Aren't You Just Creating a Recipe for Disdain?

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The concept of becoming is highlighted over deciding, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and self-criticism in shaping the kind of person one aims to become. Choices stem from the idea of who one wants to be rather than immediate decisions. The notion of the unexamined life not being worth living is challenged through an example from Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'Notes from the Underground', questioning whether self-awareness can lead to despair. It is acknowledged that many lead happy lives without delving into self-awareness, meaning, purpose, or growth. The discussion also references insights from interviews with Agnes Callard and L.A. Paul on aspiration, transformational experiences, and the economics literature that views humans as aspiring and evolving beings rather than static individuals governed by fixed preferences and tastes.

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.