Whether or Not to Have Kids, Transformative Experiences, and More — L.A. Paul

L.A. Paul is the Millstone Family Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Cognitive Science at Yale University. She is also the author of Transformative Experience. Her work on transformative experience has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, NPR, and the BBC, among others. And in 2024, she was profiled by The New Yorker. Sponsors: MUD\WTR energy-boosting coffee alternative—without the jitters: https://MUDWTR.com/Tim (between 15% and 43% off) Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra) LinkedIn Ads, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness and generate leads: LinkedIn.com/TFS ($100 LinkedIn ad credit) Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ Start [00:00] [00:01:36] The role of Quentin Smith. [00:05:52] Early philosophy class disasters. [00:09:46] How is philosophy relevant to the average person? [00:16:40] A correspondence experiment with philosophers. [00:22:19] The role of philosophy in modern times. [00:24:55] The vampire problem. [00:36:00] What you can't expect when you're expecting. [00:39:16] When transformative experiences happen without our consent. [00:45:21] Choosing between potentially transformative experiences. [00:49:40] How Laurie made the choice to have children. [00:54:40] What galvanized Laurie's trajectory from hard sciences to philosophy? [59:34] Recommended reading for the novice philosopher. [01:01:20] An aside defining counterfactuals. [01:05:51] What makes understanding analytic philosophy a worthwhile endeavor? [01:09:23] What readers can expect of Laurie's book, Transformative Experience. [01:11:28] Epistemology. [01:12:24] How to maintain a passion for philosophy. [01:16:20] Commonly misrepresented philosophical concepts. [01:19:15] Continental philosophy. [01:21:20] Philosophy beyond the academic. [01:23:31] Laurie vs. Agnes Callard. [01:25:13] Aristotle vs. drugs. [01:32:03] Thoughts on life's final transformative experience: death. [01:35:52] Forgiving the philosophers and other parting thoughts. IMCMU867HIWJAVPT

L.A. PaulguestTim Ferrisshost

Feb 21, 20251h 37mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: February 21, 2025
Duration: 1h 37m
Channel: Tim Ferriss
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

L.A. Paul is the Millstone Family Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Cognitive Science at Yale University. She is also the author of Transformative Experience. Her work on transformative experience has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, NPR, and the BBC, among others. And in 2024, she was profiled by The New Yorker. Sponsors: MUD\WTR energy-boosting coffee alternative—without the jitters: https://MUDWTR.com/Tim (between 15% and 43% off) Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra) LinkedIn Ads, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness and generate leads: LinkedIn.com/TFS ($100 LinkedIn ad credit) Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ Start [00:00] [00:01:36] The role of Quentin Smith. [00:05:52] Early philosophy class disasters. [00:09:46] How is philosophy relevant to the average person? [00:16:40] A correspondence experiment with philosophers. [00:22:19] The role of philosophy in modern times. [00:24:55] The vampire problem. [00:36:00] What you can't expect when you're expecting. [00:39:16] When transformative experiences happen without our consent. [00:45:21] Choosing between potentially transformative experiences. [00:49:40] How Laurie made the choice to have children. [00:54:40] What galvanized Laurie's trajectory from hard sciences to philosophy? [59:34] Recommended reading for the novice philosopher. [01:01:20] An aside defining counterfactuals. [01:05:51] What makes understanding analytic philosophy a worthwhile endeavor? [01:09:23] What readers can expect of Laurie's book, Transformative Experience. [01:11:28] Epistemology. [01:12:24] How to maintain a passion for philosophy. [01:16:20] Commonly misrepresented philosophical concepts. [01:19:15] Continental philosophy. [01:21:20] Philosophy beyond the academic. [01:23:31] Laurie vs. Agnes Callard. [01:25:13] Aristotle vs. drugs. [01:32:03] Thoughts on life's final transformative experience: death. [01:35:52] Forgiving the philosophers and other parting thoughts. IMCMU867HIWJAVPT

SPEAKERS

L.A. Paul
guest
Philosopher and author known for work on transformative experience, decision theory, and causation.
Tim Ferriss
host
Podcast host and author who interviews guests on performance, learning, and big life decisions.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Tim Ferriss, featuring L.A. Paul and Tim Ferriss, Whether or Not to Have Kids, Transformative Experiences, and More — L.A. Paul explores why some life choices can’t be rationally “decided” in advance L.A. Paul explains her concept of transformative experience: events that teach you something you couldn’t know beforehand and that can change your core preferences and identity.

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