Episode · EconTalk · 2025-11-03
Books mentioned on Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)
What do Shakespeare, Hollywood storytelling, and military special operations have in common? They all excel at inventing new plans, or improvising when we're facing radical uncertainty.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Primal Intelligence
Primal Intelligence is an engaging book by Angus Fletcher that examines the science and nature of human intuition and decision-making.
Discussed“Uh there is a little neuroscience in the book but it's not there's no pretense which I love. There's no pretense that this book is based on neuroscience. Uh it's based on your in very very wide range of experiences thinking about this and applying uh the insights to real world situations.”
Where to get it
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Mathematica
Mathematica by David Bessis is a thought-provoking book that explores how our minds work, championing intuition and challenging formal, intimidating approaches to mathematics.
Discussed“And much of this book uh is is consent with the recent episode with David Bessis on his book Mathematica.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Own book Primal Intelligence
“His latest book which is the subject of today's episode is Primal Intelligence. You are smarter than you know.”
Own book Primal Intelligence
“And that's the intelligence that I'm interested in studying in the book.”
Own book Wild Problems
“um you know if you had ended your story with the hundred couples every single one of those couples got divorced I can't figure it out you know that that's like oh wow that's amazing in a bad way but I think at the same time so we do like surprises and and my you know many of the things”
Own book Primal Intelligence
“My guest today has been Angus Fletcher. The book is Primal Intelligence.”