The Tim Ferriss Show

#796: L.A. Paul — On Becoming a Vampire, Whether or Not to Have Kids, Getting Incredible Mentorship for $250, Transformative Experiences, and More


Listen Later

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)

Timestamps:

[00:00;00] Start

[00:05:55] The role of Quentin Smith.

[00:09:56] Early philosophy class disasters.

[00:13:34] How is philosophy relevant to the average person?

[00:20:17] A correspondence experiment with philosophers.

[00:25:29] The role of philosophy in modern times.

[00:27:50] The vampire problem.

[00:39:31] What you can't expect when you're expecting.

[00:42:36] When transformative experiences happen without our consent.

[00:48:12] Choosing between potentially transformative experiences.

[00:52:09] How Laurie made the choice to have children.

[00:56:34] What galvanized Laurie's trajectory from hard sciences to philosophy?

[01:01:14] Recommended reading for the novice philosopher.

[01:02:59] An aside defining counterfactuals.

[01:07:15] What makes understanding analytic philosophy a worthwhile endeavor?

[01:10:29] What readers can expect of Laurie's book, Transformative Experience.

[01:12:30] Epistemology.

[01:13:15] How to maintain a passion for philosophy.

[01:17:21] Commonly misrepresented philosophical concepts.

[01:19:59] Continental philosophy.

[01:21:48] Philosophy beyond the academic.

[01:23:46] Laurie vs. Agnes Callard.

[01:25:34] Aristotle vs. drugs.

[01:32:01] Thoughts on life's final transformative experience: death.

[01:35:48] Forgiving the philosophers and other parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Showplease visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twittertwitter.com/tferriss 

Instagraminstagram.com/timferriss

YouTubeyoutube.com/timferriss

Facebookfacebook.com/timferriss 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss

Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry SeinfeldHugh JackmanDr. Jane GoodallLeBron JamesKevin HartDoris Kearns GoodwinJamie FoxxMatthew McConaugheyEsther PerelElizabeth GilbertTerry CrewsSiaYuval Noah HarariMalcolm GladwellMadeleine AlbrightCheryl StrayedJim CollinsMary Karr, Maria PopovaSam HarrisMichael PhelpsBob IgerEdward NortonArnold SchwarzeneggerNeil StraussKen BurnsMaria SharapovaMarc AndreessenNeil GaimanNeil de Grasse TysonJocko WillinkDaniel EkKelly SlaterDr. Peter AttiaSeth GodinHoward MarksDr. Brené BrownEric SchmidtMichael LewisJoe GebbiaMichael PollanDr. Jordan PetersonVince VaughnBrian KoppelmanRamit SethiDax ShepardTony RobbinsJim DethmerDan HarrisRay DalioNaval RavikantVitalik ButerinElizabeth LesserAmanda PalmerKatie HaunSir Richard BransonChuck PalahniukArianna HuffingtonReid HoffmanBill BurrWhitney CummingsRick RubinDr. Vivek MurthyDarren AronofskyMargaret AtwoodMark ZuckerbergPeter ThielDr. Gabor MatéAnne LamottSarah SilvermanDr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Tim Ferriss ShowBy Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

15,753 ratings


More shows like The Tim Ferriss Show

View all
The James Altucher Show by James Altucher

The James Altucher Show

2,502 Listeners

The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish

The Knowledge Project

2,683 Listeners

The Rich Roll Podcast by Rich Roll

The Rich Roll Podcast

11,891 Listeners

Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais by Dr. Michael Gervais

Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

1,650 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,161 Listeners

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory by Impact Theory

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

4,686 Listeners

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett by DOAC

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

8,547 Listeners

Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss

Tribe of Mentors

1,217 Listeners

The Peter Attia Drive by Peter Attia, MD

The Peter Attia Drive

8,651 Listeners

The Daily Stoic by Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

The Daily Stoic

4,894 Listeners

Naval by Naval

Naval

2,125 Listeners

My First Million by Hubspot Media

My First Million

2,650 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

9,901 Listeners

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of World-Class Performers

297 Listeners

Deep Questions with Cal Newport by Cal Newport

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

1,328 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

29,146 Listeners

CØCKPUNCH by Tim Ferriss

CØCKPUNCH

258 Listeners

David Senra by Scicomm Media

David Senra

133 Listeners