Patrick Collison interviews Tyler Cowen
How Cowen reads so much
**So, like I’ll pick up a book, put it down. Someone says, “How long did it take you to read that book?” And I’ll say, “52 years.”
Because I’ve been reading since I was three. And that’s the correct answer. People don’t get that.
I’m a very, very slow reader.
You’re just mis-measuring the unit if you think I read something quickly.
What I find depressing about a lot of academia is you have people who think very scientifically about their research, but then their life is just something totally different. Or they talk about politics, and they’ll be just like anyone else, not very analytical or very scientific.
If you believe something, at least try to see it through: What else does it imply? What else does it imply for all other things I believe in life? And then allow that to have feedback into your research. I think that’s what we all have in common at the most fundamental level.