Grokkist Newsletter #42 (Scholé Supplement)

Hey friends,

Last time, I gave you a heads-up about our brand new course on Comparative Meditation, led by therapist and meditation teacher Jude Star, which kicks off its first cohort on 15 May!

Jude has since recorded a fantastic video invitation to let you know what it's all about, where he's coming from, and how it's going to work. Check it out below.

Hope to see some of you there! As Jude says in the video, if we want to create peace in the world, we first need to create peace within ourselves.

In other news, we have some enticing new member-led workshop events coming up – one on Divinatory Drawing which will help you leave behind any fear of starting with a blank canvas, and another on Neurodivergence and Embracing your Inner Outlier.

Also, don't forget to join us for our 2-year birthday celebratory Town Hall event in a few days where you'll hear from our members on what Grokkist means to them and we'll share our story so far as well as where we're headed next.

And if you haven't dipped your toe into our community yet, we invite you to schedule a 1:1 warm welcome with David our community manager who will be happy to show you around and connect you with the kinds of people and activities that are sure to light you up.

Grok on!
- Danu

Everybody hates a tourist: why socio-political theory never gets it right about common people

by Danu Poyner (30 min read)

Part 3 of my After the End of History essay series.

Metaphors matter. When too many of our core conceptual analogies about people and politics try to bring a knife to a gun fight, are we left trying to eat soup with a fork?

Explore the Full Story ↗

Featured member profile

Through our Featured Member portal, we like to showcase the efforts of fellow grokkists who are shaking up, re-imagining or re-enchanting their own fields of practice with an insistence on curiosity and care.

Lalith Gunaratne – Sage Ontario for Mindful Leadership

In a world where so much is about pushing or selling something - I invite us to take a breath, let go of the past and the future and become present to here and now... to enjoy a sunset, a beautiful flower, a poem, have a loving conversation by paying attention.

I am a parent, entrepreneur, mindful leadership educator, and action researcher. I connect people and curate relationships in ethical businesses in infrastructure investments, high tech, energy efficiency, real estate and education globally from Asia, Africa across Europe to North America.

I am a "disrupter" as I do not attach to any particular dogma or ideology - honoring self knowledge and awareness to find unity between mind & matter, to build lasting relationships based on respect, integrity and love.

Mindfulness helps me stay grounded to take responsibility - focus on the breath - to discern thoughts, stay positive, be resilient in acceptance in an uncertain chaotic world. The practice - quiet time, reflection, meditation and family anchors me to be open, vulnerable and confident to be self employed. Acknowledging the impermanence of life and to test life on the edge, I keep embarking on new adventures, making new friends with continuous learning.

Explore the full Profile ↗

Featured Grokkable

Comparative Meditation: an experiential journey

led by Jude Star (5 week cohort-based course)

Explore the richness and depth of meditation in an experiential journey that weaves together the philosophical underpinnings and transformative practices of Shamatha, Vipassana, Tantra, and Non-Dual meditation.

Next cohort (C1) starts 15 May

Explore the Course ↗

Featured events and meetups

Celebrating 2 years of Grokkist! | Town Hall Event

🗓️ Tue 7 May | 7.30–9.30pm ET (view in your timezone)
Hosted by Grokkist Team
🟢 Free and open to all

It’s our second anniversary! Come celebrate the essence of being a grokkist with us at this Town Hall symposium of reflection, connection, and construction.

Whether you're stepping into the Grokkist community for the first time or have been a part of our journey from the beginning, this event is for you.

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Divinatory Drawing Workshop

🗓️ Tue 21 May | 7–9pm ET (view in your timezone)
Hosted by The Ungoogleable Michaelangelo
🟠 Free for Full Members (USD$15-$30 suggested cover charge for free/non-members) Click HERE to donate ahead of time or feel free to do it during the event. 

Embark on a transformative journey with The Ungoogleable Michaelangelo and unlock your creative potential through Divined Designs and Pareidoodles! Leave behind the fear of the blank canvas as you embrace a process of discovery, guided by innovative techniques that reveal the hidden depths of your imagination.

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Other Upcoming Events

• 9 May | 🟢 Ecosophy Café
• 14 May | 🟢 Red Thread Café
• 23 May | 🟢 Grokkist Network Office Hours
• 23 May | 🟢 Neurodivergence and Embracing Your Inner Outlier | Grassroots Workshop

#1 - AI and Counterfeit People

The Problem With Counterfeit People

Companies using AI to generate fake people are committing an immoral act of vandalism, and should be held liable.

The AtlanticDaniel C. Dennett

It's getting easier and easier to reconstitute an entire AI person from digital scraps of our speech, facial features, and communication patterns. Depending on your perspective, this may be eerie, exciting, or both. For Daniel Dennett, who passed away recently, the problem of AI people is similar to the problem of counterfeit money. Just as counterfeit currency undermines trust in a financial system, artificial personas can erode the authenticity of human interaction, leading to a landscape where distinguishing between genuine and artificial becomes not only challenging but fundamentally imperative for societal trust. Dennett thinks we should outlaw not only the creation of counterfeit people, but also outlaw their circulation. Whether or not you ultimately agree, it's an illuminating analogy.

#2 - Awkwardly working in... the Movie Title

Dominikus Baur - Data Visualization: Full of Themselves: Title Drops in Movies

A silly idea turned into the biggest analyses of title drops in film. A title drop is a moment in a movie when one of the characters says the title of the movie. I was curious how often that would happen and since I had the right skills, I decided to take on that analysis myself. Supported by the…

Data Visualization: Full of Themselves: Title Drops in MoviesDominikus Baur

Large-scale analysis of 73,921 movies from the last 80 years on how often and when they do a 'title drop' – i.e. when a character in a movie says the title of the movie they're in. Around one-third of all movies do a title-drop of some sort, and 11.3% do a 'real' title drop – the one where the protagonist looks directly at the camera and declares the title of the film with as much pathos as they can muster. Non-fiction movies are most likely to title-drop (50%), and War movies the least. It all reminds me of the trailer for every Academy Award-winning film ever (15 years old now but still relevant)

#3 - Wild Mountain Thyme as you've never heard it before

Transcendent. Taut harmonies and sparse instrumentation give way to swelling orchestral accompaniment as the crowd gets involved in a big way. As one commenter puts it: "Jacob Collier plays his two favourite instruments: the guitar and the audience." Wild Mountain Thyme always makes me cry anyway because it reminds me of when I worked at a gift shop called Australian Geographic that played a looped DVD of the BBC's The Human Body documentary in which the song is played at the funeral of a man who volunteered to be featured in the final episode on dying.

#4 - Etymology of South Asia's Missiles

What’s In A Name? The Etymology of South Asia’s Missiles – South Asian Voices

India and Pakistan’s weapon naming conventions both work to shape public perceptions and indicate their evolving strategic postures.

South Asian VoicesQamar Shahzad

"Most non-South Asian nuclear states predominantly name their weapon systems using alphanumeric codes or acronyms based on technical characteristics (e.g., B61, THAAD). The nomenclature of South Asia’s strategic arsenal, however, is intertwined with the region’s religious, historical, and cultural context." Linguistic choices deployed by elites in service of tactical statecraft to manufacture consent for escalating India and Pakistan's nuclear dynamic. Lots for language nerds and observers of international relations alike.

#5 - Animals talking about David Attenborough

UK national treasure David Attenborough turned 90 earlier this year. The BBC got some vox pops from the public about why they love Attenborough and then handed them to Aardman Animations to make a 2-minute short film in which the sentiments come out of the mouths of the animals who appear in Attenborough's nature documentaries. Very cute.

A pair of parting thoughts...

"Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in" 
― Katherine Mansfield

“Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.” – John Greenleaf Whittier

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