Thinking Like an Economist Is a Valuable Tool

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The power of the insights that we're talking about comes from immersing yourself in the world. And I would say just actually defend your field. You talk about specific findings and the sort of thing that would please the physicist. But there's also something called thinking like an economist.

Do psychologists know anything? Psychologist Paul Bloom says yes--but not the things that you might think. Bloom discusses his book Psych with EconTalk's Russ Roberts and what the field of psychology can teach us about human intelligence, consciousness, and unhelpful instincts. They also discuss just how far psychology is from a true understanding of the human mind, and why, according to Bloom, that might not be such a bad thing.