Steve Levitt

And I just, that's one thing I would bet a lot of money that things wouldn't turn out the way they did in that old Zimbardo study.

So people won't believe me. I've never heard those quotes. I didn't know anyone else thought that way. What I said before was just my intuition that that is not human behavior, what got revealed in those studies.

So people won't believe me. I've never heard those quotes. I didn't know anyone else thought that way. What I said before was just my intuition that that is not human behavior, what got revealed in those studies.

So people won't believe me. I've never heard those quotes. I didn't know anyone else thought that way. What I said before was just my intuition that that is not human behavior, what got revealed in those studies.

When I teach my class on the economics of crime to the undergraduates at the UFC, one of the points I stress over and over is that the puzzle is not why is there so much crime? The puzzle is just the opposite. Why is there so little crime? Why does the average person who has literally hundreds of chances to commit crimes in a day and not take advantage of those, right?

When I teach my class on the economics of crime to the undergraduates at the UFC, one of the points I stress over and over is that the puzzle is not why is there so much crime? The puzzle is just the opposite. Why is there so little crime? Why does the average person who has literally hundreds of chances to commit crimes in a day and not take advantage of those, right?

When I teach my class on the economics of crime to the undergraduates at the UFC, one of the points I stress over and over is that the puzzle is not why is there so much crime? The puzzle is just the opposite. Why is there so little crime? Why does the average person who has literally hundreds of chances to commit crimes in a day and not take advantage of those, right?

Every time you walk past a five-year-old on the street, on the playground, you could bonk them over the head with no repercussions and run off, or you could steal candy. That's a real high-stakes crimes you're talking about, beating up children and stealing candy. But nobody does them, and you don't worry about people doing them.

Every time you walk past a five-year-old on the street, on the playground, you could bonk them over the head with no repercussions and run off, or you could steal candy. That's a real high-stakes crimes you're talking about, beating up children and stealing candy. But nobody does them, and you don't worry about people doing them.

Every time you walk past a five-year-old on the street, on the playground, you could bonk them over the head with no repercussions and run off, or you could steal candy. That's a real high-stakes crimes you're talking about, beating up children and stealing candy. But nobody does them, and you don't worry about people doing them.

And even when there are, I mean, I'll be in a big room lecturing, and I'll leave my cell phone and my backpack that has my computer in it. If I lost a computer, I would be beside myself. But I'll have complete faith that no one is going to steal it. And it's really not ultimately because they think they'll be caught. I think that one of the greatest powers of society is,

And even when there are, I mean, I'll be in a big room lecturing, and I'll leave my cell phone and my backpack that has my computer in it. If I lost a computer, I would be beside myself. But I'll have complete faith that no one is going to steal it. And it's really not ultimately because they think they'll be caught. I think that one of the greatest powers of society is,

And even when there are, I mean, I'll be in a big room lecturing, and I'll leave my cell phone and my backpack that has my computer in it. If I lost a computer, I would be beside myself. But I'll have complete faith that no one is going to steal it. And it's really not ultimately because they think they'll be caught. I think that one of the greatest powers of society is,

is the ability to inculcate in people a sense of right and wrong. And so the overwhelming majority of people are trained to not do things that are negative to other people.

is the ability to inculcate in people a sense of right and wrong. And so the overwhelming majority of people are trained to not do things that are negative to other people.

is the ability to inculcate in people a sense of right and wrong. And so the overwhelming majority of people are trained to not do things that are negative to other people.

I love podcast guests who change the way I think about some important aspect of the world. A great example is my guest today, David Eagleman. He's a Stanford neuroscientist whose work on brain plasticity has completely transformed my understanding of the human brain and its possibilities.

I love podcast guests who change the way I think about some important aspect of the world. A great example is my guest today, David Eagleman. He's a Stanford neuroscientist whose work on brain plasticity has completely transformed my understanding of the human brain and its possibilities.

I love podcast guests who change the way I think about some important aspect of the world. A great example is my guest today, David Eagleman. He's a Stanford neuroscientist whose work on brain plasticity has completely transformed my understanding of the human brain and its possibilities.

According to Eagleman, the brain is constantly trying to predict the world around it. But of course, the world is unpredictable and surprising, so the brain is constantly updating its model. The capacity of our brains to be ever-changing is usually referred to as plasticity, but Eagleman offers another term, live-wired. That's where our conversation begins.