The Importance of Don Quixote

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Don Quixote, the novel that ushered in the modern era, is one of the great books. It's about an aging land owner who gets into his idea that he should be a knight. He pretends to be a knight all over the place looking for adventure and charging windmills. The book plays out on three levels: slapstick comedy level, deeply sad level and life-affirming level.

Alex Danco returns for his seventh (yes, SEVENTH) appearance on Infinite Loops to discuss, as usual, pretty much everything other than the topics we had prepared in advance. This week, we discuss: The two types of lawyers, what Alex learned from reading Don Quixote, Elon the Reply Guy, the psychology of Seinfeld, the best Wall Street Movies, and much more. Important Links:

Show Notes:

The two kinds of lawyers
Medicine, placebo, Don Quixote & theatre
Heroes, villains & main characters
Elon the Reply Guy
Safe words, scams & narrative collapse
Self-deception is multiplayer
The psychology of Seinfeld
To what extent are great innovations already baked into the systems?
Margin Call: The two schools of thought
The best Wall Street movies
MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

The Theory And Practice Of Gamesmanship Or The Art Of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating; by Stephen Potter
Don Quixote; by Miguel de Cervantes
The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History; by Howard K. Bloom
Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships; by Eric Berne
Mendel's Dwarf; by Simon Mawer
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine; by Michael Lewis
The Bonfire of the Vanities; by Tom Wolfe
The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron; by Peter Elkind & Bethany McLean