Angus Fletcher: Primal Intelligence

Tue Sep 23 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:00 pm UTC-07:00

The Commonwealth Club | San Francisco

Inforum at the Commonwealth Club
Publisher/HostInforum at the Commonwealth Club
Angus Fletcher: Primal Intelligence
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Ever wonder where visionary creatives and decision-makers such as Steve Jobs, Vincent van Gogh & Maya Angelou get their mental abilities?
About this Event

How can you tap into your hidden intelligence and transform your life? The Army might be able to show you how.

If you’ve ever wondered where such visionary creatives and decision-makers such as Steve Jobs, Vincent van Gogh, Abraham Lincoln, Maya Angelou, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Warren Buffett, and William Shakespeare get their extraordinary mental abilities, join us for an intriguing talk with Angus Fletcher, professor at The Ohio State University. Researchers at Ohio State’s Project Narrative in 2021 said they have an answer: primal intelligence—something that cannot be found in computers but is in humans and can be strengthened.

In response, U.S. Army Special Operations incorporated primal training for its most classified units; according to Fletcher, they saw the future faster, healed more quickly from trauma, and chose more wisely in life-and-death situations. The Army then authorized trials on civilians—entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers, managers, coaches, teachers, investors, and NFL players. Their leadership and innovation reportedly improved significantly; they coped better with change and uncertainty, and they experienced less anger and anxiety. Then the Army provided primal training to college and K–12 classrooms, where it is said to have produced substantial effects in students as young as eight.

Fletcher has brought this training to a wider audience in his new book Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know. Join us as he shares what he learned about this approach to using your brain—you just might end up thinking more like Jobs, Lincoln and Shakespeare.

SPEAKERS

Angus Fletcher, Professor of Story Science, Ohio State’s Project Narrative; Author, Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know

Moderator TBA

5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in6–7 p.m. program7 p.m. book signing(all times Pacific Time)

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Commonwealth Club, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, United States

Tickets

USD 24.25

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