Thank you for signing up for Transmuting the Trumpocalypse!
We are hosting these conversations on the Zoom webinar platform. Here is the direct link you’ll need to join the meetings:
Or copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://zoom.us/j/238750611
Once you open that link, if you do not have Zoom already installed on your computer, you will be prompted to download and install the free Zoom app (also available for mobile devices). Once installed, the link will open up the meeting in the app. This is where you’ll be able to watch and listen; chat; ask questions; raise your hand; and join the on-screen dialogue if you wish.
If you intend to be on screen, please be sure to set up your camera and microphone in advance. It is advised to wear headphones. It wouldn’t hurt to test your video settings before we go live. If you need help during the event, use the chat to let us know.
Finally, please note that these sessions will be live-broadcast and recorded, and shared publicly free of charge under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If you do not wish to be on screen, simply turn off your camera and mic on the Zoom interface. You will still be able to watch and listen, and add your comments.
More helpful info for Zoom attendees.
Conversation Guidelines
The goal of these talks is to gather visionary people from diverse disciplines to dialogue on how we think about LIFE POWER, MEME POWER, and COLLECTIVE REALIZATION. We believe that good discussions can foster learning, understanding, and praxis.
We will not be focusing on the essays, nor even really talking about Trump so much as about power’s multidimensionality.
Please review these guidelines (which are for our forum, but also apply to our live virtual talks), as well as this primer of practices and principles for good dialogues. Thank you for helping us have an excellent conversation!
Session Overviews
Session 1: LIFE POWER
October 26, 2017 – view replay (via Crowdcast)
Humans as biological organisms consume, store, and use energy as a natural process of living. The mind and nervous system coordinate the functions and activities of the body, and are wired by genes and by our experiences to survive and navigate the world. How much power do we have to control and direct the mind and body? If the unconscious mind manages most of our reality, what are some ways we can engage consciously with those systems to recondition one’s own patterns of thoughts and actions? What are some techniques for harnessing and coordinating our immanent “life power” for optimal personal, relational and communal outcomes? What are the consequences of not gaining self-development, self-awareness and personal power, and how does that play out in social and political levels? This talk will delve into the sometimes-mystical-seeming powers of human beings to engage successfully and meaningfully with the world.
Session 2: MEME POWER
November 2, 2017 – 6:00 pm MDT
(time zone conversion)
Humankind would not have attained the global dominance it has today without the coevolution of culture. Culture, comprised of systems of ideas, provide coordinating frameworks for ordering phenomena which shape invisible (social) and visible (technological) structures, generally for the purpose of supporting a group’s survival. So what is the nature of the apparently intrinsic power of ideas? How do memes behave similarly and differently to lifeforms; what are the mutual dependencies, and the intersections? What happens when environments change, and a civilization’s memes no longer line up with the guarantee of its survival? How could we participate in accelerating memetic development and diversification for optimal individual, relational and collective outcomes?
Session 3: COLLECTIVE POWER
November 9, 2017 – 6:00 pm MDT
(time zone conversion)
When life power and meme power combine, a kind of “collective realization” is the result: material and theoretical power come together in praxis and transform reality—affecting local and future conditions. Many people, particularly Americans today, feel helpless about how to leverage their personal and social power for widespread rewiring of institutionalized [or entrenched] yet deteriorating social/cultural systems. Is there any hope for building a robust, cooperative system of memes and life forms that once more enhances the survival outcomes of both? Could we find a way to cultivate appropriate memes (like appropriate technologies) to positively reshape our minds, our behaviors—and the world? What are the possibilities for tweaking certain individual and group behaviors en masse, and triggering a sea change in the prevailing social order? If we are mutually in danger, maybe it’s time to take a collective risk on investing in more creative, visionary, systems-thinking and innovative ideas, cultures and people.