I have become God Emperor of George Mason University. I decide that Bryan Caplan will now teach a Reading 101 class which is mandatory for all students. You have complete control of the syllabus. What are the books you would assign for all GMU students have to read for graduation? For the sake of discussion, exclude your own books.
Are product review sites like Consumer Reports, the Wirecutter, CNET, etc. underrated or overrated? Should someone just look at customer reviews and be done with it or do people not do enough research before they purchase products?
Speaking of, what products/services do you think are underrated? What are overrated (e.g. they aren't worth buying but people buy them anyway)? I think it's plausible that most people upgrade their phone too much and buy trucks when they should buy cars/minivans.
How would you respond to a 20-year-old who asks you this question: better to have five children with a spouse who’s a 95th percentile match, one child with a 99th percentile match, or no children with a 99.9th percentile match? Assume a 40 year marriage in each scenario
All German-speaking countries are full of awesomeness. Sie sind wunderschoenvoll! Getting work permission is hard, but look into digital nomad visas.
For Spanish, Spain is the best. Every region I've seen is great. Even the Canaries are amazingly packed with stuff to do thanks to their 2M population.
Guatemala is great if you have contacts at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. I can connect you.
I've driven all over the Yucatan, and liked that a lot too. Low crime plus lots of great archaeology.
At some point (forgive my not being able to find the link right now), you mentioned consistently taking the night shifts when your kids were babies, while also working your job.
I have little ones myself now. What did your sleep schedule look like during that period? Can most people actually function on far less than the stereotypical 8 hours of sleep?
I arranged to only teach night classes, so initially I would sleep from 6 AM-2 PM. I doubt more than 10% of people get 8 hours of sleep on a typical workday, and almost all of the 90% function.
How important is it to avoid SDB and hyperbole in one's personal life? Is it wrong to tell your wife "you're the only one for me" instead of "soul mates probably don't exist but you're a 96th percentile match for me"?
"Underpromise, overdeliver" is a good rule even in personal relationships. But a little poetic license does make people happy. And what is a "soulmate" anyway? Can't it just mean, "No one has ever been as close to me as you are"?
If you're serious, try the stickk.com approach. Make a deal with a co-worker who can easily monitor you that requires you to pay them if you fall short of your goal.
How should individuals who are unfortunat in terms of appearance or genetics (such as having a genetic disease) live their lives? Should they still aim to have children? If they choose to get married, how can they improve their chances of finding a good partner?
Appearance and marriage is relatively easy, at least for men: Work harder to be more successful and (even more important) just talk to a lot more women. For less-attractive women, I'd recommended profiling shy guys, as I explain here: https://www.betonit.ai/p/hes-the-one
Should you still try to have kids if you have a genetic disease? It depends on the severity, plus your access to genetic screening. If you are so sick you have trouble caring for yourself, I'd recommend against having kids.
You write persuasively on a few topics where I think you have unique insights.
How do you choose your focus? How do you know when you have a unique insight to offer?
When does it become apparent to you that you need to chime in if there are other people (you, Hayek, Friedman, Bastiat, etc) making arguments that never get addressed by mainstream politicians, media, economists, etc?
How do you choose your focus? How do you know when you have a unique insight to offer?
>It mostly comes from repeatedly hearing ideas that seem questionable to me. Combined with "I've never heard anyone make the objections that occur to me."
When does it become apparent to you that you need to chime in if there are other people (you, Hayek, Friedman, Bastiat, etc) making arguments that never get addressed by mainstream politicians, media, economists, etc?
>I have 2-7 good new ideas in a typical week. I normally try to write them down before I forget, then see if they still seem good to me after a few weeks.
In this article, Richard Hanania claims with great confidence that he used to be around the 95th percentile of neuroticism and that he’s now around the 5th percentile.
Do you think personality traits are that malleable?
Almost never. He's an unusual guy. But I also suspect that he would never have actually tested at the 95th percentile, and wouldn't test at the 5th percentile today.
It's probably a lot easier for your Neuroticism to rise after extended traumatic experiences.
I am a couple years into a PhD program and struggling to come up with a research question. I'm open to working in many different areas (which may be part of the problem). What advice would you give?
2. Find the subset of topics you find most interesting.
3. Email the authors good questions. They'll probably respond and you'll get on their radar.
4. Think about marginal ways to extend the work of the authors you most like. After a few rounds of interaction, tell them your ideas and listen to their advice.
5. Figure out who on your faculty is most receptive to what you want to do. Try to loop them into your conversations with the researchers whose work you are trying to extend.
6. Get working. Especially when young, work sequentially so you finish and start getting publications.
I have become God Emperor of George Mason University. I decide that Bryan Caplan will now teach a Reading 101 class which is mandatory for all students. You have complete control of the syllabus. What are the books you would assign for all GMU students have to read for graduation? For the sake of discussion, exclude your own books.
Not really personal advice, but I'd start with:
Bastiat's *Economic Sophisms* and "What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen"
*Atlas Shrugged*
*The Problem of Political Authority*
Chapter 10 of *For a New Liberty*
Selections from *The Bell Curve*
Clemens "Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk"
Clemens, Montenegro, and Pritchett, "The Place Premium"
*Harvest of Sorrow*
*The Black Book of Communism*
Paul Johnson's *Modern Times*
*The Nurture Assumption*
*Cartoon History of the Universe, vol.1-5*
*Columbia History of the World*
What could be the best country to live for retirement (except the USA) ?
I'd ask Christoph Heuermann of Staatenlos. https://denationalize.me/
Thanks for doing this! Looking forward to reading your book. Are there any other self-help books/essays that you’ve found genuinely helpful?
Dale Carnegie, of course. Also Sonja Lyubomirsky's *The Myths of Happiness*.
Thank you!
How many "real" friends can one possibly have ?
Maximum? 50 or so.
Are product review sites like Consumer Reports, the Wirecutter, CNET, etc. underrated or overrated? Should someone just look at customer reviews and be done with it or do people not do enough research before they purchase products?
Speaking of, what products/services do you think are underrated? What are overrated (e.g. they aren't worth buying but people buy them anyway)? I think it's plausible that most people upgrade their phone too much and buy trucks when they should buy cars/minivans.
I strongly prefer average consumer reviews to any of these sites. But I haven't done any systematic comparison.
Most overrated: Fancy new cars, jewelry, granite countertop. Most underrated: Entertainment and tolls.
Why can’t I buy _You will not Stampede Me_ in the US Kindle Store?
This doesn't work for you? https://www.amazon.com/You-Will-Not-Stampede-Non-Conformism-ebook/dp/B0CRGRMLZV/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
That page says “This edition of this title is not available for purchase in your country. Choose an available edition from the options above”
I live in the U.S. and I have the same error message.
How would you respond to a 20-year-old who asks you this question: better to have five children with a spouse who’s a 95th percentile match, one child with a 99th percentile match, or no children with a 99.9th percentile match? Assume a 40 year marriage in each scenario
I think there's diminishing marginal utility from ever-more-perfect matches, so I'd go with the 95th-percentile + 5 kids deal.
If you can find a 95th percentile match, you are way ahead of the game. I speak as someone married for 45 years and still very happy about it.
Do you have travel recommendations for someone graduating college wanting to live abroad for sometime (i speak german and my gf speaks spanish)?
All German-speaking countries are full of awesomeness. Sie sind wunderschoenvoll! Getting work permission is hard, but look into digital nomad visas.
For Spanish, Spain is the best. Every region I've seen is great. Even the Canaries are amazingly packed with stuff to do thanks to their 2M population.
Guatemala is great if you have contacts at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. I can connect you.
I've driven all over the Yucatan, and liked that a lot too. Low crime plus lots of great archaeology.
At some point (forgive my not being able to find the link right now), you mentioned consistently taking the night shifts when your kids were babies, while also working your job.
I have little ones myself now. What did your sleep schedule look like during that period? Can most people actually function on far less than the stereotypical 8 hours of sleep?
I arranged to only teach night classes, so initially I would sleep from 6 AM-2 PM. I doubt more than 10% of people get 8 hours of sleep on a typical workday, and almost all of the 90% function.
How important is it to avoid SDB and hyperbole in one's personal life? Is it wrong to tell your wife "you're the only one for me" instead of "soul mates probably don't exist but you're a 96th percentile match for me"?
"Underpromise, overdeliver" is a good rule even in personal relationships. But a little poetic license does make people happy. And what is a "soulmate" anyway? Can't it just mean, "No one has ever been as close to me as you are"?
Third question (unrelated to my first two): hWhat do you recommend to be more productive, less distracted at work?
(Other than: Stop reading your blog and get back to work! 😛)
If you're serious, try the stickk.com approach. Make a deal with a co-worker who can easily monitor you that requires you to pay them if you fall short of your goal.
How should individuals who are unfortunat in terms of appearance or genetics (such as having a genetic disease) live their lives? Should they still aim to have children? If they choose to get married, how can they improve their chances of finding a good partner?
Appearance and marriage is relatively easy, at least for men: Work harder to be more successful and (even more important) just talk to a lot more women. For less-attractive women, I'd recommended profiling shy guys, as I explain here: https://www.betonit.ai/p/hes-the-one
Should you still try to have kids if you have a genetic disease? It depends on the severity, plus your access to genetic screening. If you are so sick you have trouble caring for yourself, I'd recommend against having kids.
You write persuasively on a few topics where I think you have unique insights.
How do you choose your focus? How do you know when you have a unique insight to offer?
When does it become apparent to you that you need to chime in if there are other people (you, Hayek, Friedman, Bastiat, etc) making arguments that never get addressed by mainstream politicians, media, economists, etc?
How do you choose your focus? How do you know when you have a unique insight to offer?
>It mostly comes from repeatedly hearing ideas that seem questionable to me. Combined with "I've never heard anyone make the objections that occur to me."
When does it become apparent to you that you need to chime in if there are other people (you, Hayek, Friedman, Bastiat, etc) making arguments that never get addressed by mainstream politicians, media, economists, etc?
>I have 2-7 good new ideas in a typical week. I normally try to write them down before I forget, then see if they still seem good to me after a few weeks.
https://www.richardhanania.com/p/how-i-overcame-anxiety
In this article, Richard Hanania claims with great confidence that he used to be around the 95th percentile of neuroticism and that he’s now around the 5th percentile.
Do you think personality traits are that malleable?
Almost never. He's an unusual guy. But I also suspect that he would never have actually tested at the 95th percentile, and wouldn't test at the 5th percentile today.
It's probably a lot easier for your Neuroticism to rise after extended traumatic experiences.
I am a couple years into a PhD program and struggling to come up with a research question. I'm open to working in many different areas (which may be part of the problem). What advice would you give?
A great algorithm:
1. Read journals you'd like to publish in.
2. Find the subset of topics you find most interesting.
3. Email the authors good questions. They'll probably respond and you'll get on their radar.
4. Think about marginal ways to extend the work of the authors you most like. After a few rounds of interaction, tell them your ideas and listen to their advice.
5. Figure out who on your faculty is most receptive to what you want to do. Try to loop them into your conversations with the researchers whose work you are trying to extend.
6. Get working. Especially when young, work sequentially so you finish and start getting publications.
I love knowledge and learning but I'm an incredibly slow reader of books. My reading goal this year is 15 books and I'll be impressed if I make it.
Any advice on how to become a voracious and prolific reader?
If you don't like reading that much, how do you learn? Videos? Conversations? Maybe books are overrated for you.