Stoicism and the Age of AI

• What we will do:
Join us for our February 15th meetup. This will be the first Stoicism meetup in 2026 and our first for some time.
This first meetup will be a bit different from what we did before.
We plan to have a voice-interactive, AI powered, virtual Seneca with us, who will participate in the discussion and whose capabilities as a virtual Stoic sage we will evaluate.
The topic we will be discussing is:
“Self-Talk in Stoicism”:
· How Stoics thought it would help
· How they applied it
· How we can apply it today
This meetup won’t be a presentation of answers, but rather a group discussion, brainstorming session on the topic and idea exchange.
Our virtual Seneca will no doubt have answers, but we will review those as well and how we think it might compare to the ancient real Seneca.
So, a bit of preparation using Seneca’s writings on that topic might be helpful. Maybe don’t use AI to get those answers or we will just be comparing one AI to another.

• Why we meet
The goal of this group is to discuss how to apply Stoicism to our daily lives and how we can get better at it.
You don't need to be an academic or have any sort of philosophy training to join this group.
The best contribution you can make is to tell a short personal story, how some of the text we read, applied to an experience you have actually had.

• Where we meet
We will meet at the Encinitas Public Library (outside patio).
Note: IN CASE OF RAIN, we will meet directly at the Modern Times coffee, food and bar on 470 S Coast Hwy 101, 92024 Encinitas. A less than 10 minute walk, downhill from the library.
If you want to and have time you can join us after the Meetup for lunch at Modern Times.
There is plenty of parking at the library. We'll be meeting on the outside patio of the library with its beautiful ocean view.

• What to bring
We'll be sitting outside on the patio. Please dress accordingly. Prepare for both, sun and cold wind.

• Important to know
The focus of this group is self-improvement and socializing.
Though I encourage people to be politically active, we don't want to get into political discussions at our Stoicism meetups.