You're reading Scholé Supplement, Grokkist's bi-weekly newsletter that celebrates curiosity, learning and life as a grokkist.
How are we doing? For lots of you it's Thanksgiving, and for most of us outside the US it's not! So Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate it, and on we go regardless.
🤳 You can see my first experiment with being on camera, or
📦 See my latest attempt to sum up the grokkist identity in 4 dot points
📣 Exciting news for those of you who are fans of Nathanology's work as we extend our collaboration and Grokkist hosts Nathan's upcoming eco-philosophy course.
🎙 I've put together a guide for podcast guests as I prepare for the next season, and
🍬 Down in Snackables you can find out which level of busy you are and also try out an ADHD-friendly reminder app.
🤳 My first experiment with being on camera
I've been playing around a bit with video lately, working up the confidence to put myself on camera and finding a way to do it that feels right for my vibe.
So I went and stood in the ocean!
After I got over people staring at me weirdly, I recorded a message for the people coming to my 'What's my Red Thread?' workshop next week about coming into a shared online space as your 'shoes-off self'.
Figured I may as well share it here for everyone as well, given how much time we spend online in these spaces...
Danu's message about being your 'shoes-off self'
📦 What it means to be a grokkist in 4 dot points
Today I'm sharing my latest attempt to boil down everything I've learned so far about the grokkist experience into a handful of dot points.
Adopting the name grokkist to describe your way of being is a conscious decision that I think contains four crucial elements of self-understanding:
- I own my education, and I learn by seeking to deeply understand the world around me from the inside out
- I follow what interests and excites me, and navigate my life with curiosity, playfulness and wonder
- I use my ethical imagination to remain personally caring and curious in the face of uncaring and incurious situations and systems
- I synthesise what I have understood from the accumulation of my many experiences, and use my earned insights to bring about transformative action for the benefit of others
I plan to unpack each of these points in more detail over time and with examples, but for now I'd love to know what appeals to you about this framing, as well as any aspects you'd change or that I've missed.
For me, the grokkist identity is something playful to be curious about. It's something anyone can opt into if they choose, and represents an optimistic way to frame what can sometimes be lonely or alienating experiences in life. It's an identity that acknowledges structural factors while emphasising individual agency.
Grok on!
Reimagine Education Project
Visit the Reimagine Education hubA few weeks back I said that I'd like Grokkist be an entry point for a Narnia-like experience of stepping through a doorway to another world in which education is reimagined and waiting to be explored.
As a reminder, I see there are two parts to this:
- Map the space of people and organisations who are already doing amazing grokkist-friendly work in the reimagining education space and provide warm introductions to their work
- Partner with teaching-minded grokkists to design, create and host grokkist-first educational experiences – 'grokkables'
I'm now pleased to share the first step on that journey by announcing both the first member profile page and our first grokkable!
And it's fitting that these should come from Nathanology, who produced our Old School School video. We put together this member profile page to give a warm introduction to Nathan and his work, designed with grokkists in mind.
But there's more! Grokkist will host Nathan's upcoming online 'eco-philosophy' course which takes place over 4 sessions in Jan/Feb 2023.
If, like me, you enjoy Nathan's unique way of connecting ancient philosophy to today's most pressing issues in a lively, entertaining and accessible way without sacrificing any intellectual depth or practical urgency, you will probably want to check this out.
If you're a plan-ahead do-it-now person, you can save your place right now for USD$100 (or whatever you can afford) and add it your calendar.
If you're more of a wait-and-see, ride-the-flow person, we'll drip some more details and reminders as the start date gets nearer.
It's gonna be glorious!
🎙Still Curious Podcast
Visit the Podcast hubI'm currently lining up the first batch of guests for Season 3, which will kick off in early 2023.
I'm leaning further into the high-quality approach, which means you can look forward to more well-researched, enduring conversations with well-chosen guests, which I'll release as they're ready rather than on a fixed timetable.
If you know someone who would make a great guest or you're interested in coming on the show yourself – take a look at this updated guide and registration form for guests.
Danu Poyner
🍬 Snackables
Assorted awesome links, just because.
Name *
Short, simple and relatable. I have lived all of these levels at one time or another. I'm in no rush to relive the top ones again for the foreseeable future. My favourite place to be is around Level 3.5.
A well-tempered exchange of views on the work of popular writer Malcolm Gladwell, which tends to be polarising. The most interesting takes come from those who read and enjoy Gladwell but point out some possible critiques. Lots to be said about storytelling vs completeness and accessibility vs accuracy.
Shout-out to my neurodivergent readers! This one came across my desk as a recommendation for an ADHD-friendly to-do/reminder app. I haven't tried it but I know lots of grokkists who might find it useful. If you do try it, let me know how it goes!
Have you ever wanted to hear Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring as performed by what looks like around 50 metres of a Rube Goldberg-ish woodblock contraption in random shopping mall? If so, you're in luck. Impressive – now do Classical Gas!
YouTube musicologist Adam Neely's latest video essay is a fun and fascinating journey into the history of music copyright, sure to delight music-lovers, philosophers and legal enthusiasts alike. It scales the heights of absurdity when discussing the way 'Schenkerian analysis' is used in courtrooms to decide music copyright lawsuits.
