
February 24, 2020
Identifying Talent, Changing Education, and Studying Progress – Tyler Cowen on Venture Stories
Key Takeaways
- “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
Intro
- 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)
Books Mentioned
- Erik recently read Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland
Thoughts on Talent
- “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
Thoughts on Education
- 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
Big Tech & Green Energy
- 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
- “I’m not saying they’re all going to work, but they’re all way ahead of schedule” – Tyler Cowen
Quick Thoughts
- 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”
- The Gurri hypothesis: “The internet makes things so transparent that people lose faith in the elites”
- 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
Additional Notes
- “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