Jun 12, 2021
Paul R. Fleischman is a scientist, author, and mediator. He joins us to discuss the experience of Wonder, including:
A scientific definition of wonder.
What happens to wonder in capitalism and bureaucracy?
Why wonder makes for a bad employee (and why it’s good to be a bad employee?).
How a low-budget summer camp saved his life and sense of wonder.
The inimitable sound of the Thrush.
Wonder: how to use the word without destroying the phenomenon.
The role of non-useful information in our lives.
How to cultivate wonder.
A short digression to dis William Blake.
Intentionality: designing our life around wonder.
Routinizing wonder and getting in ruts.
Unconditional love, empathy, and mirror neurons.
And much, much more…
Some references from the interview:
A brief biography of Paul: https://store.pariyatti.org/paul_fleischman
Paul’s book on Wonder: https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-When-World-Appears-Radiant/dp/1937650235
The song of the hermit thrush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0mATRdzZSc
Whitman’s poem starring the thrush (When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45480/when-lilacs-last-in-the-dooryard-bloomd