Best Of: The Power of Thinking Outside Your Brain
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The theory of the extended mind has something to say about that. It it acknowledges the built-in limits of the biological brain, but it offers some hope in the sense that it says, but we can transcend those limits by drawing in these external resources. That's how we make the most of of our sort of biological equipment. I'm Rufus Grisscom, and this is the next big idea. Today, can you think outside your brain?
I want to begin this episode by telling you three stories about three very different people. See if you can figure out how they're connected. The first one is about Charles Darwin. It's August 1831, and Darwin is another 22 year old without a plan. He recently graduated from Cambridge, and he hasn't the faintest idea what to do with himself until he gets a letter from an old teacher.
It's an invitation to work as a naturalist on a two year expedition aboard the HMS Beagle. The teacher writes, There never was a finer chance for a man of zeal and spirit. Four months later, Darwin is at sea. He's an apprentice to the ship's captain, Robert Fitzroy. The two of them have lunch together every day,
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