Stewarding The Stoa
My friends,
I hope everyone is doing well.
I’ve released some one-off videos from previous sessions. Jordan Hall: On Cue & Initiation and Right Relationship. John Vervaeke: Steal the Culture. I love Johns line in that video: I want to steal the culture from the people who have been abusing us for a very long time. Wow! Also, here is Collins's playlist from the last Existential Dance Party. We have 13 events lined up for next week, with a few more being posted shortly. Here are some must-see sessions for next week:
Overcoming Bias During COVID-19 w/ Robin Hanson. March 30 @ 2:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Self-Cohering in a Crisis w/ Yancey Strickler. March 31 @ 3:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Orphan Wisdom & COVID-19 w/ Stephen Jenkinson. April 1st @ 1:00 PM. Learn more. RSVP here.
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March 29, 2020
When I was thinking about what to write in today's journal this came to mind: the challenge of stewarding The Stoa is a great opportunity to practice my Stoicism. It has been a week since I launched it, and I have experienced a variety of emotions running it. The enthusiasm from unleashing the full creativity of the daemon, tenderness from hearing all the sweet shares, and a warmed heart from receiving gifts and positive feedback. But I’ve also experienced annoyance, which is salient right now.
I think one of the reasons I became frustrated with some in-person events was due to regular attendees having a lack of social discernment. The vast majority of people either have been good or great, but as the idiom goes, one bad apple can spoil the barrel. Conversational narcissism is annoying, covert conversational narcissism masquerading as intellectualism is even more annoying.
I do not proclaim to be scientific about this, but I believe I can sniff out narcissists quickly. One heuristic is to see where he or she (mostly he in intellectual spaces) is shining the metaphorical spotlight on. Is he shining it on himself, cleverly or shamelessly, or is he shining it back on the group? If it is consistently the former then I’d say you have a narcissist on your hands.
This is coming up because I believe I am spotting early signs of it at The Stoa and I am reflecting on how to nip it in the bud. The Stoa is a gift, and this gift is about providing an experience, and I want to be fiercely protective about this experience. Maybe I have to risk coming across as an asshole in order to protect it. I am willing to sacrifice my default Canadian niceness if, indeed, this is the wisest move.
Another concern is the male-to-female ratio, which at the moment is high at The Stoa. I am not concerned with this because of some fear of woke shaming or cultural cancellation, but because males in intellectual spaces tend to be very disembodied. I know this intimately because I am recovering from disembodied thinking. I do not want to just think with people, I want to feel with them as well.
To end on a positive note, I recently got off a mastermind call with Daniel and Davood. Some serious good conversations occurred. I drank two beers during it, and currently have that adventurous buzz. I am reminded of my friend Christoph, who is a fucking wildman. Drinking with him beats any psychotechnology I’ve ever experienced. He lives in Vancouver and we have not spoken since the pandemic hit. I am going to give him a call now.
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The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you wish to provide a gift in return, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.