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Think Again - a Big Think Podcast

27. Alva Noë (Philosopher) – The Upside of Boredom

Think Again - a Big Think Podcast

Big Think / Panoply

Arts, Society & Culture

4.6594 Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2015

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"Art, by letting us get bored, reveals something to us about what we’ve been doing to avoid boredom.” – Alva Noë Why are we so afraid to slow down and think? Is it possible, in any sense, to separate reason and emotion? Is there such a thing as "too far out" in physics? On this week's episode, philosopher Alva Noë, author of "Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature" and host Jason Gots hear surprise clips from a physicist, a Wall Street "quant", and magician Penn Jillette. The far-ranging conversation that ensues digs deep into the nature of art, religion, and thought itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Have you ever wondered what a sandwich sounds like?

0:03.0

Not much to it is there?

0:06.0

Unless of course, it's a Walker's sandwich.

0:10.0

Mmm, that is good.

0:13.0

Now that's what Asani should sound like.

0:16.0

Go all crisp in with walkers.

0:18.0

Delicious.

0:20.0

This show is brought to you in part by Mac Weldon menswear.

0:24.6

For way too long, women have had all the nice underwear,

0:27.6

while we men have tufted it out with dull, utilitarian base layers.

0:31.6

My personal demon is socks.

0:33.6

No matter which ones I buy, they're always like a tourniquet,

0:36.6

threatening to amputate my feet.

0:38.3

Enter Mac Weldon. They use smart design and premium antimicrobial fabrics to make incredibly comfortable high-performance underwear, socks, and shirts that also look great.

0:49.3

And for the holidays, or any time, they've got fun gift packs like Buddy the Elf, which will

0:54.9

pimp the recipient's sock drawer beyond all imagining, or Edward for the New Yorker

0:59.8

in your life, socks, t-shirt, and boxers, all in black. So check out macwellden.com

1:05.7

today and get your drawers straight, and use the code Think think at checkout for a 20% discount.

1:12.1

And now let's get to Think Again.

1:16.1

Hi there, I'm Jason Gots, and you're listening to Think Again, a Big Think podcast.

1:22.1

Big Think is an online forum for big ideas from the world's most creative thinkers and doers.

1:27.3

With the Think Again podcast, we're striking out into uncharted and dangerous territory.

...

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