Steve Levitt

I think I don't really believe that anymore, but certainly it's a much easier concept for me to grasp the idea that the universe is taking care of me than that Jesus or some kind of Christian God is looking over me.

You have to have been around New Agey people for a long time.

My mom was New Agey.

My wife, Suzanne, is New Agey.

No, that's not true.

So clearly I'm a rationalist through and through, and I believe more than anything in the power of science.

But I think as a kid, I was willing to listen to my mom's very odd takes on the world.

And I didn't really believe it.

But as I got older and older, I've seen enough evidence.

No, the power of placebo.

I think some of the nicest and best and most interesting people I know just have a faith in the universe and believe in stuff that's a little bit out there.

When Suzanne and I, we went to India for a month.

I talked about it on the Sam Harris episode of this podcast, but I went so grudgingly.

I really only went because she doesn't have a lot of common sense.

And I thought if she was alone in India for a month, she probably wouldn't come back alive.

And so I...

I went in.

Part of the deal was she said we couldn't use our phones, which I don't know why I ever gave into that.

I guess that when you're first dating people, you do things that you wouldn't do later.

But the first two weeks of that trip, I was miserable and I was angry and I was frustrated.