Jamie Wheal, author of "Stealing Fire" and founder of the Flow Genome Project, joins the podcast to discuss his perspective on sensemaking, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the future of human performance. He shares insights on how to navigate complex information landscapes, the importance of critical thinking, and the potential of human potential.

🤔 **Sensemaking and the COVID-19 Pandemic:** Jamie Wheal discusses the challenges of making sense of the world in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the role of social media and academia in shaping public discourse. He emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and discerning reliable information sources.

🚀 **The Flow Genome Project and Human Performance:** Wheal delves into the work of the Flow Genome Project, an organization dedicated to training ultimate human performance. He explains how the project aims to unlock human potential through techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, and biofeedback, and its impact on individuals and organizations.

🤝 **Dialogue and Disagreement:** The conversation explores the value of open dialogue and constructive disagreement, even when perspectives diverge. Jamie Wheal demonstrates a willingness to engage with critical perspectives, highlighting the importance of respectful discourse in a complex and rapidly evolving world.

🧠 **The Future of Human Potential:** Wheal shares his vision for the future of human potential, emphasizing the importance of harnessing technology and human ingenuity to create a more sustainable and fulfilling future. He argues that by understanding our own biology and psychology, we can unlock our full potential and create a positive impact on the world.

📚 **Recommended Resources:** The podcast features recommendations for further exploration, including Mike Duncan's "Revolutions" podcast, the "Beyond Synth" podcast, and critical analysis of Rebel Wisdom and Jamie Wheal by Psymposia.

Today we are joined by Jamie Wheal, who comprised a full one-third of the subjects covered on our prior "Sensemaking Cubed" episode also featuring Daniel Schmachtenberger and Jordan Hall. Jamie has kindly taken advantage of our standing offer of a right to reply to all podcast subjects and here is our conversation in its entirety.

As well as being a sometime interlocutor with Daniel and Jordan, Jamie is an author of books such as Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, Navy SEALs and Maverick Scientists are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work and Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That's Lost Its Mind. He's the founder of the Flow Genome Project, an organisation that aspires to train ultimate human performance, and does leadership seminars and wilderness excursions with many famous organisations such as Deloitte, Red Bull, Google, Lululemon, Facebook, TD Ameritrade, Nike, and Goldman Sachs.

So, the three of us get into it a bit about that sensemaking about sensemaking video, but pretty quickly move into the issue of making sense of things more broadly, as it's transpired with fraught issues such as COVID; both in the popular social media space, and within the 'blue church' of academia.

From what we knew of Jamie, we expected to have a pleasant chat with him, and as you'll hear: it was a pleasant chat! Even if our worldview and understanding of things diverged a fair bit, there were a number of things we could agree on as well.

A big thumbs-up to Jamie for taking our (relatively scathing) coverage of the infamous video with the best of grace and, in the best tradition of what the IDW purports to do, be willing to have a frank public chat with a couple of blokes who have been highly critical of some of the people and ideas he's (somewhat) aligned with.

Our intros and outros are - as usual - quite indulgent, so be sure to take advantage of those bookmarks if you want to skip straight to the interview proper.

Enjoy!

Links

Mike Duncan's Revolutions PodcastBeyond Synth Podcast (Chris is a guest on ep 342)Gizmodo fact-check on Elon's claims about AppleJamie Wheal @ Linkedin Feature on Jamie Wheal in the Texas MonthlyJamie Wheal's appearance on ConspiritualityCritical analysis of Rebel Wisdom & Jamie Wheal by Psymposia