The Philosopher's Stone and Citations

Wednesday morning, breakfast time... with bated breath the members awaited the arrival of the philosopher Gabriel Crouse. While we were waiting, Mike MacDonald gave us a quick update on the golf day. There is still plenty of room for booze on the barrow and don't forget to rope in some more golfers. The field is growing slowly but surely and a full field will be a bonus.

Acting President, IPP Carol Stier keeping the troops busy.

Carin Holmes updated all on her role as project chair, so please do not hesitate to talk to her if you need assistance.

Speaker: Gabriel Crouse

Gabriel talked about social identities and a book by Kwame Anthony Appiah: "The Lies That Bind, Rethinking Identity"

From the book:

Wer bin ich? Der oder jener?

Bin ich denn heute dieser und morgen ein andrer?

Who am I? This one or that one?

Am I then this one today and tomorrow another?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Wer bin ich?" 1945

The conversation was but a scratch on the surface of identities. Most people know that identities like nationality, class, race, culture, and religion are at the root of the global conflict. But these identities were not around a thousand years ago, and are fairly new.

       Who do you think you are, or maybe, what do you think you are? Affiliations to gender, race, colour, class, culture etc. give contours to our sense of self. Yet the identities spawn by them are riddled with contradictions and falsehoods.

 Everybody is paying attention to a thought-provoking talk

In the book; "Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity" Kwame explains that these "mistaken identities" can fuel some of our worst atrocities - from genocide to slavery. But, he argues, we cannot simply do away with social identities. They bring significance to our lives by connecting small-scale existence to larger movements, concerns, and causes.

      I am no philosopher, but it sure is food for thought. There is always another way of thinking, another way of looking at an idea or issue. Gabriel states that you need to turn your idea into a verb in order to find out if it is a good one or not. If you do nothing about it, it will take you a long time to realise it is good or bad, but if you take action you will know a lot sooner.

Zena graced us with a visit

In conclusion, we need another round of talks with Gabriel. 

We had a visitor or two: Emilio Kiyeta Yamfu and Carl Chemaly... one of these days we will have to induct someone... watch my eyes...

CELEBRATION TIME!!

New Dawn did it again!! Congratulations to our immediate Past President, Carol Stier and the club members for collecting the 2017-2018 Presidential Citation. Well done team New Dawn!!

What do you know about colour? Does it mean something to you? From philosophy to psychology and social identities to the influence of colour on human behaviour... can it get more exciting around the breakfast table? Be at the meeting next week for a colourful hour that may change your wardrobe!

A thought...

You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life.

Carlos Castaneda - anthropologist