Summer 2025 "Thinker's Tavern"
Join us for a new series of informal discussions about cultural challenges and changing ideas!
These are informal discussions that are framed and moderated by a member of the ISFM faculty over Zoom, for the price of an adult beverage.
Current Topics
The Patriarchy
Framework: this is a system that is toxic to both women and men.
What exactly is "patriarchy"? How does it affect women? How does it affect men? Why is it toxic?
Sovereignty
Framework: People are divided about wanting sovereignty.
Sovereignty is a term connected to rulership--in the modern world it relates to freedom and self-determination. It is also connected to ideas of slavery and redemption. The main question is--do people really want it?
Duality & Rationality
Framework: Rationality limits us more than it expands our awareness.
Dualism is a spiritual and philosophical idea, as well as a theory of consciousness that says mind and body are separate. What are the origins of dualism in our culture? How is it connected to rational thinking? Why does it make it hard for us to think differently when new solutions are called for?
Creativity & AI
Framework: Humans are in danger of yielding their creative power to machines in their question for perfection and recognition.
AI has many uses and can help us in many ways. But in our quest to be perfect and to gain recognition in a social media environment, will we allow the machine to "do it better" for us? Or can AI truly be used to create something original and innovative?
The Hall of Mirrors
Framework: What we experience on the outside reflects our internal experience.
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Projection is a psychological concept developed by Sigmund Freud, and still part of modern psychology. What is projection exactly? How does it work? How do we know when we are projecting? How does it affect our relationships?