Ep 158. Maggie Jackson: Productive Uncertainty

<p>Maggie Jackson is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, fellowships, and prizes as an author and journalist whose essays, commentary, and books have been featured in <em>The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New Philosopher</em>, on <em>National Public Radio</em>, and elsewhere. A graduate of Yale and the London School of Economics, her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Distracted-Reclaiming-Focus-World-Attention/dp/1633884627/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=maggie+jackson&amp;qid=1581705066&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"><em>Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention</em></a> has been described as “groundbreaking” and “essential” and a new, updated edition has just been released that continues to warn that the fragmentation of attention in today’s world is eroding our abilities to problem-solve, innovate, and care for one another. She’s the author of another book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Happening-Home-Balancing-Information/dp/1893732401" target="_blank"><em>What’s Happening to Home? Balancing Work, Life and Refuge in the Information Age</em></a>, which was the first to explore the fate of home in the digital age, a time when private life is permeable and portable.</p><br><p>In this episode, Stew and Maggie talk about distraction in the digital age and a new project she’s working on, what she calls “productive uncertainty.”&nbsp; They explore the benefits of fallow time, which permits restoration and rejuvenation; the dangers of snap judgements and how we are biased toward making them without really thinking; how to nourish the “slow mind” and much more. Maggie explains some of the cognitive science underpinning her incisive insights on how to cultivate a greater acceptance of openness to uncertainty and non-linear ways of appreciating our world.</p><br><p><br></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and op