Short, Cheap, Nearly Great Books SE Denver: August 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

Aug 30 @ 7:30 PM - The Bees, Part 1

Join us to discuss The Bees, Part 1 by Aleksandar Hermon. Find it on page 55 of Immigrant Voices - 21st Century Stories, published by The Great Books Foundation.

Our host facility has been providing coffee and fresh baked cookies!

Andy Thangasamy, who may join us some day, wonders if this is what we really do.
We just discuss. We do not act out!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Aug 16 @ 7:30 PM: Mind vs. Machine by Brian Christian

Join us to discuss Mind vs. Machine by Brian Christian. Find it on page 289 of Best American Science & Nature Writing – 2012

Find it on line at http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/mind-vs-machine/308386/

This last essay of the book addressing what is unique about humans nicely pairs with the first essay (The Teeming Metropolis of You) that said 90% of the cells in our body are not human cells.

HighPointe has been graciously baking us cookies and brewing coffee.

Basic Guidelines for Shared Inquiry

Read the selection carefully before participating in the discussion. This ensures that all participants are equally prepared to talk about the ideas in the work.
Most of us need to read short stories more than once.
Support your ideas with evidence from the text. This keeps the discussion focused on understanding the selection and enables the group to weigh textual support for different answers.
Discuss the ideas in the selection and try to understand them fully before exploring issues that go beyond the selection. Reflecting on the ideas in the text and the evidence to support them makes the exploration of related issues more productive.
Listen to other participants and respond to them directly. Directing your comments and questions to other group members, not always to the leader, will make the discussion livelier and more dynamic.
Expect the leader to only ask questions. Effective leaders help participants develop their own ideas, with everyone gaining a new understanding in the process. Participants should look to the leader for questions, not answers.