What we’re about
Do you have a mind that is hungry for for new and challenging ideas? Are you searching for a community where you can learn together with your fellow neighbours? Are you looking for welcoming place to share all your beautiful thoughts? Then it's time to pull up a seat at the Hungry Minds table and get all filled up. There's a great variety of topics - you are sure to find something to whet your appetite here.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- Informed, part 3 - ThemCatalyst 137, Kitchener, ON
Theme: Defending a reality-based life - This is part 3 of 3 discussions.
What organized efforts suppress people’s being informed? How is this power created and maintained? Some disinformation campaigns were considered in our previous two sessions. We again take a look at some examples of the workings of power and systems which keep people *epistemically oppressed.* This can include what is being kept hidden, and why. We are invited to read the following book:
Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchinson. This 2024 book is recommended background and some ideas may be discussed.
https://www.amazon.ca/Invisible-Doctrine-Secret-History-Neoliberalism/dp/0735248591The plan for the three discussions is in the document below. There are links to more resources, which look at examples from journalists, other writers, and more.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JXsH3dZpocNsKNSBRXRgZ05kXTfBYqWyAAu2F5YE0h8 - I Heard There Was a Secret Chord - Discussion of the Healing Power of MusicTess' Backyard, Kitchener, ON
This event will focus on the work of neuroscientist Daniel Levitin as it pertains to the healing power of music. We will discuss his book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord. It would be great if you could read it but there's some links to interviews with him about it below and summary notes will be available at least a week before the event.
We'll also discuss our own experience with music. If you can, we'd love it if you could bring a list of songs to share (we'll make everyone's list available on the website after). On this list can you list a song you've found that expresses each of the following emotional states for you (different song for each emotion): 1. Elated 2. Lonely 3. Enraged 4. Grateful 5. Overwhelmed.
Resources:
Daniel Levitin's book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine (Available through the library. Also message Tess through meetup messages to see if you can get a copy)
Museum of Science YouTube video "Music as Medicine: Daniel Levitin and Livingston Taylor"
TVO's The Agenda "Daniel Levitin: Can Music Help Us Heal?"
DVD "The musical brain a journey of discovery into the mystery of music" (available through the library)
ABC Science half hour TV show on available YouTube "Music on the Brain: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"
- The Great Unraveling - A Hope-Filled ConversationTess' Backyard, Kitchener, ON
Let's imagine that it's the end of the world as we know it - how are you feeling?
Do you think we are on the edge having our social and political systems unravel? What does this mean for our future? Is it a bad thing? Is there a better way that might emerge? Are we capable of paying the cost of getting from here to there? What, if anything, can we do to prepare? What, if anything, can we do to help?
Please note - you do not need to read the following resources to attend the discussion. Please post any other relevant resources you may want to contribute in the comments section.
Ten years ago The Guardian published a long essay on moving to postcapitalism with the headline "The End of Capitalism has Begun" in which it saw some optimism for us.
The Post Carbon Institute has a booklet entitled "Welcome to the Great Unraveling: Navigating the Polycrisis of Environmental and Social Breakdown" by Asher Miller and Richard Heinberg that is a good resource for this discussion, albeit a little more on the pessimistic side.
There's also a very good discussion of what it is like to live under a system that is not based on supporting the value of human living in Václav Havel's long essay The Power of the Powerless. The whole essay is quite good, but if you're short on time you can cut out sections XII to XIX where he talks more about the nature of dissidence and dissident groups in Czechoslovakia. It's hard to see where Section XII starts in the linked pdf - it is in the first paragraph on pg 34. If you're skipping the less pertinent, you can pick up again at Section XX on pg 72. There is a book copy of The Power of the Powerless available with an introduction by Timothy Snyder - it is available from the library. You can also message Tess directly and she can email you an epub copy.
