109: The Pursuit of Intelligence: Flowers for Algernon Made You Think

“I don’t know what’s worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.”
Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today, we're delving into Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Join us as we take you through the journey of an intellectually disabled man who undergoes a procedure with the hopes of increasing his mental abilities. We'll unpack several themes that resonate deeply with the human experience, and seek to get our questions answered on what it truly means to be intelligent.
We cover a wide range of topics including:
The relationship between intelligence and loneliness Whether the experiment actually made Charlie worse off Influence of social norms and media on individual beliefs and behaviors The existence (or lack of) internal dialogues How handicapped people are often viewed and treated And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.
Links from the Episode:
Mentioned in the Show:
Apple Vision Pro (0:01) Rabbit (0:56) Playdate (2:41) Slack (3:54) Lambda Technologies (4:16) Discord (5:17) Flowers for Algernon Wiki (14:41) Internal dialogues (42:01) Reddit thread on Internal Dialogues (43:45)  Texas Tower shooting of 1966 (53:49) The Crowded Room (1:14:04)  Books Mentioned:
Flowers for Algernon Infinite Jest (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat’s Book Notes) Enders Game (30:45) The Three-Body Problem (30:46) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Permutation City (31:36) (Book Episode) Straw Dogs (48:02) (Book Episode) The Minds of Billy Milligan (1:13:42) East of Eden (1:18:12) (Nat's Book Notes) Logicomix (1:21:02) People Mentioned:
Daniel Keyes Sam Altman (5:53) Sam Harris (53:24) David Foster Wallace (58:49) Michael Chang (1:15:02) John Steinbeck (1:17:15) Show Topics:
(0:00) We open the show by talking about new hardware innovations on the horizon from Apple’s Vision Pro to the pocket-sized Rabbit. 
(3:23) As it's become increasingly easier to make software, what will this mean for SaaS companies and the future of software?
(6:18) Today we’re talking about Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The book takes us on the journey of a severely handicapped man who enters into an experiment in order to increase his intelligence. There will be spoilers so if you're planning on reading the book, we suggest you do that before listening to this episode!
(12:28) Through Charlie's progression and regression, we get a glimpse into his levels of intelligence, awareness, and loneliness. He finds himself lonelier the more intelligent he becomes because as he gains more awareness, he learns that some people aren't truly his friends.
(13:21) There seems to be a human desire to improve no matter what. Nat, Neil, and Adil debate whether Charlie was better or worse off in the end than he was at the start of his journey.
(18:35) We discuss some of the other characters in the story and what their relationship with Charlie is like. Notably, Alice is one of the only people who saw him as a person throughout his whole life, even before he gained his intelligence. 
(22:00) Charlie's family life and how the author wrote each of their closures with Charlie, or lack thereof. 
(25:12) Despite Alice being a very positive figure in Charlie’s life, you could make the argument that he didn't treat her very well. Regardless, Alice kept her hope and optimism in every situation.
(28:18) Though the book is classified as science fiction, it also poses instances of moral philosophy. Showcased by the author were examples of how people with mental or physical disabilities are treated by others, both obviously and subtly. 
(32:52) One of the symbols in the story was a window that Charlie would watch the world through. It was a way for him to interpret his disconnection from society. Throughout the story, Charlie makes progress once he acknowledges himse