Tyler Cowen on Curiosity, Ambition, and the Future of Thinking Big
Reintroducing One of Our Most Requested Guests
As 2025 winds down, Going Big! welcomes back a guest whose restless intellect, big ideas, and unmatched curiosity have made him one of our audience’s most requested return voices: Dr. Tyler Cowen.
A professor of economics at George Mason University, co-founder of the influential blog Marginal Revolution, prolific author, podcast host, and cultural omnivore, Tyler is someone who never stops learning—and never stops pushing others to think more ambitiously.
In this special year-end episode, Kevin Gentry dives deeper into Tyler’s own origin story—and the habits, frameworks, and lessons that have fueled a career of sustained relevance and impact.
From New Jersey to George Mason: The Early Years
Tyler shares stories of his upbringing in working-class New Jersey, his early obsession with chess, and why he chose George Mason University over more “prestigious” options. His explanation is classic Cowen: unusual, strategic, and refreshingly honest.
“I figured I’d have more free time to learn what I wanted—and that I could teach myself more,” he says. “Also, I hated the idea of dorm life.”
That early focus on independent learning set the tone for what would come: a lifetime of self-direction, idea generation, and deep dives across economics, culture, food, and global travel.
Why Reading Fast (and Widely) is Cowen’s Superpower
One theme that comes up again and again: reading. Tyler reads five to ten times faster than most people—and not just quickly, but deeply. That ability has shaped his podcast, his books, his public commentary, and his own personal growth.
But it’s not just about speed. It’s about discernment. “The more you read, the more you know what not to read,” Tyler says. “That makes you faster, but also better.”
Ambition Is There for the Taking
Perhaps the biggest insight from this episode is Tyler’s view on ambition. Most people, he argues, don’t realize they’re allowed to want more—or they assume going big means taking risky, grandiose leaps.
But for Tyler, ambition often looks like iteration. Persistence. Curiosity applied consistently over time. “The number of people who start something and then go crazy is surprisingly high,” he says. “Just not going crazy—and keeping at it—goes a long way.”
On AI, Institutions, and the Road Ahead
The conversation turns toward the future, where Tyler’s optimism about AI is grounded in clear-eyed analysis. “This year, AI systems went from failing to spell ‘strawberry’ correctly to winning math Olympiads,” he says. “What’s next?”
He sees massive disruption ahead—not just in tech, but in education, medicine, and governance. And he warns against the comfort of institutional stagnation: “If everyone around you is happy with how things are going, something’s probably wrong.”
Final Takeaways: Stay Curious. Stay Bold. Keep Going.
Tyler Cowen’s second appearance on Going Big! reinforces what makes him a singular thinker. He’s not a guru. He’s a guide. A fellow traveler urging us to read more, think deeper, take risks that matter—and never settle.
So what would he tell his grandkids?
“Ambition is there for the taking,” he says. “Nobody’s stopping you.”
That might just be the reminder we all need to hear as we head into the new year.
