The Literate Caveman
The Literate Caveman is a podcast that explores the idea that humans have already figured a lot of things out- but at some point we got very inefficient at passing the torch from one generation to the next. If we insist on continually reinventing the wheel we will just end up spinning that same wheel around and around and each following generation will feel really special about themselves because they spin the wheel their own special way. Examining knowledge gained from others failures and successes shortens our own learning curve. To that purpose, this podcast mostly focuses on books that have been published for a while, and most of the time will not delve into current events. There are plans to review some recently published books- but it is high time we nailed down some principles previous generations have learned the hard way and stop making needless mistakes.
Episodes
32 episodes
Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence; a review from Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we discuss Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence, from Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner. In this chapter of his excellent books, Howard Gardner explores research and empirical data that supports his ...
Spatial Intelligence; a Review of Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we discuss Spatial-Intelligence, or what some researchers term ‘Visual-Spatial Intelligence,’ from Howard Gardner’s excellent book, ‘Frames of Mind.’ This chapter takes examples from a wi...
Self-Defense; Understanding the Interview. A discussion on some of the ways in which criminals have been proven to select victims.
I have given one version or another of this lecture since sometime in the mid 1990’s. I have polished it quite a bit, and I have learned a lot since those early days. Here I give a version of one of my lectures focusing on verbal in...
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, a review from Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we discuss Logical-Mathematical Intelligence from Howard Gardner’s Frames of Mind. In this chapter, Gardner discusses his research and how it agrees with, and at some points disagrees with, the ...
Musical Intelligence; a review of Frames of Mind and the research of Howard Gardner
Today we are discussing Musical Intelligence, from a chapter by Howard Gardner’s book Frames of Mind. Frames of Mind, first published in 1983, collects over 30 years of research and theories on the idea of multiple, fairly autonomous inte...
Linguistic Intelligence; a review of Frames of Mind and the research of Howard Gardner
Howard Gardner is an American researcher and Professor of Cognition and Education. Frames of Mind, first published in 1983, collects over 30 years of research and theories on the idea of multiple, fairly autonomous intelligences that work...
Frames of Mind, the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. A discussion on the work of Howard Gardner
Howard Gardner is a researcher who has long worked on the idea that intelligence is not limited to a single, overarching quality. He also has some interesting thoughts on the limitations of IQ tests, and education. His research has ...
The Chronicles of Narnia- a Spoiler Free Discussion
The Chronicles of Narnia are one the best loved children’s story collections of all time. However, most of the people who are aware of the series, have not read all seven books. Today we are going to have a (mostly!) spoiler-free qu...
An Overview of The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi
In today’s chapter of The Literate Caveman, we are closing out our immediate discussion of The Book of Five Rings with an overview of some of the key principles from the book. First we will look at the six principles translator William Sc...
The Wind Scroll from The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi
In today’s chapter of The Literate Caveman, we review the Wind Chapter of the book of Five Rings, with a quick look at the Emptiness Chapter. In this chapter Musashi discusses the shortcomings he saw in other styles of his day, listing ou...
The Fire Scroll from The Book of Five Rings; by Miyamoto Musashi
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we discuss the Fire Scroll, of Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings. In the Fire scroll, Musashi discusses his thoughts on battle, sharing mindset principles and tactics that he learned over th...
The Water Scroll from The Book of Five Rings: by Miyamoto Musashi
In the Water Scroll, Miyamoto Musashi discusses the mindset and principles that characterize his style of swordsmanship. In today’s episode, we will discuss this mindset, and how it differs fundamentally from the way many martial arts are...
The Earth Scroll from The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we continue our discussion of Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings with an examination of the Earth Chapter, or scroll. In this chapter, Musashi lays down the principles for his practical appro...
The Book of Five Rings by Myamoto Musashi; an Introduction
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, I am introducing The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. This book is very well known, but I suspect not studied very much. I have talked to a lot of people over the years who have hea...
The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner, Conclusion.
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we conclude our review of The Logic of Failure by Deitrich Dorner. This episode overviews some of the challenges we have in managing complex problems, recognizing that we need to strive to do wh...
What do cannon balls have to do with decision making? | The Literate Caveman reviews The Logic of Failure by Deitrich Dorner
In today’s episode of the Literate Caveman, we near the end of The Logic of Failure. In this chapter, author Deitrich Dorner reviews more interesting studies, including one that suggests people can easily drift from their moral and ethica...
The Logic of Failure: Planning, Labels, and Automatic Patterns
Today, we are diving deeper into the planning process, and discussing some ways in which we can narrow our focus as we select the best strategies for dealing with complex problems.
"Catastrophes seem to hit suddenly, but in reality the way has been prepared for them" The Literate Caveman discusses The Logic of Failure
“Catastrophes seem to hit suddenly, but in reality the way has been prepared for them.” In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we continue our discussion about how human beings have difficulty predicting events over the course of tim...
The Logic of Failure | Exponential growth, and Some thoughts on how people have a hard time predicting changes over time
Exponential growth happens when a variable is multiplied by a specific amount over a period of time. This is much different than linear growth, but the two are often confused. In the Logic of Failure, author Dietrich Dorner uses the...
The Literate Caveman Episode 13: The Logic of Failure | How Contextual Dependencies Impact Strategy
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we continue our review of The Logic of Failure by Deitrich Dorner. Today we are going to look at how abstract thought helps to form generalizations- and examine some cautions about taking this t...
The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner, How Understanding Systems Help Us Make Our Goals More Specific
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we continue our review of The Logic of Failure by Deitrich Dorner. Today we discuss how Positive Feedback and Negative Feedback work by themselves, and how they can work together. We will ...
The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner, Some Ways goal setters deceive themselves
In today's episode of The Literate Caveman, we finish our review of Chapter Three of the book. In this section, Dorner introduces the ideas of 'Goal Inversion' and 'Conceptual Integration'. He also explains how people can fall back ...
The Logic of Failure Review: How smart people get tripped up by secondary goals
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman we continue our review of The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner. In this episode, we review the idea of ‘Repair Service Behavior’ ‘Flow Experience’ and look at some of the consequences of allow...
The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner, Goals and Their Requirements
In today’s episode of The Literate Caveman, we review some different categories of goals and their requirements.
Episode 8: The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner, Understanding Complex Systems
In today's episode of The Literate Caveman, we continue our review of Dietrich Dorner's book The Logic of Failure. This episode outlines some of the parameters for dealing with complex systems, and helps lays the foundation for the author...
