Ep. 248: James Geary - On "The World in a Phrase", the Power of Aphorisms

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we explore the world through phrases.

Not just any phrases, but aphorisms – those short sentences with the power to stop us in our tracks, cause us to rethink how we see things, and even make better decisions.

I'm joined by James Geary, author of the newly re-released book, The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism. James is a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School. James is also a self-confessed 'aphorism addict', and he studied the history of what he calls the world's oldest written art form.

As you will hear, aphorisms transcend culture and historical periods. And James's work and this conversation refer to the likes of Lao Tzu, the ancient Greeks, through to Mark Twain, and modern figures like Wynton Marsalis and Brian Eno. From a decision-making lens, aphorisms have potency as heuristics. When we think about modern challenges, James explains that they can help us so very much, particularly as AI is taking over the written word and threatening to reduce our cognitive load to zero.

Show notes:

James' website

The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism

James on Instagram

James on Blue Sky

Stanisław Lec

Yogi Berra

The I Ching

G.K Chesteron

Cyril Connolly

Brian Eno

Wynton Marsalis

Clet Abraham

Steven Wright

Brian Wilson

Josh Billings

Eric Jarosinski

Joseph Joubert

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Like what you heard? Check out:

The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast