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What do Shakespeare, Hollywood storytelling, and military special operations have in common? They all excel at inventing new plans, or improvising when we're facing radical uncertainty. Listen as professor of story science Angus Fletcher tells EconTalk’s Russ Roberts how we’ve misdefined intelligence, equating it with data-driven reasoning in place of what he calls "primal intelligence"—the uniquely human ability to think and plan in situations with incomplete information. Drawing on years of work in Hollywood and working with elite military operators, Fletcher shows how narratives aren't just entertainment—they're the foundation of human intelligence. He reveals why military special operations personnel need to create new plans on the fly, why Shakespeare remains profoundly relevant to modern problem-solving, and why reading challenging literature literally rewires your brain for greater adaptability.

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Bear Grylls is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. Widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild, he was also appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at the age of 35. He held the post until September 2024, becoming the second-longest-serving Chief Scout after Robert Baden-Powell.

His new book, "The Greatest Story Ever Told", is a retelling of the life of Jesus through the eyes of five Gospel characters: Mary the mother of Jesus, Thomas, Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene