Does parenting make you a better person? Can it improve your life? Neuroscientist Erik Hoel makes the self-interested case for parenting arguing that it makes you less jaded and more heartbroken (in a good way) for how you experience the world. Listen as new father Hoel speaks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the universal and particular truths surrounding parenting, and why the perception presented by the media is often at odds with our own experience. Topics include different parenting styles and their effects, how parents shape children's personalities and preferences, and the famous children's books that both men love and hate. The conversation closes with a discussion of the reliability of recent studies condemning homeschooling.
Welcome to Econ talk conversations for the curious part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
Go to econtalk.org, where you can subscribe, comment on this episode, and find links and other information related to today's conversation.
You'll also find our archives with every episode we've done going back to 2006.
Our email address is mailcontalk.org dot.
We'd love to hear from you.
Today is July 1, 2024, and my guest is neuroscientist, philosopher and novelist Eric Hoel.
Eric's substack is the intrinsic perspective this is Eric's fourth appearance on Econ Talk.
He was last year, in July of 2023, discussing consciousness and free will.
Our topic for today is children.
We'll get into parenting, public policy toward the family, and the moral dimension of being a parent.
Eric, welcome back to Econ Talk.
It's a pleasure to be back for the fourth time.
Today's conversation will be based on some of your recent essays at your substack, the intrinsic perspective.
Let's start with your claim, a bold claim that parenting makes you a better person.
And that's the first part of your essay.
But you do some throat clearing beforehand, and you start off saying that life before children was a little bit boring, despite having done drugs at burning man.
So I just, I want you to talk a little bit about the transition that occurred when you went from no children to children.
And you have two, just for the record.
Yeah.