Bryan caplin: Social networks are hugely important for the labor market. Most college majors are so loosely tied to any occupation that it is phenomenally unlikely you will ever work again with someone that is a fellow student or the professor. So, i would say social works in general, or very important academic ones, i think are groath gratly, grossly overrated.
"No single paper is that good", says Bryan Caplan. To really understand a topic, you need to read the entire literature in the field. And to do the kind of scholarship Bryan's work requires, you need to cover multiple fields. Only that way can you assemble a wide variety of evidence into useful knowledge.
But few scholars ever even try to reach the enlightened interdisciplinary plane. So how does he do it?
Tyler explores Bryan's approach, including how to avoid the autodidact's curse, why his favorite philosopher happens to be a former classmate, what Tolstoy has that science fiction lacks, the idea trap, most useful wrong beliefs, effective altruism, Larry David, what most economics papers miss about the return to education, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded April 17th, 2018 Other ways to connect