Second Episode of The Dispatch Book Club Out Now

Dear members,  We are at the end of the month—so do you know what that ...

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Dear members, 

We are at the end of the month—so do you know what that means? Another episode of The Dispatch Book Club is out for you to listen to on your (private) podcast feeds. This month, I talked to Annie Murphy Hall about what it means to live in a brain-bound society. Contrary to popular belief, our brains are not actually computers, and Annie teases out the science behind the importance of strengthening the ties between the physical life and the intellectual. 

There are instructions below for how to add the private podcast to your feed.

The discussion page for August’s book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant can be found here.  

Enjoy.

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Comments (13)
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  1. Avatar photo
    John

    Group work/ free rider problem effectively solved by project/group structure, see Project Based Learning. Also, another idea discussed in book: video presentations of individual reflections on contributions to group project.

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    Merrijane

    I’d like to make a general comment about these kind of books and how they talk about what people evolved to do. I really enjoy learning about what increases personal and societal success and how different conditions affect us positively and negatively. I even enjoy hearing people posit theories as to why that may be part of our evolutionary history. But when someone makes a broad claim, like “we should enjoy group projects because we evolved that way, but our individualistic society teaches us otherwise” then I get skeptical. Society and cultural are not ex nihilo creations imposed upon us top down. They evolved along with us and they survive for the same sorts of reasons that people survive. If we evolved to work in groups, then we also evolved to work well on our own when that suits. Similarly, stating that people did not evolve to perform purely mental work is belied by the fact that a lot of people are doing exactly that. Maybe we will be happier and better at it by adding the physical, but it’s flatly wrong to say we didn’t evolve in this direction because here we are.

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    Merrijane

    Sarah is right--the real problem with group projects is free loaders. Yes, school projects aren’t often calibrated to groups, but the bigger issue is that everybody has to go to school whether they like being there or not. When groups come together willingly, they are far more likely to collaborate and be responsible for how their output affects the group.

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    Gary S

    Help !!! I tired to join you Dispatch Book Club Podcast (based on the email you sent out this morning.) I go to https://the-dispatch-book-club.simplecast.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email and click on the Apple Podcasts icon -- but I get a blank page (with Chrome and Edge browsers -- Firefox gives a more helpful message -- "The address wasn’t understood".

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      Richard Maxton

      I had the same problem in my podcast app until I just manually added it using the link at the bottom of Sarah's post.

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        Ryan Brown staff-badge Staff

        That is definitely a good alternative!

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      Ryan Brown staff-badge Staff

      Hi Gary. Sorry this is happening. Can I ask which of the two badges you click on: the one that just says Apple Podcasts or the one that says "Listen & Subscribe"?

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    W James Anderson

    Hmmm... I’m new to this Book Club thing. I think I’ll actually go out and buy a copy and start reading instead of listening to it. Flipping the physical pages will be nice. Plus, there’s the smell of the book. I know, that’s kind of weird. Don’t lie now... you do it too? 💀’s and🌈’s

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    Ray Salemi

    I'm not sure if the book mentions it, but brain metaphors usually track the most advanced technology of the era. Brains have been compared to the internet, computer, and automated looms.

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      Richard Maxton

      In that case I'll use the "technology so advanced it's indistinguishable from magic" metaphor.

      That's right - I have a magical brain. 😁

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    Angie

    I don't have a smart phone or a podcast list or preferred app, I listen to podcasts on my laptop at the sites they are, like here. So, can I still do that?

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      Ryan Brown staff-badge Staff

      You certainly can, Angie. Here's the link to just the podcast: https://bookclub.thedispatch.com/p/annie-murphy-paul-talks-the-extended?r=gpjmx&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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        Angie

        Thank you

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