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…
Join London ii Hosts Flick Hardingham and Irene JK to discuss the life and views of Plato, as well as his great teacher Socrates, exploring how their ideas might be relevant (or not) in today’s society and how they might serve us in the future. This salon is the first of an 11-month Interintellect series…
We are gathering to celebrate late bloomers – all those who started late in love, their career, as writers… Come join us! In our crazy-fast-paced 21st century we live in, we like to lament that all of culture caters to the young: TikTok is teeming with teenagers, pop stars are under the legal drinking age,…
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;…
“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…
Interintellect Patricia Hurducas will lead a discussion on curation – from curation of objects in museums to curation of ideas in our personal projects. How can we become better curators and what does that entail? The word curation comes from the Latin word curare, meaning to look after. In Roman times, it meant to take…
Join David Valerio as he continues his series on Christopher Alexander’s The Timeless Way of Building. The Timeless Way of Building is a classic of architectural philosophy. It presents the organic, fractal, and down-to-earth way that we evolved buildings in the past, and serves as a biting critique of the top-down, authoritarian, and alienating approach to the “design”…
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…
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…
In her debut salon, Tanya Raj will explore the psychology behind the images we make and what they tell us about ourselves. It is said, “if you want to learn what someone fears losing watch what they photograph” – in other words, we as humans make pictures of what we love, what we want to…
Physical health, strength and wellbeing for intellectuals: in his monthly Interintellect Salon, Ben Fleming addresses what’s beyond sitting and thinking? Low fat. Low carb. Vegan. Keto. Paleo. Intermittent fasting. Juice cleanse. Vegetarian. Pescatarian. Fruitarian. Carnivore. The list goes on (and on.. and on..). But which diet is the most healthy? What does "healthy" even mean in the context…
On April 7, Taylor Pullinger returns to lead a discussion on the meaning and merits of having children in light of all it entails. How did you come to exist in this world? In all likelihood it’s because your parents had a child, and their parents had a child, and their parents had a child… you get…
