The Mall Quote, Better to Be a Philosopher Unsatisfied Than a Pig Satisfied

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Daniel gilbert wrote a paper on the subject of happiness and unhappiness. He argues that all you care about is your total amount of happiness versus unhappiness. In his book, he says there are many things we do in life that have more pain than pleasure. And economists can answer this objection by looking at day-to-day pleasures rather than days of unpleasure.

Waze and Google Maps tell us the best way to get to where we're going. But no app or algorithm can tell us whether we should head there in the first place. To economist Russ Roberts, the reason is simple: Humans are dynamic and aspirational beings. When it comes to making life's big decisions, from what to study to whom to marry or whether to have a child, it's not always us doing the deciding, he argues, but rather the people we want to be. Join the host of EconTalk, the president of Shalem College, and the author of the new book Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions that Define Us, as he speaks with friend and EconTalk favorite Michael Munger about why the traditional economic models for decision making can lead us astray--and why life should be less about solving problems than embracing possibilities.