Story Scientist Angus Fletcher & Atomic Habits author James Clear!

Join acclaimed story scientist Angus Fletcher in an illuminating and insightful conversation with #1 New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear. The two will discuss Fletcher’s groundbreaking new book, Primal Intelligence, an exploration of human potential offering a new neuroscientific approach to intuition, imagination, emotion, and commonsense.

A general admission ticket is $10 that is waived if Primal Intelligence is pre-purchased when registering. The book will also be available for purchase at the event.

COLUMBUS COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY’S DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, and DENISON UNIVERSITY are Gramercy’s Community Partners for this exclusive program.

The creative spark of Vincent van Gogh. The business acumen of Steve Jobs. The mental resilience of Maya Angelou. The transformative leadership of Abraham Lincoln. The communication knack of William Shakespeare.

Says Daniel Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret and Drive: “Primal Intelligence delivers a fascinating exploration of human potential that will change how you think about thinking. With virtuosic range, Fletcher reveals why Shakespeare matters to Navy SEALs, what van Gogh can teach us about innovation, how Marie Curie’s intuition transformed, and much more. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to thrive in an uncertain world.”

In 2021, researchers at Ohio State’s Project Narrative, renowned for collaborations with NASA, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley, announced that they had discovered the neural power at the root of all this human genius. They named it Primal Intelligence.

Intrigued, US Army Special Operations developed Primal Intelligence training for its most classified units. The training succeeded. The Operators saw the future faster. They healed quicker from trauma. In life-and-death situations, they chose wiser.

The Army then ran trials on military nurses, pilots, engineers, and commanders—and on civilian entrepreneurs, doctors, managers, salespeople, teachers, investors, and NFL players. Their leadership and innovation improved significantly. They coped better with change and uncertainty. They experienced less anxiety and anger. Finally, the Army authorized trials on college and K-12 students. The training produced substantial effects in students as young as eight. In 2023, the Army awarded Project Narrative a medal for “groundbreaking research.”

The revolutionary training that US Army Special Operations and Project Narrative created is now available for the first time in this book. The training is simple, not easy. It’s not an optimization hack or a cheat code. It’s a different way of using your brain. It offers a new neuroscientific approach to intuition, imagination, emotion, and commonsense, helping you become more like van Gogh and Jobs, Lincoln and Angelou, and the tools to unlock one’s ancient know-how. Call it your human genius. Or Primal Intelligence.

Says Malcolm Gladwell, Canadian journalist and author of The Tipping Point and Blink, among others: “Primal Intelligence confirms what I have long suspected about Angus Fletcher. He has never had an uninteresting thought.”

Angus Fletcher is a professor of story science at Ohio State’ University’s Project Narrative, the world’s leading academic think-tank for the study of stories. He has dual degrees in neuroscience and literature, received his PhD from Yale, taught Shakespeare at Stanford, and has published widely on the scientific workings of novels, poetry, film, and theater. Angus is the author of Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature. His research has been called "life-changing" by BrenéBrown and "mind blowing" by Malcolm Gladwell; has been endorsed by psychologists, neuroscientists, and doctors such as Martin Seligman and Antonio Damasio; and has been supported by institutions from the National Science Foundation to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2023, he was awarded the Commendation Medal by the U.S. Army for his "groundbreaking research" with U.S. Army Special Operations into primal intelligence.

James Clear is a writer and speaker focused on habits, decision making, and continuous improvement. Along with authoring #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold over 20 million copies, James is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work has been featured in places like Time magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and on CBS This Morning. His work has been praised thought leaders such as Brené Brown, Adam Grant, Arianna Huffington, Tim Urban, and others. His popular “3-2-1” email newsletter is sent out each week to more than three million subscribers.