An Economist’s Guide To Big Decisions - Russ Roberts

Russell Roberts is an economist, a research fellow at Stanford University, President designate of Shalem College in Jerusalem, an author and a podcaster.

Economics promised us a model which works for all of life's decisions. From what to buy for lunch to investing in a company. But when you're faced with decisions like where to live, how many children to have, whether to get married or what sort of person you want to be, it falls short. Thankfully Russ has a new toolkit.

Expect to learn why Charles Darwin made a checklist before marriage which said his wife was slightly better than a dog, why the decision about whether to have children is so difficult to predict, whether rationality is totally incompatible with the decisions that define us, why happiness is overrated as an optimising function, whether tradition is any use and much more...

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Extra Stuff:

#lifeadvice #mindset #rationality

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00:00 Intro
00:29 How Economists Make Decisions
05:35 Learning Happiness
17:45 The Story of Darwin’s Marriage
25:56 Anxiety Cost of ‘What Ifs’
33:55 How to Have a Life Well Lived
48:26 Principles for Big Decisions
59:54 Where to Find Russ

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Get in touch in the comments below or head to...

[ChrisWillx]

Hello beautiful people. Here’s the timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:29 How Economists Make Decisions
05:35 Using Decision-making Frameworks to Find Happiness
11:01 Taming Wild Decisions
17:45 The Story of Darwin’s Marriage
25:56 Anxiety Cost of ‘What Ifs’
33:55 How to Have a Life Well Lived
41:13 The Importance of Wisdom
48:26 Using Principles for Big Decisions
59:54 Where to Find Russ

[sv]

I’ve been listening to Dr. Roberts for over 10 years. I love the wisdom he brings to economics! So glad to see you brought him on to your podcast.

[floydalsup]

I was working on my computer listening to your podcast. I had to stop and write this comment when I heard you say… The anxiety cost of not doing a thing, is higher than the anxiety of doing it, paraphrased. That was a real clear moment for me. Brilliant. Thanks for that

[BardWannabe]

Very impressive, Chris. You kept up with Russ in a way few people can.

[NAFTACyclingClub]

Long listener of Russ' program, so happy you had him on!

[HyperHyena]

Podcast I enjoy the most and have learned the most from.
#1 in my book

[KanwarAnand]

This so the most interesting thing I’ve seen all month.

[rah]

I find you very impressive, your level of understanding is very high

[jenniferharper]

I really enjoyed this. Thank you both!

[davidbucci]

17:00-17:30 of this video! Heard you. 🙏 you Chris! Perfect words at the perfect time to hear them.

[sleepconcentrationmeditation]

So much wisdom. Thank you for the precious life advice.🍀

[colinmacdonald]

"Depth of my consciousness causes me to suffer." that part of the discussion should be clipped. This is something I suffer with a lot. Most people around me don't get it yet warnings I've given I've tend to be proven right. I've come to the point that most don't want the truth. They enjoy the comfort of ignorance.

[NathanMilkie]

Darwin is a smart man when it comes to marriage & parenthood. His logic is why I choose to be forever a bachelor & childless.

[nelli.bonelli]

I also want to be able to say that I'm gonna meet Dr. Jordan Peterson this evening coz he's a good friend of mine :)

[lalakingo]

29:35 : I disagree with this blanket statement. I think this will differ from person to person dramatically, maybe related to Negative emotion personality rating ? I remember negative things close to 100x worse than positive thing. Anticipation also does not work for me at all, if something is too far away I intentionally avoid thinking about it because it will and does steal my joy. Wheras if I have a calendar event that I have avoided thinking about for months that begins the next day, I only have one day to disect it and prepare for it, therefore allowing me the freedom to enjoy and get lost in the experience more. "Joy is the abscence of thought" is me to a large degree.

[yohaizilber]

Hard choices are hard because there are no best options.

[AclypseOfReason]

I think different types hold pain vs pleasure in their memories differently though. Some of us hold more to the pain as I don’t remember much pleasure from my old life though I know I had lots.

Parties, sports, socializing etc all throughout high school yet all I remember is the loneliness and pain I felt at that time.

Perhaps it changes with perspective as people from bad childhoods seem to focus more on their pains and lack of then go on to self medicate a lot more than the regular population.

[joakimkarlsson]

While I did enjoy the episode, in this one you did more talking than the guest xD

[JEBavido]

Ummm… all young people have ever had is the advice of older or more experienced people. Why did you both shrug that off as practically worthless? Did I miss something?

[Rustsamurai]

Darwin, the father of evolution...marred his cousin? FFS.