Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us
- Downloads：5638
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-09-19 09:51:50
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Russell Roberts
- ISBN：0593418255
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
From the host of EconTalk， a guide to decision-making when you can't crunch the numbers
Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic， what books to buy， what music to listen to， and even who to date--often with great results。 But what do you do when you face the big decisions of life--the wild problems of who to marry， whether to have children， where to move， how to forge a life well-lived--that can't be solved by measurement or calculation？
In Wild Problems， beloved host of EconTalk Russ Roberts offers puzzled rationalists a way to address these wild problems。 He suggests spending less time and energy on the path that promises the most happiness， and more time on figuring out who you actually want to be。 He draws on the experience of great artists， writers， and scientists of the past who found creative ways to navigate life's biggest questions。 And he lays out strategies for reducing the fear and the loss of control that inevitably come when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark。
Ultimately， Roberts asks us to see ourselves and our lives less as a problem to be solved than a mystery to be experienced。 There's no right decision waiting to be uncovered by an app or rational analysis。 Reality is harder than that and， perhaps， a little more interesting。
Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic， what books to buy， what music to listen to， and even who to date--often with great results。 But what do you do when you face the big decisions of life--the wild problems of who to marry， whether to have children， where to move， how to forge a life well-lived--that can't be solved by measurement or calculation？
In Wild Problems， beloved host of EconTalk Russ Roberts offers puzzled rationalists a way to address these wild problems。 He suggests spending less time and energy on the path that promises the most happiness， and more time on figuring out who you actually want to be。 He draws on the experience of great artists， writers， and scientists of the past who found creative ways to navigate life's biggest questions。 And he lays out strategies for reducing the fear and the loss of control that inevitably come when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark。
Ultimately， Roberts asks us to see ourselves and our lives less as a problem to be solved than a mystery to be experienced。 There's no right decision waiting to be uncovered by an app or rational analysis。 Reality is harder than that and， perhaps， a little more interesting。
Reviews
Kevin
，
I will admit to a bias here。 I like Russ Roberts。 He just seems like such a kind， curious， intelligent person。 And let's face it， there are not enough of these in the world。 So could such positive feelings push my rating from a 3 star to a 4？ Probably。 But I also feel like there is a potential for a negative if you have listened to Econ Talk to any extent because so much of the ground covered in this book has been explored there。So that is the tension I found interesting as I read。 Those who lis I will admit to a bias here。 I like Russ Roberts。 He just seems like such a kind， curious， intelligent person。 And let's face it， there are not enough of these in the world。 So could such positive feelings push my rating from a 3 star to a 4？ Probably。 But I also feel like there is a potential for a negative if you have listened to Econ Talk to any extent because so much of the ground covered in this book has been explored there。So that is the tension I found interesting as I read。 Those who listen to Russ and appreciate him as a thinker， podcaster， writer and person will like the book because of the author and all that comes with that。 But on the flip side， there is very little new or particularly insightful in the book for fans either。 So there is an irony that a reader with no exposure to Russ might actually get more out of the book than an avid fan。The book basically does two things: it reminds us that human flourishing is what we are all after （or what most of us will say we are after）。 But in a world drive by science and data， life hacks and decision making systems， this can get lost。 The book tries to bring character， virtue， growth， meaning， fulfillment， etc。 back into the picture。 Not what choice gives me the most pleasure or maximizes my utility， but what makes me more like the person I want to be， or makes the world a better place， or deepens my relationships， or gives my life more meaning。 Wild Problems involve deeper issues and potential impact than a simple pro/con list can address。The second， related， theme is that if life is more art than science， then we should live more like artists not engineers。 Leave space for exploration， enjoy the journey not just the relentless pursuit of a particular destination， test things out and adjust， balance planning with attentive waiting。All of this can come close to cliché but that doesn't mean it isn't true or even profound。 And I think it is in some way counter-cultural these days。 Most of us could use the reminder to think big picture in this way。This is a quick and easy read。 It would make a great gift for young people just embarking on the path to adulthood or anyone wrestling with decisions and change。 。。。more
Amir
，
Russ Roberts elegantly describes situations in which using a rational， analytical and data-driven decision process doesn't make sense: in the wild problems where intuition and non-metrics based criteria are better indicators for doing the right thing。 These are the big decisions that we face in life， like who to marry， where to live， what career might make our hearts sing， to have children。 These decisions are made with great uncertainty and we won't know what will work until we try it。He provid Russ Roberts elegantly describes situations in which using a rational， analytical and data-driven decision process doesn't make sense: in the wild problems where intuition and non-metrics based criteria are better indicators for doing the right thing。 These are the big decisions that we face in life， like who to marry， where to live， what career might make our hearts sing， to have children。 These decisions are made with great uncertainty and we won't know what will work until we try it。He provides sage advice around leaning on tradition， thinking about where we want to go， and focusing on flourishing and how to be a better Sapien。 It's a short book and an easy read， highly recommended as an avenue for reflection on the big questions in life。 。。。more
John
，
Russ Roberts has written another helpful， thoughtful book as a sort of suggested operating system for Life。 Easy read。 Deep content， written in an engaging， humble style。 The goal of a life well lived cannot be “to just be happy”， or to just maximize pleasure and minimize pain。 Meaning and struggle。 Commitment and achievement。 Love and humility。 Having these elements present and important will lead to a far more rewarding life。 The book lays out how the simple pros and cons approach of analyzing Russ Roberts has written another helpful， thoughtful book as a sort of suggested operating system for Life。 Easy read。 Deep content， written in an engaging， humble style。 The goal of a life well lived cannot be “to just be happy”， or to just maximize pleasure and minimize pain。 Meaning and struggle。 Commitment and achievement。 Love and humility。 Having these elements present and important will lead to a far more rewarding life。 The book lays out how the simple pros and cons approach of analyzing complex life decisions is probably not the best way to approach such “wild” problems。 Well worth the read！ 。。。more
Balla
，
Reads like a soothing poem。 Some parts repetitive， but the rhythm adds to the wisdom。
The Reading Potato
，
3。5/5
E
，
Excellent work intended to get people to think about what's important in life。 Some advice work thinking about here。 Don't make yourself the star of your life movie （life is more like an ensemble drama than a one-man show）。 Envision the person you'd like to be， then act like you think that person would behave。 Don't be so choosy when it comes to trying something （including when finding a spouse）。 Ignore sunk costs， but not small benefits that accrue over time （an argument against divorce）。 And s Excellent work intended to get people to think about what's important in life。 Some advice work thinking about here。 Don't make yourself the star of your life movie （life is more like an ensemble drama than a one-man show）。 Envision the person you'd like to be， then act like you think that person would behave。 Don't be so choosy when it comes to trying something （including when finding a spouse）。 Ignore sunk costs， but not small benefits that accrue over time （an argument against divorce）。 And so on。 Roberts is a man who clearly knows how to focus on that which is important， without draining the joy out of life。 。。。more
Scott Muc
，
Read this in one sitting on a train。 I knew most of the material already from the podcast but wanted to explore the book to get a bit more detail。 Unfortunately， it didn't add much from what's already been said。 I'd highly recommend the book for those that don't listen to EconTalk。My favourite line is "What was once destiny is now a decision"。Looking at decisions with the outlook of what can result in flourishing is a lovely way to look at things。 Far more engaging than just a pros/cons list and Read this in one sitting on a train。 I knew most of the material already from the podcast but wanted to explore the book to get a bit more detail。 Unfortunately， it didn't add much from what's already been said。 I'd highly recommend the book for those that don't listen to EconTalk。My favourite line is "What was once destiny is now a decision"。Looking at decisions with the outlook of what can result in flourishing is a lovely way to look at things。 Far more engaging than just a pros/cons list and a risk assessment。 I'm happy to say I did the coin-flip trick when choosing between living in Berlin or San Francisco （it was an online poll， but the exercise had the same result）。 When I started cheering for Berlin to win the poll， I knew I had made my choice。 。。。more
John Crippen
，
If you think of all the highly-rated books that I read because of Russ Roberts' EconTalk podcast， it's probably no surprise how much I enjoyed Roberts' new book。 In this short volume， Roberts contrasts the standard， logical way of making decisions with a broader approach centered on flourishing。 After explaining this framework， he addresses many of the big， wild problems that we may encounter from the perspective of flourishing。 The book is also filled with great quotes and wonderful stories。 Ro If you think of all the highly-rated books that I read because of Russ Roberts' EconTalk podcast， it's probably no surprise how much I enjoyed Roberts' new book。 In this short volume， Roberts contrasts the standard， logical way of making decisions with a broader approach centered on flourishing。 After explaining this framework， he addresses many of the big， wild problems that we may encounter from the perspective of flourishing。 The book is also filled with great quotes and wonderful stories。 Roberts provides few specific answers， but reading Wild Problems will definitely give you new and richer questions。 This book is now on the very short list of ones I aspire to re-read annually。 。。。more
Ryan
，
Didn't love it， sorry。 Roberts looks at "wild problems" that are not easily solved through a pro-con analysis and encourages readers to realize that some choices should aim for flourishing rather than rational optimization。The content he draws on to support these claims was， at least for me， very tired。 Darwin made a list of pros and cons before marrying; it's hard to decide whether or not to become a vampire b/c you can't adequately predict what it's like to be a vampire; Bill Belichick has int Didn't love it， sorry。 Roberts looks at "wild problems" that are not easily solved through a pro-con analysis and encourages readers to realize that some choices should aim for flourishing rather than rational optimization。The content he draws on to support these claims was， at least for me， very tired。 Darwin made a list of pros and cons before marrying; it's hard to decide whether or not to become a vampire b/c you can't adequately predict what it's like to be a vampire; Bill Belichick has interesting ideas about strategy; Penelope was the wife of Odysseus。。。 I don't think it's unreasonable to expect authors to do some research to add value。The acknowledgements cite a "who's who" list of conservative intellectuals， including Tyler Cowen， Agnes Callard， and Nassim Nicholas Taleb。 （Not Ross Douthat， however。） Each of these thinkers on their own is quite interesting， whether or not you're conservative imho， and I was really surprised that they didn't nudge Roberts to write a more interesting book。 Perhaps he'll release a podcast conversation that discusses Wild Problems， and his insights will seem more interesting in that medium。*In the meantime， I recommend these texts， which explore similar ideas:-Tyler Cowen has a blog post in which he cites his 12 Rules for Life。 And I think his interview with Ezra Klein， Tyler Cowen Explains It All， is even better。-Lori Gottlieb's book， Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough-Barry Schwartz's The Paradox of Choice-Jon Haidt's The Happiness Hypothesis-Ben Felix's YouTube video "Investing in Happiness。"-David Brook's introduction to Road to Character， which was also made into a TED talk。 。。。more
Pete
，
Wild Problems : A Guide to the Decisions that Define Us （2022） by Russ Roberts ruminates on how to make the big decisions in life that we all face。 Roberts is the host of the excellent Econtalk podcast and is an academic economist who was educated at The University of Chicago。I’ve been listening to Econtalk for at least a decade and listened to almost every episode， long enough， so that with others who have read this I ‘hear’ the book being read in Russ’s voice and almost feel like the Econtalk Wild Problems : A Guide to the Decisions that Define Us （2022） by Russ Roberts ruminates on how to make the big decisions in life that we all face。 Roberts is the host of the excellent Econtalk podcast and is an academic economist who was educated at The University of Chicago。I’ve been listening to Econtalk for at least a decade and listened to almost every episode， long enough， so that with others who have read this I ‘hear’ the book being read in Russ’s voice and almost feel like the Econtalk start music should start each chapter。 For regular Econtalk listeners it’s also worth noting that a number of the themes in the book will be familiar。The big decisions in life， whether or not to marry， who to marry， to have children， what career to choose and so on are decisions made in great uncertainty and are decisions where we don’t really know how things will turn out until we have made these decisions。Roberts describes how Darwin chose to marry or not marry， namely by writing a list of pros and cons but then largely ignoring the list after thinking things through and deciding。 Roberts also includes how an academic with expertise on decision making actually made decisions about his own career that were made with great uncertainty。Roberts discusses the ‘Vampire problem’， namely that you don’t really know what being a vampire would be like until you are one and relates that to having children。 The book puts decisions that can be changed， such as choosing a career in a different category。 Roberts also reflects on persistence vs giving things up and discusses the value of trying different things。 He writes about how his PhD led him toward being a podcast host and reflects on how he got his PhD decades before podcasts appeared。Wild Problems is a very good discussion of how we should think about the big decisions we all make in our lives。 It’s not too long and Roberts writes well。 It’s a book that would be very much worth reading for young adults and for anyone pondering how to spend their life。 。。。more
Max Sobota
，
A necessary slap in the face for my logical mind
Eduardo Weinstein
，
Very good book。 If you follow the Russ Robert podcast econtalk it will feel very familiar。Highly recommended book for both people that like econ， stats， self help and spirituality。
Aaron Brown
，