What Does Fidgeting Do?

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Fidgeting can soothe us if we're feeling anxious. Or it can be sort of playfulan open our minds and, um, make us more open to new ideas. Catherine is bister notes that we usually spend almost all our time at work or often at school with these really sleek, hard, shiny surfaces of art. And she thinks that fidgeting with these objects sort of reminds us that we are human,. We do have all these senses that get left out when we're just sort of a brain in front of a screen.

Our curators — Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink — recently named “The Extended Mind” by Annie Murphy Paul one of the best books of the year. In this episode, Annie returns to the Next Big Idea podcast for a spirited conversation with Adam in which she defends the fine art of fidgeting, suggests ways to improve group brainstorms, and gives Adam advice on how to talk to his childhood sensei.

By the way, Adam's brilliant TED podcast "WorkLife" is back now with a new batch of interviews — including a Nobel Prize winner, one of the world’s most influential leaders, a daredevil who’s mastered fear, and one of the most decorated Olympians ever. Find them on "WorkLife with Adam Grant" wherever you listen.