Framing is Fundamental. Francis de Véricourt and Kenneth Cukier

How Do We Fix It?

Too often in our fierce and narrow political debates, we suffer from a poverty of imagination. Seeing a crisis through a narrow lens of "us versus them" is a barrier to creative solutions and vital changes needed to save lives, protect the planet, and grow prosperity.

In this episode we discuss the enormous power and potential of framing: mental models that enable us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and understand new situations.

Our guests are Kenneth Cukier, a senior editor at The Economist in London, and Francis de Véricourt, professor of management science at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. They are two of the co-authors of the new book, "Framers. Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil."

Real-world examples of how framers changed the world include: The rapid rise of #MeToo, which went viral on Twitter after the actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a request to her followers: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”; Successful responses to Covid-19 by the governments of New Zealand, Taiwan, and Australia, and the framing of U.S. Constitution in the late 18th Century.

We also learn why the advice to "think outside the box" is useless, and how to understand the role of mental models in our own daily lives.

Recommendation: Jim suggests a puzzle: The New York Times "pangram", Spelling Bee.

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