February 24, 2020

Identifying Talent, Changing Education, and Studying Progress – Tyler Cowen on Venture Stories

“I think IQ is overrated, especially by smart people, and stamina is highly valuable” – Tyler Cowen
“In general, we all tend to overrate people who are like ourselves” – Tyler Cowen
A ton of money goes into higher education, but there needs to be more research studies conducted related to how professors can improve their teaching methods
No one’s breaking up big tech anytime soon
“I see a great deal of progress in regards to people being more analytical … Each generation seems to get smarter.” – Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen (@tylercowen) is a professor of economics at George Mason University, host of Conversations with Tyler, and co-maintainer of the Marginal REVOLUTION blog
- Tyler is also the author of The Complacent Class and Average Is Over
Hosts: Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) and Jasmine Wang (@j_asminewang)

“I think IQ is overrated, especially by smart people, and stamina is highly valuable” – Tyler Cowen
- The problem: it’s hard to rate someone’s stamina in a short interview
“In general, we all tend to overrate people who are like ourselves” – Tyler Cowen
- Similarly, people tend to seek out those with similar interests and personalities
Tyler believes Jasmine Wang (@j_asminewang) and David Perell (@david_perell) are rising stars
- “David is going to revolutionize the world of online writing” – Tyler Cowen

A ton of money goes into higher education, but there needs to be more research studies conducted related to how professors can improve their teaching methods
Tenure was supposed to give professors freedom of speech and the opportunity to research new topics, but nowadays, this is far from true—especially as it relates to free speech
- “We need to be experimenting much, much more with tenure and see what works” – Tyler Cowen
Professors should be paid as if they’re in the private sector with the best-performing professors making the most
More education should be online
- “There should be a good online class that anyone can take on ANY topic, and right now, there isn’t. That, to me, is just criminal.” – Tyler Cowen

When it comes to big tech, there will probably be several antitrust lawsuits, but the chances of major tech companies being broken up are quite small
- (Facebook shares continue to rise—clearly, the market doesn’t believe it’ll happen anytime soon)
The world is finally taking green energy seriously: carbon restrictions, solar power, geoengineering, plant-based meat, nuclear power, electric cars, etc.
- “I’m not saying they’re all going to work, but they’re all way ahead of schedule” – Tyler Cowen
  - Tyler is particularly excited about electric cars

On Martin Gurri:
- The Gurri hypothesis: “The internet makes things so transparent that people lose faith in the elites”
  - Tyler adds: “I think I mostly agree with him, but I’m not as committed to the Gurri hypothesis as is Gurri”
On Patrick Collison:
- “Patrick isn’t about a set of views; Patrick is about a way of thinking, so hard to name views on which I agree or disagree with him” – Tyler Cowen
On Arnold Kling:
- “I think Arnold is too skeptical about macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is some of the most important economics we have—at least it tells you what not to do.” – Tyler Cowen

“Economic meritocracy will win through evolutionary processes in my view” – Tyler Cowen
- Ambitious people will earn much more than the average individual
Tyler disagrees with most of Ayn Rand’s philosophies, but thinks her work is great from a sociology perspective
- “Most of her philosophies I don’t agree with, although I think she’s mostly right about capitalism” – Tyler Cowen
“I see a great deal of progress in regards to people being more analytical … Each generation seems to get smarter.” – Tyler Cowen
“A lot of public intellectuals, being nerds, know tech, and maybe they know gaming, but they’ve lost touch with some of the classic humanities fields” – Tyler Cowen
The pro and con of society becoming more feminized:
- Pro: It lowers the risk of war
- Cons: It makes people more risk-averse, which lowers the rate of innovation
China’s government is great at getting things done quickly, but far too often they trample on people’s rights
Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry has slowed