I'm Rufus Griskem and this is the next big idea.

Today, Adam Grant and Annie Murphy Paul on how to think beyond your brain.

Back in June, I had the chance to chat with the acclaimed science writer, Annie Murphy Paul,

about her groundbreaking new book, The Extended Minds, the power of thinking outside the brain.

And groundbreaking is not a word I'm using lightly here.

Annie proposes an entirely new way of using our brains,

one that requires getting out of your head and engaging with the world in exciting new ways.

Annie says we can make sound decisions by listening to our bodily sensations.

We can use tactile tools to solve abstract problems,

and we can argue with our friends as a way of finding faults in our assumptions.

One of the things I love about this book is that Annie uses real science to validate the cognitive

benefits of the things my elementary school teachers told me were undignified.

Fidgeting, doodling, thinking God my feet, trusting my God.

I wasn't the only one who liked this book.

Our four next big idea curators, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Kane,

and Daniel Pink ended up selecting The Extended Mind as one of the eight best books of the year,

a high honor indeed. Adam Grant jumped at the chance to discuss the book with Annie,

and getting to hear these two extend their minds together,

riffing and debating, letting their conversation venture into unexpected terrain,

it reminded me why we started the next big idea club in the first place.

I hope you enjoyed their conversation as much as I did.

I'm Jesse Hempel, host of Hello Monday. In my 20s, I knew what I wanted from my career,

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