Tom Cruise's Body of Work (with Aled Maclean-Jones)

About this episode

The episode explores how Tom Cruise's films illustrate the importance of embodied knowledge in the digital age.

What can Tom Cruise's last impossible mission teach us about usefulness in the digital age? Aled Maclean-Jones argues that dangling from cargo planes, soldering hard drives, and skydiving nineteen consecutive times is really an extended tribute to embodied knowledge. Listen as MacLean-Jones and EconTalk's Russ Roberts analyze the unique concept of competence presented in Cruise's films. Along the way, they cover London cabbies who refuse to use Waze, a fatal dive at the sound barrier, solo sailing around the globe, and the small triumph of fixing a broken toilet by oneself. They conclude by exploring the possibility that physical mastery may come to matter more as computers take over the work of the mind.

People in this episode

Host: Russ Roberts

Guest: Aled Maclean-Jones

Topics covered

• digital age
• embodied knowledge
• competence
• physical mastery
• technology impact

Keywords

• Tom Cruise
• embodied knowledge
• competence
• digital age
• physical mastery
• Waze
• technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Waze

Books & works: Tom Cruise's Body of Work

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