The Real Reason Birth Rates Are Falling - Lyman Stone - #962

Modern Wisdom

07/03/25

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107m

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Lyman Stone is a demographer, researcher, and a writer.

It’s no surprise that birth rates are plummeting; raising kids feels harder than ever. Life is expensive, the future feels uncertain, and chaos is everywhere. So how do we reverse course? What would actually convince people to have more children and pull us back from a looming population crisis?

Expect to learn why fertility rates are falling off a cliff, why many young adults are struggling to have and even afford children in this economy, where mating preferences for fertility comes from, how women get their standards for men and who they base it off of, if men are suppose to be the breadwinners of a family this day in age, the real satisfaction rates of men and women in the workforce, why humans have such a hard time with big changes, and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) The Twitter Post That Caused Insane Tension

(04:39) The Relationship Between Population Density & Fertility

(14:14) Why Young Adults Aren’t Leaving The Nest

(20:17) Why Parenthood Is Not For Everyone

(30:37) One Minister’s Plan to Increase Births

(37:19) Where Do Fertility Preferences Come From?

(47:17) Where Do Women’s Income Standards Come From?

(57:46) Are Men Supposed To Be Providers For Their Family?

(1:06:39) How Women Size Up Potential Partners

(1:11:56) Low Fertility Rates In South Korea & The “K-Popification” Of Asian Youth

(1:25:05) Satisfaction Comparisons of Men & Women In The Workforce

(1:38:29) Why Most Of Us Love Conformity

(1:43:48) Find Out More About Lyman

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Previous Episode

19 Raw Lessons To Not Mess Up Your Life - Mark Manson - #961

June 30, 2025

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131m

Mark Manson is a writer, entrepreneur, and a New York Times best-selling author.

Mark is one of my favorite thinkers. His blog, books, and X account are packed with timeless lessons I come back to again and again. Today, we get to go through some of his best lessons on life, love, and everything that makes us human.

Expect to learn how to actually stand up for yourself, what the real process of personal growth looks like, what it takes to actually cultivate confidence, why it’s impossible for someone who destroys your mental health to be the love of your life, why feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing is the price of entry to achieving your dreams, why you should learn to trust people more, and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) People Would Need Less Therapy If They Set Better Boundaries

(11:29) The More You Cultivate Yourself, The More You Have To Give

(18:13) Personal Growth Is Learning To Lie To Ourselves Less

(30:05) Confidence & Fear Both Require Something That Hasn't Happened Yet

(40:07) It's Better To Be Loved For Who You Are Than Who You Pretend To Be

(51:01) It's Hard To Love Someone Who Breaks Your Mental Health

(58:46) Having No Idea Of What You're Doing Is The Price Of Receiving Your Dream

(1:13:24) Emotion Is The Most Important Productivity System

(1:27:33) The Happiest People Don't Question Their Choices

(1:39:41) Trust People. Distrusting Everyone Is A Lot Worse

(1:46:52) He Who Has The Smallest Ego Wins

(2:00:49) People Adopt Values For What They Get Validated For

(2:10:56) Find Out More About Mark

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Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact

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Next Episode

Investigating The True History Of MKUltra & CIA Mind Control - John Lisle - #963

July 5, 2025

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79m

John Lisle is a historian and an author.

The government’s history of secret experiments feels stranger than fiction. Covert projects, UFOs, mind reading, even studies of the occult. But no operation is more infamous than MKUltra. What really happened inside the CIA’s most notorious mind control experiment, and how much of its legacy still shapes our world today?

Expect to learn where the CIA got their interest in mind control from, what the origins of MKUltra were and how it got it’s name, the double lives of the head scientists behind the project, how LSD and other drugs we’re used in secret mind control experiments by the government and if any of their findings had any objective value, the most unethical experiments MKUltra did and what ended up leading to it's downfall and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) Researching MKUltra, The CIA, & Mind Control

(15:14) MKUltra's Origin & LSD Experiments

(26:41) The Main Scientists Behind MKUltra

(30:41) CIA Funding & Celebrity Involvement

(41:30) Experiments On Mental Health

(47:27) The Worst & Unethical Brain Experiments

(52:27) Did MKUltra Create Anything Useful?

(1:01:14) The Downfall Of MKUltra

(1:09:30) The "Project Monarch" Conspiracy Theory

(1:14:44) Find Out More About John

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