Seminar starts in two weeks
You can still switch from audience member to participant
Somewhat to my surprise, only a few of the paid subscribers so far have applied to participate in the seminar on Institutional Irrationality. (Click the link to see the difference between being in the audience and being a participant.) I’m surprised that more folks prefer just to watch.
Anyway, if you have not applied because you don’t think your chances of acceptance are good, think again. Please apply by 6 PM New York time on October 25 if you wish to be one of the six attendees who will be unmuted during the seminar.
To be accepted, send an email with the subject line “applying for seminar” to arnoldsk@us.net and include answers to TWO out of the following four questions. Your two answers should total about 250-450 words.
Finish the sentence “A rational institution is one in which. . .”
Choose from one of the following books: The Best and the Brightest, The Transparent Society, The Secret of Our Success, and The Revolt of the Public. You need not read the book to answer this question—you can probably search through reviews and come up with an answer. For the book you choose, what is one thing that it says about the challenges facing humans in society?
Think of an essay-writer or podcaster (other than me) who you think would have something to contribute to this seminar. Justify your choice of this person.
Think of a book that you think would be useful to read for this seminar. Justify your choice.
The first session will be November 1. Yuval Levin will put in a guest appearance, with the topic being the apparent decline in key institutions. I recommend beforehand either reading his A Time to Build or at least my review and other reviews of that book. I would prefer to start with the assumption that everyone is familiar with the book’s main themes, so that we can explore how events subsequent to publication relate to its framework.
I think Agnes Callard sums up why folks should attempt to be a part of the group:
"a university is a place where people help each other access the highest intellectual goods. A university is a place of heterodidacticism.
An autodidact is someone who learns best on their own, by teaching themselves things. “Heterodidact” is a word I made up to describe the rest of us, for whom learning and knowing is a social activity."
Being a part of the panel discussion creates an opportunity to learn via a social activity. Highly encourage anyone who enjoys learning, and who has the time available, to take the risk of getting off the bench and into the game.
Source: https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-real-college-scandal/
I would have signed up but I just don't have any free time this year. We are home-schooling my son, and he is also playing on two travel teams - baseball and basketball - which is crucial for his peer-to-peer social interaction. He has practices and/or games 4 nights a week and both days on the weekends