Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://bit.ly/4c602k2 Steven Levitt is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and the co-author of the bestselling book Freakonomics and its two sequels. In this episode, Steve discusses his unlikely path to a career in economics and his view of the current state, and limitations, of the field. He also gives his unique perspective on contemporary issues including climate change, mental health in education, how to evaluate whether an experiment is ethical, decision making, horse racing, and much more. We discuss: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:10 - How Steve ended up in economics 00:06:20 - Current trends in the field of economics: macro vs. micro, usefulness of models, and the relationship between data and theory 00:17:15 - Revisiting what Steve wrote about climate change in SuperFreakonomics, and why it’s unlikely to be solved with behavioral change 00:26:50 - The consequences of a blurred line between climate science and advocacy 00:31:40 - Answering climate questions with a “Manhattan Project for climate change” 00:40:35 - Steve’s reflections on his career path and how he found his way by being himself 00:55:25 - How Steve came to write Freakonomics (and its sequels), and the topics which caused the most controversy 01:14:35 - How Steve came to appreciate mental health through parenting, and the need to emphasize mental health into the education system 01:35:30 - Why people are bad at making decisions 01:44:40 - Deliberating on why horse racing times haven’t advance much in decades 01:55:30 - Reducing the impact of negative emotions by observing the world free of language 02:01:30 - Changing our thinking about what it means to conduct experiments ethically Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/stevelevitt/ About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 25 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/​​​ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/​​​ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/​​​ Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB​​​ Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW​​​ Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG​​​ Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts​​​ Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast​​​ Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify​​​ Google Play: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGooglePlay