ONLINE: “The Underpinnings of Society” (Part 2)

This is the Monday night meeting for Orlando Stoics. It's online.

We will continue our conversation on society, gaining insight into the underpinnings through the eyes of great thinkers and philosophers. In part 2, we will cover:

1. The Caves of Leang-Leang, which have the oldest known animal paintings, estimated at 40K-45K years old. Who were our ancestors? Why did they paint?

2. The book “Sapiens”, by Yuval Noah Harari, observes that humans flourish because we can communicate & cooperate, but the scientific revolution and materialism have created a societal shift away from our unifying belief systems.

3. The book “The Denial of Death”, by Ernest Becker, argues that society and our engagement with it is a defense mechanism against the inevitability and fear of death.

4. Nietzsche foretold our collective entanglement with herd mentality and our identification with and reliance on technology rather than upon the Self and Self overcoming.

The meeting will start with a dialogue and then proceed to Q&A. Hope you can join us!

READING MATERIAL

1. The Caves of Leang-Leang (Indonesia)
Ancient hand paintings (est. 40K years old)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caves_in_the_Maros-Pangkep_karst

1B. (Extra) Walking through the Caves of Leang-Leang
BBC Video (3 minutes, fascinating!)
https://youtu.be/gtD9oyGK5MA

2. “Sapiens” (2011)
By Yuval Noah Harari
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapiens%3A_A_Brief_History_of_Humankind#Summary

3. The Denial of Death (1973)
By Ernest Becker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death

4. Nietzsche and his views on Society
(Search this article for the section on “Jung”)
https://academyofideas.com/2020/03/what-would-nietzsche-think-of-21st-century-society/

TIMEZONES

Meeting time (USA):
7:00PM Eastern
6:00PM Central
5:00PM Mountain
4:00PM Pacific

For our international friends,
Please convert time with the free tool
https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/

ZOOM LINK

CLICK TO START MEETING - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82659560546

If you don't have a computer with camera, you can also dial using a phone. Pick one of these numbers and add ID 826 5956 0546#
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US
+1 301 715 8592 US

Our group enjoys open-minded, respectful conversations on Stoicism and how it relates to science, culture, philosophy, other belief systems, and even pop culture (books and movies). Sometimes "we agree to disagree", but the long-term goal is to improve our minds via group discussions.

In general, Stoicism teaches us how to handle difficult people and events, how to avoid anger and worry, and overall to use moderation in all aspects of our lives.

This meeting is free and open to the public.