How to think about life

Steve Jobs

"Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

Jon Elster

Jon Elster (born 1940) is a Norwegian social and political theorist who has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory. He is also a notable proponent of Analytical Marxism, and a critic of neoclassical economics and public choice theory, largely on behavioral and psychological grounds. Elster earned his PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris with a dissertation on Leibniz under the direction of Raymond Aron. Elster was a member of the September Group for many years but left in the early 1990s. Elster previously taught at the University of Oslo in the department of history and held an endowed chairs at the University of Chicago, teaching in the departments of philosophy and political science. He is now Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences with appointments in Political Science and Philosophy at Columbia University and professeur attaché at the Collège de France. He was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize in 1997.

Elster often uses economic theory as a springboard for philosophical and ethical analysis, and his books are full of examples from literature. "Rational choice theory is far more than a technical tool for explaining behaviour. It is also, and very importantly, a way of coming to grips with ourselves - not only what we should do, but even what we should be." Jon Elster, Some unresolved problems in the theory of rational behaviour, Acta Sociologica (1993), vol 36, p 179

交流的价值

在现今人类进步程度很低的情况下，使人们接触与自己不同的人，接触自己不熟悉的思想方式和行为方式，其意义之大，简直是无法估量的。……这种交往一直是、在现代化尤其是进步的主要源泉。
约翰 斯图亚特 穆勒：《政治经济学原理》

加里·贝克尔（Gary S.Becker）

加里·贝克尔（Gary S.Becker 1930---）1951年获普林斯顿大学学士学位，1951年和1955年分别获芝加哥大学硕士和博士学位。1960年，他在30岁时成为哥伦比亚大学的教授。除去在哥伦比亚大学的十二年（1957--1969年），贝克尔自1954年开始任教以来一直在芝加哥大学，他的著作被普遍地认为是芝加哥学派观点的典型代表。贝克尔是蒙特·皮莱林学会的成员、国民教育学院的创建人之一，曾于1967年获美国经济协会著名的约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖，也曾于1974年任该协会的副会长，同时也是胡佛研究会高级研究员。
贝克尔是现代经济学领域中最有创见的思想家之一，因其在人力资本、家庭经济学、犯罪的经济学分析、歧视、人口等方面的研究著称。他的很多成果中国已经出版，例如《口味的经济学分析》、《人类行为的经济学分析》、《生活的经济学》《家庭论》等。
1992年，贝克尔被授予诺贝尔经济学奖，其贡献为“将经济理论扩展到对人类相互行为的分析，包括对非市场行为的分析。” 贝克尔将经济学理性假设的分析方法创建性的引入到如下的四个领域，对无论是经济学、人口学还有社会学分析方法产生了巨大而深远的影响：（1）人口资本的投资问题；（2）家庭行为的解释；（3）犯罪行为和惩罚；（4）劳动力和商品市场上面的歧视问题。