Greater Philadelphia Thinking Society

 
 
 

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart, we invite you to celebrate the life of our beloved Andrea Buonincontro, who passed away on April 23rd, 2023. Andrea was a cherished member of our community, and we would like to honor her memory with a celebration of her life.

The celebration will take place on Saturday, June 3rd, 2023, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm in Washington Square Park, located at 210 W. Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106 https://tinyurl.com/yjkfw4wk. We will gather on the grass near the 6th and Walnut entrance. In the event of rain, the celebration will be moved to the following day, June 4th, 2023.

We kindly ask that you bring a chair or blanket if you wish. Additionally, this event will be a potluck, so please feel free to bring a dish to share. We encourage you to bring your favorite memories of Andrea to share with the group.

The celebration will be hosted by Brian Linson and the Greater Philadelphia Thinking Society. Andrea was a dear friend to many of us, and we hope that you will join us in remembering her life and the joy she brought to all of us.

Sincerely,

Brian Linson and the GPTS organizers

 
 
 

Welcome to the series "Bucky Inspired Comprehensivity to Understand and Change the World". This is a collaboration with 52 Living Ideas.

Look at the amazing Schedule of Meetups in the series below:
(All Meetups are on Sundays at 9pm ET unless otherwise specified)

Struppi Pohl on Spherical Thinking and the Way of Spheres - Jan 1, 1pm ET
Thomas Miller on Liberating Modular Building from the yoke of Boxes - Jan 2, 12pm ET
Daniel Ari Friedman on Bucky & William Blake Parallels - Jan 8
Peter Meisen on On Synergy - Jan 15
Jon Brett on TetraMeme - Jan 22
Kirby Urner on Dimension in Synergetics - Jan 29
Curt McNamara on Bucky's Comprehensivity in his Design - Feb 5
Christopher Zelov - Cinematic Bucky Themes - Feb 12
D W Jacobs on Dramaturgical Synergies - Feb 19
Robert Sandusky on Bucky's Design Science & Four onramps - Feb 26
Bucky Lightening Talks: Invitation to talk for 5 minutes - Mar 5
Rupali Sharma on Bucky & Maria Montessori on Education Mar 12
Richard Ramsay on Social Tensegrity - Mar 26

Watch previous Bucky Meetups on YouTube here.

Buckminster Fuller championed a broad array of ideas to help us better understand and change the world. This series of events will engage these ideas and their practitioners to share, nurture, and develop this unique and urgent learning and doing mission to "make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone" as Bucky so famously put it.

Topics will range from the conceptual, scientific, and philosophical to nuts-and-bolts applications to arts and culture.

"Comprehensivity" is a word Buckminster Fuller used in a number of
writings in the 1960s and 1970s. In a series of essays and video explorations, CJ Fearnley has developed the concept into a Bucky-inspired
synthesis. Comprehensivity can be described as the quality of
comprehensive thinking that aspires to be "adequately macro-comprehensive and micro-incisive" by combining all we know in breadth for context and all we know in depth for clarity to improve our effectiveness in understanding and changing the world.

We invite everyone with a interest in learning about and participating
in this work to join us in forming a collaborative community to nourish
and support this important work and its practitioners.

The series will feature presentations by and interviews with
Bucky-inspired practitioners, aficionados, and artists. Some events
will explore works of Bucky, those inspired by or building on Bucky,
or with the same spirit as Bucky.

Please join us.

See: CJ Fearnley's Resources on Collaborating for Comprehensivity here

See the YouTube Playlist on Collaborating for Comprehensivity here

All Meetups on the 52 Living Ideas platform will be recorded, and then posted on YouTube. Feel free to keep your video on or off as you prefer. Watch Past Meetups here.

 
 
 

Why is the term "Karen" gaining popularity and being used as an insult so frequently? It seems like everywhere you turn, there are memes and costumes centered around the idea of a "Karen." The term "Karen" is often used to describe a white, middle-aged woman who consistently demands to speak to the manager in various situations. While there have always been middle-aged white women and individuals who complain excessively, there seems to be heightened criticism specifically directed toward this particular type of woman at this moment in time. In this meetup, we will explore how the meme "Karen" has revolutionized conversations about age, gender, and race in America.

Growing up, one might notice a prevalence of students named "Karen" in many schools. Among these students, there could be those who tend to bully others, regardless of whether their name was Karen or not. Such individuals often targeted those who stood out; newcomers, highly intellectual individuals, creatively inclined, or unique individuals.

One would hope that such individuals would undergo personal growth with time, evolving into kinder, more empathetic adults. But, the term "Karen" has gained a negative connotation in recent years, being used as an insult. Interestingly, this derogatory usage seems to be associated with those individuals who exhibited bullying tendencies during their school days. Despite growing older, it appears that their mean-spirited behavior remains the same, often targeting individuals perceived as different or less powerful, which sometimes included minorities.

There are racial and sexist components to the word "Karen." It is solely used against white women. Is this word used to call out the racism of white women, or is the use of it against only white women, racist in itself? While some white women exhibit "Karen" behaviors, many do not. Also, why is this word used solely against women? Plenty of men are racist, but they are let off the hook. Nobody dresses up in a middle-aged, white man costume to make fun of complaining, racist, middle-aged white men. Is this another example of society telling women to keep quiet and not to voice their opinions out loud? Words have meaning, and when we have a word for women, but not men, that omission tells us something.

Age is another aspect to consider. The term "Karen" is typically used to refer to older white women, while younger white women are not commonly labeled as such. Does this imply that only older women tend to complain and display disagreeable behavior? It is worth noting that American society often idealizes youth. Therefore, is there a genuine distinction in the behavior of older white women compared to younger ones, or is this merely a form of age-based discrimination disguised as a new label?

It is noteworthy that the term "Karen" has significantly gained popularity since the summer of 2020. Did the events during that period raise awareness about the frequent occurrence of racist incidents? It's possible that people now feel more empowered to denounce these incidents for what they truly are, and the use of the term "Karen" serves as a means of truth-telling and emotional release. However, it's important to acknowledge that white men hold the majority of power and wealth in our country, not white women. This raises the question of why there exists a term specifically for racist white women but not for racist white men.

Sources

1. ‘Karens’ have been going viral. But their behavior is not new — and it's dangerous
2. What does it mean to be a ‘Karen’? Karens explain | Life and style | The Guardian
3. Column: Is the 'Karen' meme sexist? Maybe, but it's also apt - Los Angeles Times
4. The Mythology of Karen - The Atlantic
5. White Women: Our Most Divided Voting Bloc: Democracy Journal
6. Earnings | U.S. Department of Labor

Questions to Consider:

1. What factors contribute to the increasing prevalence of the term "Karen"?
2. Why is the term "Karen" commonly associated with middle-aged white women, while middle-aged white men lack a comparable term?
3. In what ways does age influence the usage of the term "Karen"?
4. To what extent does racism play a role in the growing popularity of the term "Karen"?
5. Is the utilization of the Karen insult an attempt to silence or undermine women's voices and opinions?

 
 
 

Welcome to the series "Bucky Inspired Comprehensivity to Understand and Change the World". This is a collaboration with 52 Living Ideas.

Look at the amazing Schedule of Meetups in the series below:
(All Meetups are on Sundays at 9pm ET unless otherwise specified)

Struppi Pohl on Spherical Thinking and the Way of Spheres - Jan 1, 1pm ET
Thomas Miller on Liberating Modular Building from the yoke of Boxes - Jan 2, 12pm ET
Daniel Ari Friedman on Bucky & William Blake Parallels - Jan 8
Peter Meisen on On Synergy - Jan 15
Jon Brett on TetraMeme - Jan 22
Kirby Urner on Dimension in Synergetics - Jan 29
Curt McNamara on Bucky's Comprehensivity in his Design - Feb 5
Christopher Zelov - Cinematic Bucky Themes - Feb 12
D W Jacobs on Dramaturgical Synergies - Feb 19
Robert Sandusky on Bucky's Design Science & Four onramps - Feb 26
Bucky Lightening Talks: Invitation to talk for 5 minutes - Mar 5
Rupali Sharma on Bucky & Maria Montessori on Education Mar 12
Richard Ramsay on Social Tensegrity - Mar 26

Watch previous Bucky Meetups on YouTube here.

Buckminster Fuller championed a broad array of ideas to help us better understand and change the world. This series of events will engage these ideas and their practitioners to share, nurture, and develop this unique and urgent learning and doing mission to "make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone" as Bucky so famously put it.

Topics will range from the conceptual, scientific, and philosophical to nuts-and-bolts applications to arts and culture.

"Comprehensivity" is a word Buckminster Fuller used in a number of
writings in the 1960s and 1970s. In a series of essays and video explorations, CJ Fearnley has developed the concept into a Bucky-inspired
synthesis. Comprehensivity can be described as the quality of
comprehensive thinking that aspires to be "adequately macro-comprehensive and micro-incisive" by combining all we know in breadth for context and all we know in depth for clarity to improve our effectiveness in understanding and changing the world.

We invite everyone with a interest in learning about and participating
in this work to join us in forming a collaborative community to nourish
and support this important work and its practitioners.

The series will feature presentations by and interviews with
Bucky-inspired practitioners, aficionados, and artists. Some events
will explore works of Bucky, those inspired by or building on Bucky,
or with the same spirit as Bucky.

Please join us.

See: CJ Fearnley's Resources on Collaborating for Comprehensivity here

See the YouTube Playlist on Collaborating for Comprehensivity here

All Meetups on the 52 Living Ideas platform will be recorded, and then posted on YouTube. Feel free to keep your video on or off as you prefer. Watch Past Meetups here.