Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux - Educating Kids on Cost-Benefit Calculations
Aired: 2025-07-26
Duration: 03:49


=== Hit Head, Hurt Later (02:01) ===

[00:00:00]  So I think as a whole, you want to get them pretty early on.
[00:00:05]  I mean, outside of pure moral things, you want to get them to do the cost-benefit analysis rather than give them the answers, if that makes sense.
[00:00:15]  Yeah.
[00:00:16]  And absolutely.
[00:00:19]  And when have you had situations where the cost-benefit analysis, there's a large deviation between the two?
[00:00:31]  Okay.
[00:00:32]  Could you give me a concrete example of what you're talking about?
[00:00:36]  What the hell are you talking about?
[00:00:38]  You say, hey, you should wear a helmet.
[00:00:41]  We're riding down the street, riding down this bumpy gravel road.
[00:00:45]  And they say, oh, no, it'll be okay.
[00:00:48]  I've fallen before.
[00:00:50]  I didn't get hurt last time.
[00:00:52]  So I probably won't get hurt next time.
[00:00:55]  And you go, yeah.
[00:00:56]  No, and that's a fair, that's a fair question, right?
[00:01:01]  That's a fair question, right?
[00:01:02]  And then I would say, how many times have you fallen on the bike?
[00:01:06]  And they'll say, 10 or 5 or whatever it is, right?
[00:01:10]  And say, so each time did you think you wouldn't fall the next time?
[00:01:13]  Well, yeah.
[00:01:14]  Did you fall again?
[00:01:15]  Well, yeah.
[00:01:16]  So in general, you're still going to keep falling on the bike based upon what happened in the past.
[00:01:21]  So I never hit my head.
[00:01:23]  Bad argument.
[00:01:23]  I'm sorry.
[00:01:24]  But I never hit my head, man.
[00:01:26]  Sure.
[00:01:27]  Well, actually, you did, but you hit it so hard you can't remember.
[00:01:29]  And I just totally gaslight them.
[00:01:30]  No, I'm kidding, right?
[00:01:32]  But yeah, you didn't hit your head.
[00:01:34]  Absolutely.
[00:01:35]  But you could have, right?
[00:01:37]  Right.
[00:01:38]  And, you know, your brain is your most precious organ.
[00:01:43]  And it's in this little thin eggshell of a head, right?
[00:01:47]  And, you know, listen.
[00:01:49]  And if they absolutely insist on riding without their helmet, then I just say no.
[00:01:56]  Like, you try and you still have to have the authority and you still need to keep them safe.
[00:02:00]  Right.
[00:02:00]  Right.

=== Riding Without Helmets (01:48) ===

[00:02:01]  So you give them the cost benefit.
[00:02:02]  And if they make a wise decision with the cost benefit, more power to them.
[00:02:06]  If they won't and they absolutely insist on riding without their helmet, I'd say, yeah, now I'm your cost benefit and I have to do it for you.
[00:02:13]  Right.
[00:02:14]  In the same way, like you can't go to work.
[00:02:15]  I have to go to work and make the money.
[00:02:17]  I can't let you ride without a, I have to be your cost benefit analysis because I'm afraid, I'm sorry, like you're just making the wrong decision.
[00:02:25]  And then, of course, if they're smart, they say, well, didn't you ride a bike without a helmet when you were a kid?
[00:02:30]  I'm like, there actually were no helmets when I was a kid.
[00:02:33]  And there were no freaking seatbelts in cars, even though those are ambiguous as far as the sort of help that they do.
[00:02:40]  But yeah, it wasn't even thought of, but we've had advancements.
[00:02:42]  You used to be able to smoke in the cinema and on the airplane.
[00:02:45]  You can't do that anymore either.
[00:02:46]  So there's some advancements, if that makes sense.
[00:02:48]  Yeah.
[00:02:48]  Yep.
[00:02:49]  Yep.
[00:02:49]  No, that makes a lot of sense.
[00:02:51]  And my wife and I have very much been always trying to like make sure we ask them questions about what they're thinking about rather than giving them the answer to the question, period.
[00:03:04]  You know, just like, no, you can't.
[00:03:07]  We try to talk to them about those things.
[00:03:09]  Yeah, you need to step them through your thinking so that they can replicate how you think.
[00:03:14]  Right.
[00:03:15]  And one of the things I really hate is when people just say, because I said so.
[00:03:20]  Oh, yeah.
[00:03:21]  I'm like, you just gave them a dead end.
[00:03:22]  And what do you think?
[00:03:23]  You didn't give them any answer.
[00:03:25]  Right.
[00:03:25]  Right.
[00:03:26]  You have to pay more taxes.
[00:03:27]  Why?
[00:03:27]  Because I said so.
[00:03:28]  So no, I get all of that, but you do need to get them used to the downside of cost benefit.
[00:03:38]  So I wouldn't do it with regards to biking without a helmet, but I would do it with regards to, let's say that they want to go hunting for crayfish in a fast-flowing stream.