Tim Harford on the Importance of Being Messy

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2016

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have the forces of tidiness marched too far? Would we all benefit from being a bit messy? That’s the big question that the FT’s star economist Tim Harford will be asking in this exclusive Intelligence Squared event. In Harford’s view, we need to be tidy up to a point. But in some areas of life, too much order makes things rigid, fragile and sterile. Take the office, where research shows that people are more productive and creative if they are allowed to surround themselves with a bit of clutter. Or take Donald Trump. There’s no shortage of accounts that explain how this brash reality TV star, who began his campaign for the Republican nomination as a 150/1 no-hoper, ended up as President-elect of the United States. But Harford has his own theory. Trump’s rivals were tidy-minded career politicians, surrounded by lumbering professional messaging operations. Trump deployed a strategy of chaos and improvisation, confounding his enemies with his late-night tweets and moving on before they had even had time to... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So you've arrived you head to the brasserie then the terrace cocktail don't mind if I do
0:08.5	You raise your glass to another guest because you both know the holidays just beginning.
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0:26.0	Virgin Atlantic, see the world differently.
0:30.0	This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max.
0:34.0	Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better.
0:38.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra ink,
0:42.0	or building a playlist that will even get your
0:44.8	nann up on the table or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max. Christmas better with Pepsi Max.
0:55.0	Thanks for listening to the Intelligence Squared podcast this year.
1:00.0	We're already launching at our first events of 2017 and for our
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1:20.4	Now here's this week's episode.
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1:24.0	Thank you very much. Thank you Hannah.
1:28.0	Welcome Tim. I'm Kamal Ahmed. I'm the economics
1:33.0	he needs them.
	...

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