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Back to Work

Episode 207: Vampires in the Wallpaper

Back to Work

5by5

Business, Society & Culture, Barriers, Dan Benjamin, Careers, Communication, Merlin Mann, Creativity, Work, Productivity, Constraints, Technology

4.72.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2015

⏱️ 101 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

TOPIC: Scoping the Minimally-Viable Me

This week, Dan and Merlin catch up on illness, Marvel comics, and what-have-you, but end up talking a lot about who we really are—who "I" actually am. Merlin eventually slips into an imbued and mildly-psychedelic fugue state that may strike the listener as alternately insightful and insane.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

So the colored hair, is that about the football?

0:03.5

Good morning, Merlin, man.

0:06.5

Good morning, dad. How are you doing?

0:08.6

Doing great.

0:09.6

You sound great.

0:10.8

Yeah, I feel so great.

0:12.9

Holy God, Dan, what happened to you?

0:14.7

You still see you got hit by something.

0:15.8

I did, I got hit by.

0:17.0

You know the flu thing, everyone.

0:19.8

Is it really the flu?

0:21.3

Well, I guess you can't technically know

0:23.7

if it's the flu unless you go to the doctor

0:26.3

and they perform a rapid flu test on you

0:28.9

and then tell you that you have influence

0:30.6

a type A, B or C.

0:32.0

If it's not, if you don't go through that,

0:33.8

you can call it the flu and you might be wrong.

0:36.9

But having had it before a number of times

0:39.7

and understanding what it does and the progression

0:41.7

and everything else, I'm going to boldly make a statement

0:46.8

that it was the flu or if.

...

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