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Episode 7: I, Pencil: The Hidden Complexity of Simple Things
Manage episode 507879040 series 3682829
Dormant Knowledge에서 제공하는 콘텐츠입니다. 에피소드, 그래픽, 팟캐스트 설명을 포함한 모든 팟캐스트 콘텐츠는 Dormant Knowledge 또는 해당 팟캐스트 플랫폼 파트너가 직접 업로드하고 제공합니다. 누군가가 귀하의 허락 없이 귀하의 저작물을 사용하고 있다고 생각되는 경우 여기에 설명된 절차를 따르실 수 있습니다 https://ko.player.fm/legal.
That yellow pencil on your desk looks simple enough - just wood, graphite, metal, and rubber. But economist Leonard Read's famous 1958 essay "I, Pencil" revealed a startling truth: no single person on Earth actually knows how to make one from scratch.
Tonight, we explore Read's influential essay about the miraculous complexity hidden in everyday objects, then follow the adventures of two determined individuals who decided to test his theory in the real world. Andy George spent six months and $1,500 trying to make a simple sandwich from scratch - growing wheat, raising chickens, even boiling seawater for salt. Thomas Thwaites attempted something even more ambitious: building a toaster from raw materials, which led him to abandoned mines across Britain and a backyard smelting operation that alarmed the neighbors.
Their discoveries reveal profound truths about human cooperation, the limits of individual knowledge, and the invisible networks that make modern life possible. What starts as a story about pencils becomes a meditation on interdependence, expertise, and the beautiful complexity that surrounds us every day.
Perfect for curious minds who want to drift off while pondering the miracle of spontaneous coordination that puts simple tools in our hands.
9 에피소드
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