613 Russ Roberts on Lessons from F.A. Hayek and Nassim Taleb, Decision-Making Insights from Charles Darwin, The Dangers of Scientism, Wild Problems in Life and the Decisions That Define Us
This is a OPEN AI summary of the Tim Ferriss Podcast #613- visit www.TinyTim.blog for more AI summaries, or www.Tim.blog for the official Tim Ferriss Podcasts.
In this episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss interviews Russ Roberts, president of Shalem College in Jerusalem and John and Jean DeNault Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Russ is interested in making complicated ideas understandable and founded the award-winning weekly podcast EconTalk. His latest book, Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us, explores the challenges of using rationality when facing big life decisions. In this excerpt, Russ Roberts reflects on his father's life and how he devoted most of his time to his family. He notes that his father could have been a great children's writer or a minor American poet, but he instead chose to spend his time with his family. Roberts reflects on how this choice may have been due to his father's desire to connect with and spend time with those he loved. Shalem College is a college located in Jerusalem. The name of the college is derived from the Hebrew word for peace, "shalom." The college focuses on providing quality time for its students. In an interview with Tyler Cowen, Tim Ferriss discusses how college should be about more than just preparing for a career. He believes that it should also be about cultivating habits of mind and heart that make you a full human being. Hayekian economics is based on the idea that people do not have the ability to know everything and that central planning will not work. The Pretense of Knowledge is a speech given by Hayek that discusses this idea in more detail. In his 1974 Nobel Prize speech, Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek argues that attempts to build a comprehensive model of the economy are futile. He likens the
In his book "The Fatal Conceit", economist Friedrich Hayek argues that economists often mistakenly see themselves as social engineers who can "tweak and tinker" with society to achieve desired outcomes. Hayek believes that this ignores the fact that people have their own agency and that change often happens from the bottom up, not just from the top down. In his book "Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us", Tim Ferriss explores the idea that many of the problems we face in life are not caused by any one person or thing, but rather by the individual choices we make. He uses the example of a noisy restaurant to illustrate how we often make things worse by trying to blame someone else for the problem. He then goes on to discuss how Hayekianism can help us understand and solve many of the "wild problems" we face in life.
In the book "The 4-Hour Work Week", Tim Ferriss suggests using a mathematical formula to find the best person to marry. However, Russ Roberts argues that this is not the best way to think about life and that it is more important to find someone you respect and enjoy being with.
In this clip, Tim Ferriss and Russ Roberts discuss the challenges and rewards of marriage. Roberts argues that marriage is a high-risk game, but one that can be deeply rewarding if it goes well. Ferriss asks clarifying questions about what it means to be "an idiot" before getting married, and Roberts explains that it refers to being so ego-centric and self-referential that you don't have the lens or experience of the world that someone who has decided to partner with someone else has.
In this conversation, Tim Ferriss and Russ Roberts discuss the Old City in Jerusalem and the intense atmosphere there. Tim Ferriss observes that the Old City is very old and full of history, while Russ Roberts notes that everything feels more consequential in Israel. They also talk about the Temple Mount and how small everything feels in comparison to the significance of the events that have taken place there.
In this excerpt from a conversation with Tim Ferriss, Russ Roberts discusses what he has learned from writer and thinker Nassim Taleb. Taleb is known for his ability to see beyond the surface of things and to challenge conventional thinking. Roberts highlights Taleb's insights on econometrics, incentives, and skin in the game.
In this book, Russ Roberts talks about the difficulties of explaining complex economic ideas. He cites the Talmud in saying that it is not up to any one person to finish the work, but that we all have a responsibility to contribute. Roberts reflects on a conversation with Tyler Cowen about reading habits, and how reading just a book a week can expose a person to 2,500 books over the course of their life. In a conversation with Tim Ferriss, Roberts discusses the justification for "fooling around" and doing nothing. Ferriss argues that while there is an impulse in many religions not to waste time, sometimes doing nothing can be a valuable way to distract oneself from negative thoughts or emotions. Roberts agrees, adding that the goal of playing chess, for example, is not to win but to simply occupy oneself. In his attempt to write a book on prayer, Russ Roberts tries to explore what prayer means to him and how it could be made available to people who do not consider themselves religious. He argues that part of the reason he enjoys watching sports is because it provides drama and an escape from the pressure of everyday life. Additionally, he suggests that prayer can be seen as a way to "grow" and not just stagnate. In this conversation, Tim Ferriss and Russ Roberts discuss the idea of stepping outside yourself in order to live a more fulfilling life. Russ asks Tim how he manages to stay humble despite his many successes, and Tim
In this conversation, Tim Ferriss and Russ Roberts discuss the importance of learning new languages and thinking outside yourself to solve problems. Russ Roberts praises Tim Ferriss for his work with EconTalk and suggests that he would be a great student at Shalem College. Tim Ferriss thanks Russ Roberts for his compliments and says he looks forward to learning more Hebrew.
613 https://tim.blog/2022/08/04/russ-roberts/
