STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Discuss in small groups some of the well-written books dealing with current research and observations on important areas of knowledge. Buy, borrow, or check out the featured book(s) and register for a seat at the table. Join your assigned online discussion session on Zoom. Participants are encouraged to speak freely and develop their own thoughts. As a group we will search for boundaries of knowledge across all spheres of existence and through thoughtful expression find a fulfilling seminar process that is an end in itself.
Leslie Burtner
Meeting Format
• Each participant is given a seat at the table.
• Zoom or meetings last for 75 minutes.
• Each table is limited to a size of six participants
• Free-flowing discussion follows the Rules of Engagement.
• Each meeting has an agreed-upon Moderator who is also a Participant. As the group leader, the Moderator helps the group follow the Rules of Engagement and moves the discussion along.
• Participants select a passage of interest from the book to bring into the discussion, or they select a theme from Pandora's Chat Box.
Rules of Engagement
• Get and read into the book. Select a passage or idea of interest to share in the discussion.
• Don't debate or criticize. This is a forum for probing questions, not hardened positions.
• Speak in turn, stay on topic, and encourage replies from others.
• Use civil language.
• Do not wear or display logos or anything that could be considered propaganda.
• Work together and focus on meaning.
• Practice reciprocity.
Your Thoughts, Ideas, Questions and Quotes
You do not need to completely read the books before the meeting. Just read into them and find some passage or concept that seems worthy of introducing to the table. Write it down and lead with that when it's your turn to speak. We are exploring the boundaries, and this exploration is the end goal in itself. The questions are difficult, but the effort is meaningful. The goal is to develop satisfactory answers.
THE BOOKS, PHASE ONE: Base Camp Books
• A Thousand Brains, Jeff Hawkins
• The Thinking Hand, Juhani Pallasmaa
• The Blind Spot, Adam Frank, Evan Thompson, and Marcelo Gleiser
• Creative Faith, Don Cupitt
• Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Long Voyage Gathering Light, John Kooistra
• Into the Unknown, Kelsey Johnson
• Where Are We Heading?, Ian Hodder
• Forgiving Humanity, Peter Russell
• The Future of Capitalism, Paul Collier
AREAS OF DISCUSSION
We are playing the game of difficult ideas. We are confronting the boundaries. We are asking the hard questions. We are developing satisfactory questions. The big picture includes:
Energy
Movement
Consciousness
Space
Spirit
Matter
Climate Change
AI/Robots
Language
Ways of Knowing
"Cortical columns create reference frames for every object they know. The brain models the world using reference frames that are populated with reference frames: it is reference frames all the way down." Jeff Hawkins, A Thousand Brains
SIGN UP FOR A REALITY BOOK CLUB MEETING, THEN JOIN ZOOM (IT'S FREE)
Donation
Reality Book Club is rolling out. Please consider donating if you find it valuable.
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