Complexity

[close] A community of people who want to engage with topics spanning across physics, mathematics, computation, biology, chaos and complexity theory, cognitive sciences (artificial intelligence, neuroscience, psychology), philosophy of science (and other areas at intersectional crossroads) at a more robust level than popular expositions that are intended for a broader audience. Every member ought to have the enthusiasm and will to work through difficult texts (and solving exercises, if needed!) This implies that the selection of books that are more formal in the treatment of their subject matter will be prioritized over those that shy away from complications, but doesn't necessarily exclude anything apriori. On the other hand, we want to pick up those having relevance in addressing fundamental questions rather than digging down the rabbit hole for extremely niche curiosities.

[close] This group meets in real life. Join the discussion. The centerpiece of the discussion will be a book, mostly non-fiction but some fiction. The book might be the centerpiece, but the discussions' value will come from the everyone's inputs. Disagreements or agreements, what matters is how you engage with the knowledge learned in the book and everyone's ideas. The diverse backgrounds we come from will cause us to have different approaches to the topic which will elucidate arguments for and against the topic. Critical thinking enables the group to understand the ideas in their complexity. My role of moderator is to make sure everyone gets heard. Within the discussion, priority goes to those who did not speak much, which facilitates diverse perspectives. The list of books are mostly member suggestions. Every cycle members suggest books, and then poll which book they wish to read. Books are selected for poll rank, and topic diversity. For for details about How The Book List Gets Made, See link below. Page contains the reasons why books are listed, and things to consider when suggesting books. https://www.inquiryreviews.com/p/how-book-list-gets-made.html My blog for book reviews: https://inquiryformanantilibrary.blogspot.com/p/about-inquiry.html Meetup Affiliated site: https://www.meetup.com/Inquiry-Non-Fiction-Book-Club-for-Inquiring-Minds/ Past Events =140 Book Club Events = 133 Author Appearance = 7 Book Shop Visits = 6 Related Events = 1 Attendance: Average = 11, Standard Deviation = 5

[close] A space to discuss important books regarding systems thinking. This group was inspired by a collaborative review of The Systems View of Life by Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi that will be published in Zygote Quarterly (http://zqjournal.org/ - see issues 9 and 10). We also talked about Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows and Diana Wright. Other starting places include previous works by Fritjof Capra and At Home in the Universe by Stuart Kauffman. How can a systems approach be applied across intellectual domains? How can it be transformative?

[close] Ecosphere studies reading group.