🚽 Rethinking toilet-training, Charlie Munger's biggest gripe with education & why every ability is like a muscle.
Oh yes, and podcast episodes 140-146 summarised with the top 5 takeaways.
Do we need to question the way we go to the toilet?
In one of my recent podcast episodes, I talked about ‘Without-The-Box Thinking’, my paradigm for independent thinking.
Independent thinking is freedom and creativity. It’s the ability to go beyond our lazy assumptions. You’ll see my top 5 takeaways from my recent podcast episodes below, and links to those episodes, unpacking themes to do with independent thinking and how we cultivate it.
We might not need to rethink everything, say going to the toilet for example. But so many of us are given blinders through which to view the world, preventing us from seeing greater possibilities for self and others.
For example, perhaps I’m thining of writing this from the toilet next week. Now wouldn’t that be an example of independent thinking?
🖐My top 5 takeaways from the most recent With Joe Wehbe Podcast episodes
This is where hundreds of years of thinkers and educators distilled through experience and books, plus my thoughts and filters, which have been refined into hundreds of podcast episodes, now get refined into five single dot points. Here we go:
From #144 — understanding what we’re capable of/capacity to improve with the muscle/gym metaphor. We can get better if we take the steps, and sometimes a new idea, concept or possibility is like rushing to lift 500kg/lb. Two tips for ‘exercising the mind’ are in the episode.
Also from #144 — Everyone sits on every spectrum of ability… you have some sort of writing, musical, public speaking and knitting ability. It’s too simple to say you are or are not a writer. Failure is only perceptual, and relative to where you are on that spectrum at a point in time.
One of the best books on education is not obviously linked to education —it unpacks why some things get weaker once their challenged, whilst others get stronger. Discussed in episode 145.
#141 — Most people have an incredibly narrow view of themselves, their potential. They become familiar with this narrow view, identify with it, and this limits perspective. The obstacles are not physical or material.
#146 — Charlie Munger’s biggest criticism of education is that we only give people insight into a single discipline (e.g. engineering, biology, philosophy…). We should study all the disciplines — it creates untold advantages.
Did you have any takeaways from these recent episodes?
🎙 Recent Episodes
Still working on getting Season 2 episodes onto Youtube! For now, these are links to Spotify but you can also go to your preferred podcast player here.
#140: Einstein’s Gift, Einstein’s Mistake — Strong Opinions Loosely Held (4 min 36 sec)
#141: The Dunning-Kruger Effect, and When Experience Works Against You (7 min 31 sec)
#142: Why is it so hard to be open-minded? (8 min 42 sec)
#143: How to Give Friends and Family ‘Advice’ & Having Uncomfortable Conversations (6 min 11 sec)
#144: Binary Thinkers, Nothing Is Black Or White, And Are You ‘Good’ At Things? (12 min 7 sec)
#145: Is Your Mind Resilient, Fragile… Or ‘Antifragile’? (6 min 48 sec)
#146: Seeing Connectedness & Tips From Steve Jobs (13 min 12 sec)
Not up to these episodes yet? Check out last week’s summary with links to episodes 122—139.
✍Recent Writings
The 16 Benefits of Private vs. Open Communities (Major asset in the future of education)
What will you tell the world, that it’s not ready to hear? — basically about the importance of accelerating the future, and being willing to confuse people a little when striving for leadership.
The Owen Wilson Test — a great filter to hold your work to high standards. Iterate until you get the ‘WOWs’.