Angus Fletcher - The Biggest Mistake We Made About Intelligence (Ep. 304)

In this episode of Infinite Loops, Jim O’Shaughnessy sits down with Professor Angus Fletcher, a neuroscientist and storytelling expert at Ohio State University and author of Primal Intelligence.

Fletcher’s research challenges one of the most widely accepted ideas in modern culture: that the human brain works like a computer. Drawing on his work with U.S. Army Special Operations, Fletcher argues that humans think not in equations, but in actions and stories—and that modern education systems are failing to cultivate the kinds of intelligence needed to navigate the real world.

Jim and Angus explore the difference between probability thinking and possibility thinking, why standardized education may be suppressing creativity, how stories shape strategy and leadership, and why the most successful innovators think like explorers rather than optimizers.