Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts and scores are made.