Academia's Darkest Secret: The Graduate Student Crisis... | Tyler Cowen

In today's episode of Theories of Everything, Tyler Cowen proposes that tariffs erode economic efficiency, ultimately passing much of the burden onto smaller countries such as Canada. Moreover, he suggests that the rise of AI and evolving institutional structures demand both intellectual humility and stronger mentorship for a more resilient academic landscape. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join Links Mentioned: - Tyler’s website: https://tylercowen.com/ - Tyler’s blog: https://marginalrevolution.com/ - Tyler’s podcast: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ - Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World (book): https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Identify-Energizers-Creatives-Winners/dp/1250275814 ---------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 - Tariffs and Trade Policies 01:21 Economic Consequences of Tariffs 03:07 Canada as a 51st State? 04:00 Canada's Defense Spending Debate 05:41 Positive Aspects of Hostility 06:35 Transitioning to Theoretical Economics 08:07 The Role of Tenure 11:43 The Academy's Strengths 13:04 Problems in Academia 14:08 Understanding the Grant System 15:10 The Need for Grants 16:33 Is the Academic System Broken? 17:18 Improving the Academic System 17:47 The Role of AI in Academia 22:39 Exploring Deep Research 29:32 Writing as Thinking 31:53 Truth in Worldviews 33:22 Patchwork Theory of Reality 34:11 Economics and Theories of Everything 35:07 Disagreements Among Intelligent People 37:48 The Concept of Metarationality 45:10 Cultivating Metarationality 46:55 Distinction Between Stamina and Grit 49:03 Risk-Taking in Academia 51:28 Interviewing Style 56:28 The Value of Preparation 1:13:33 Critiquing Nassim Taleb 1:18:23 Public Debates vs. Private Discussions 1:20:46 Focus on Money 1:22:45 Healthy vs. Unhealthy Ambition 1:23:49 Complexity in Theories of Everything 1:24:39 The Importance of Mentoring 1:26:08 Current Projects and Interests 1:31:15 Advice for Students 1:32:39 The Future of Networking 1:32:53 Closing Thoughts and Reflections -------------------- Support TOE on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs #economy #science #technology #news #tariffs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Exploring theoretical physics, consciousness, Ai, and God in a technically rigorous manner. If you'd like to support this endeavor, then please visit the Patreon ( https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal ). Thank you for your charitable and kindhearted support. My name's Curt Jaimungal, a Torontonian with a degree in mathematical physics from the University of Toronto and I analyze various Theories of Everything from this analytic perspective, though more and more opening up to alternative approaches. The separating factor of TOE from other podcasts is its focus on depth even at the risk of limiting the audience due to how much detail we delve into subjects. Paralleling the intensity found in academic discourse, we're increasingly embracing a spectrum of unconventional ideas to conduct research during this podcast, rather than merely conveying existing information. Contact toe [at] indiefilmTO [dot] com for business inquiries / sponsorship.