Splitting: A Polarizing Phenomena in Psychology & Politics

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Interintellect Maybe Gray invites you to explore our tendency to see "Good" and "Bad" separately in ourselves, our relationships, and our political perspectives.   “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.…

Cheating on Dunbar: Maintaining our growing Social Networks

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In this salon, debut host Lukas Rosenstock and returning host Vajresh Balaji will discuss our growing social circles and the tools we use to manage them. Humans probably evolved in smaller tribes where everybody knew everyone else. Dunbar’s number says there are around 150 relationships we can retain in our heads. Modern life, on the…

Ted Chiang Part 3: Worlds and Beings Very Foreign to Us

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Étienne Fortier-Dubois  leads a series of thematic discussions on the work of science fiction author Ted Chiang. In Part 3, we discuss non-human beings and how their psychology and biology may differ from ours. Ted Chiang ranks among the best living authors of science fiction. Though he cannot be described as prolific — his entire…

The battles were so fierce because the stakes were so small: a Salon on René Girard

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Alex Danco joins fellow Interintellects for a Salon about the philosophy of René Girard, the (in)famous father of modern mimetic theory. We're going to get together and talk about René Girard, and his grand theory of mimetic behaviour. Sub-topics will likely include: -Scapegoating, cancel culture, and online mobs -How Silicon Valley works (founder as God-king-sacrifice;…

Spontaneous Order and the “Un-tragedy” of the commons : From the Scottish Enlightenment through Hayek to Jane Jacobs and Elinor Ostrom

“Unfortunately, many analysts – in academia, special-interest groups, governments, and the press – still presume that common-pool problems are all dilemmas in which the participants themselves cannot avoid producing suboptimal results, and in some cases disastrous results.” ~ Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons The tragedy of the commons is all too common. From climate change…

Writer’s Corner: Short Fiction in Theory and Practice — Session 2: Ernest Hemingway

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Welcome to Writer’s Corner where we talk about and practice the craft of writing. Join Sylvia R in this session where we will focus on Hemingway. This session will focus on Hemingway and will be structured as follows: Section 1: Discuss We’ll dive into the formal qualities of "Indian Camp" (see pre-salon reading materials). We’ll discuss…

Fernando Pessoa on the Fractured Self – A Salon with Agnes Callard

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Our friend Agnes Callard - associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and everyone's favourite Twitter thinker - joins us for a special discussion about the nature of "self", whether points of view exist, and how Pessoa's poetry can reveal some answers.   "Pessoa's key insight is that our mind and our sensations--even our…