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

Summary

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 Introduction  05:56 L. A. Paul's Journey into Philosophy 09:55 Challenges in Studying Philosophy 25:29 The Role of Philosophy in Modern Times 27:50 Vampire Thought Experiment 32:07 The Transformative Experience of Parenthood 36:55 The Concept of Act-State Independence 39:33 Philosophical Insights on Parenthood 52:29 Personal Reflections on Choosing Parenthood 56:37 From Chemistry to Philosophy: A Personal Journey 01:01:14 Philosophical Literature Recommendations 01:07:44 Exploring the Value of Analytic Philosophy 01:08:29 Philosophical Insights from Movies 01:08:46 Primer and La Jetée: A Deep Dive 01:09:45 The Joy of Problem Solving 01:10:37 Getting Started with Analytic Philosophy 01:12:09 Philosophy Resources and Recommendations 01:13:23 Addressing Nihilism and Finding Intellectual Companionship 01:17:29 Philosophical Misrepresentations in Media 01:20:18 Continental vs. Analytic Philosophy 01:21:57 Philosophy's Role in Broader Applications 01:26:31 Philosophy and Psychedelics 01:32:55 Facing Cognitive Decline with Philosophy 01:35:57 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Projects * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast. For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please 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: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss  Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. 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.