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80,000 Hours Podcast
#126 – Bryan Caplan on whether lazy parenting is OK, what really helps workers, and betting on beliefs
Apr 5, 2022
02:15:16
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Quick takeaways
- Parenting has minimal impact on children's outcomes based on research from twin and adoption studies.
- Immigrants tend to assimilate and adopt the culture of their new country.
- Parental behavior has limited influence on a child's deeper facets such as political and religious views.
- Children who move from impoverished regions to wealthier countries experience lasting positive effects on physical traits and academic performance.
- Observation is the foundation of science and incorporating empirical psychology can provide a more well-rounded perspective.
- Philosophical reasoning should consider empirical evidence, common sense, and mindfulness of emotional influences.
Deep dives
Minimal impact of parenting on children's outcomes
Research from twin studies and adoption studies consistently show that the impact of parenting on children's outcomes is minimal. While parents may consciously try to improve health, intelligence, happiness, success, character, values, and the parent-child relationship, the evidence suggests that family environment has little to no effect on these outcomes, or the effects are much smaller than expected. Twin studies demonstrate that genetic factors play a greater role in personality traits than parenting. However, parents do have influence on their children's memories and perceptions of them, and the quality of the parent-child relationship can have a meaningful effect on the child's perception of the parent's character.
Cultural impact of immigration and assimilation
Research on immigration and assimilation shows that concerns about cultural shifts due to immigration are often overblown. Studies indicate that first-generation immigrants may experience cultural differences in comparison to their parents; however, the second generation tends to assimilate and adopt the culture of their new country. Language acquisition studies show that second-generation immigrants typically achieve fluency in the language of their new country, debunking claims of language barriers. Research also suggests that trust and values of subsequent generations tend to align with the receiving country's culture. Overall, evidence supports the notion that cultural assimilation is a natural process for immigrants.
Parental behavior and impact on children's outcomes
Research from twin studies and adoption studies reveals that the impact of parental behavior on a child's outcome is minimal. These studies show that parents can have a significant influence on superficial traits, such as political party affiliation and religious beliefs. However, the effects on deeper facets of political identity, political views, and religious views are much smaller. Research indicates that beyond the quality of the parent-child relationship, parental behavior has limited influence on a child's health, intelligence, happiness, success, character, and values.
Effects of extreme poverty and transnational adoption
Studies on transnational adoption reveal that children who move from extremely impoverished regions to wealthier countries experience lasting positive effects on physical traits, intelligence, and academic performance. However, it is important to note that these studies compare adopted children to the average population of the receiving country, which can lead to a pessimistic interpretation of the outcomes. Poverty, especially extreme poverty, has a significant negative impact on children's well-being and development.
The Importance of Empirical Observation in Science
Observation serves as the foundation of science, providing the basis for empirical evidence. It is through observation that scientific theories are tested and validated. When it comes to philosophical questions, relying on common sense or intuition, which is shaped by observations and experiences, can help determine the plausibility or validity of an argument. However, observation should not be limited to personal introspection; considering the observations of others and incorporating empirical psychology can provide a more well-rounded perspective.
The Complexity of Determining Free Will
The concept of free will remains a subject of philosophical debate. While some philosophers argue for deterministic perspectives, suggesting that external factors or randomness preclude free will, others adhere to the belief in contra-causal or libertarian free will. This philosophical disagreement arises from the challenge of integrating personal introspection and observation with the scientific understanding of determinism. Many philosophers who recognize free will, even in the face of determinism, attribute it to direct observation and an inner awareness of personal choices and actions.
The Limits of Philosophical Reasoning
Philosophical inquiries often encounter puzzles and paradoxes that challenge commonly accepted notions. While intuition and logic play essential roles in philosophical reasoning, it is crucial to acknowledge that human reasoning is not infallible or exempt from biases. Moreover, philosophical arguments may diverge from observations and personal experiences, potentially leading to contradictory conclusions. In navigating philosophical debates, considerations of empirical evidence, common sense, and mindfulness of emotional influences can help individuals discern the plausibility, soundness, and limitations of philosophical claims.
The Importance of Empirical Psychology in Philosophy
Empirical psychology can provide insights and evidence that contribute to philosophical discussions. This interdisciplinary approach recognizes the complexity of human experiences, emotions, and behaviors by incorporating scientific methods for observation and analysis. By drawing on empirical psychology, philosophers can gain a broader understanding of human cognition, biases, and decision-making processes. Integrating empirical evidence from psychology allows for a more comprehensive exploration of philosophical questions and reduces the reliance on pure philosophical reasoning alone.
The value of recognizing pain and free will as important
Recognizing the importance of pain and free will is crucial as they are integral to human experience and cannot be dismissed.
The skepticism towards free will
Robin Hanson denies the feeling of free will and attributes it to his physics ideology, while others argue that certain types of meditation diminish the sense of free will.
The arguments against free will
The skepticism towards free will is supported by arguments that internal experiences do not require free will, that it doesn't align with our current understanding of physics, and that it is psychologically incoherent.
Balancing autonomy and well-being in policy decisions
The summary discusses the need to carefully weigh the benefits of policy decisions against the infringement on personal autonomy, emphasizing the importance of a strong rationale to limit individual freedom.
8.
Is It Better to Redistribute Money Through the Tax System Than to Substitute Wages?
4min
Everybody knows that good parenting has a big impact on how kids turn out. Except that maybe they don't, because it doesn't.
Incredible though it might seem, according to today's guest — economist Bryan Caplan, the author of Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids, The Myth of the Rational Voter, and The Case Against Education — the best evidence we have on the question suggests that, within reason, what parents do has little impact on how their children's lives play out once they're adults.
Links to learn more, summary and full transcript.
Of course, kids do resemble their parents. But just as we probably can't say it was attentive parenting that gave me my mother's nose, perhaps we can't say it was attentive parenting that made me succeed at school. Both the social environment we grow up in and the genes we receive from our parents influence the person we become, and looking at a typical family we can't really distinguish the impact of one from the other.
But nature does offer us up a random experiment that can let us tell the difference: identical twins share all their genes, while fraternal twins only share half their genes. If you look at how much more similar outcomes are for identical twins than fraternal twins, you see the effect of sharing 100% of your genetic material, rather than the usual 50%. Double that amount, and you've got the full effect of genetic inheritance. Whatever unexplained variation remains is still up for grabs — and might be down to different experiences in the home, outside the home, or just random noise.
The crazy thing about this research is that it says for a range of adult outcomes (e.g. years of education, income, health, personality, and happiness), it's differences in the genes children inherit rather than differences in parental behaviour that are doing most of the work. Other research suggests that differences in “out-of-home environment” take second place. Parenting style does matter for something, but it comes in a clear third.
Bryan is quick to point out that there are several factors that help reconcile these findings with conventional wisdom about the importance of parenting.
First, for some adult outcomes, parenting was a big deal (i.e. the quality of the parent/child relationship) or at least a moderate deal (i.e. drug use, criminality, and religious/political identity).
Second, parents can and do influence you quite a lot — so long as you're young and still living with them. But as soon as you move out, the influence of their behaviour begins to wane and eventually becomes hard to spot.
Third, this research only studies variation in parenting behaviour that was common among the families studied.
And fourth, research on international adoptions shows they can cause massive improvements in health, income and other outcomes.
But the findings are still remarkable, and imply many hyper-diligent parents could live much less stressful lives without doing their kids any harm at all. In this extensive interview Rob interrogates whether Bryan can really be right, or whether the research he's drawing on has taken a wrong turn somewhere.
And that's just one topic we cover, some of the others being:
• People’s biggest misconceptions about the labour market
• Arguments against open borders
• Whether most people actually vote based on self-interest
• Whether philosophy should stick to common sense or depart from it radically
• Personal autonomy vs. the possible benefits of government regulation
• Bryan's perfect betting record
• And much more
Chapters:
- Rob’s intro (00:00:00)
- The interview begins (00:01:15)
- Labor Econ Versus the World (00:04:55)
- Open Borders (00:20:30)
- How much parenting matters (00:35:49)
- Self-Interested Voter Hypothesis (01:00:31)
- Why Bryan and Rob disagree so much on philosophy (01:12:04)
- Libertarian free will (01:25:10)
- The effective altruism community (01:38:46)
- Bryan’s betting record (01:48:19)
- Individual autonomy vs. welfare (01:59:06)
- Arrogant hedgehogs (02:10:43)
Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore
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