Episode 54: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

It's easy to assume that Sherlock Holmes's powers were something of an anomaly - that Holmes was a superhero with something akin to super powers, and we mere mortals cannot attain the same level of expertise and professionalism. But that assumption would be wrong, as author Maria Konnikova has made abundantly clear.

In her book Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Konnikova, who holds a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University and writes the "Literally Psyched" column for Scientific American, deconstructs the process of observation, deduction and self-knowledge. In doing so, she gives the reader concrete examples of how to approach the fabled scientific method, along with the psychology behind the process.

While we have previously reviewed her book, our conversation with Maria in this episode took personal turns and got us much deeper into the creative process, her inspiration, and even a back story to Holmes that gave him these powers.

In addition, we covered topics from the ridiculous to the sublime such as movie trailers and voice overs, storytelling, suggestions for getting your fix of Sherlock Holmes news links and more. We also discussed the need to merge this site and the Baker Street Blog and put out a call for assistance from those with technical programming aptitude to help us with the migration and site upgrade. We also asked for feedback on our process, frequency and topics of the show - we'd love to hear from you!

Finally, we concluded with a reading of the Editor's Gas-Lamp, this time choosing the most recent entry from the Summer 2013 (Vol. 63, No. 2).

Links:

• Video chat with director Kurt Mattila
• Trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian
• Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova (Amazon)
• How researchers are using fiction to make their reports accessible to the public
• Sherlock Holmes For Dummies on Facebook
• Always1895.net
• Christopher Morley's "In Memoriam Sherlock Holmes" in the Saturday Review of Literature
• Fantastic chronology of the Canon by TheNorwoodBuilder
• News links to keep you up to date on all things Sherlock Holmes: the Sherlock Holmes Scoop.it page and the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Flipboard magazine

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