(PLEASE NOTE – RSVP closes at 5 pm today because of venue constraints. Thank you.)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As you know, we’ve scheduled a Steering Committee session concomitant with the Socratic Conversation on Your Habits and Your Life, at Columbia this Thursday. I hope to see you at one or both!

The Conversation will start at 4:00, and the Steering Committee at 5:30 — RSVP required to receive address/location on the Columbia University campus (area of 120th St. and Broadway), if you are coming for the first time — please write to Ron Gross at grossassoc@aol.com.

There’s much progress to report, including the addition of superb new team members, Yen’s wonderful work on the website, Antonia’s robust launch of our PR campaign, Phil’s inimitable “connecting”, Michele’s editorial wizardry, Herb’s exploration of resources for moderators, and more!

Please come prepared to report from your part of the forest, and to share your next priorities for February.

Ronald Gross
Founder/Director
E-MAIL: GrossAssoc@aol.com

WEBSITES:
http://www.SocratesWay.com
http://www.ConversationsNewYork.com
http://www.OldBetterWiser.com

Imagine…

Hundreds of New Yorkers coming together in small groups of neighbors and fellow citizens to discuss topics of intensive interest…

Hosted at no cost and at convenient locations and times…

Aided by simple guiding principles…

Inspired by the city’s grand tradition of robust conversation…

Our vision is to inspire, organize, publicize, facilitate and celebrate a renaissance of healthy dialogue in New York City.

Join us!

How You Can Help Us Grow!

If you would like to easily add to our strength, we’d be grateful for your taking these easy steps:

1. Visit us at https://conversationsnewyork.com/about-cny/ to learn more about us, subscribe to our website, and spread the word.

2. Share with us your reactions, questions, and suggestions about this venture. conversationsnewyork@gmail.com

3. ”Like” our organization on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ConversationsNewYork

4. Consider convening a Conversation yourself – our site will soon provide resources, but in the meantime just ask us.

5. Tell us about Conversations you think should be listed on our on-line calendar.

We hope you’re as excited as we are about promoting and encouraging stimulating conversations in New York City!

Thank you
conversationsnewyork@gmail.com

in Columbia University area (120th St. and Broadway), but RSVP required to obtain exact location/address — please write to Ron Gross at grossassoc@aol.com.

Aristotle declared that “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a HABIT.” 

Now, educators, psychologists, social scientists, organizational leaders, and people like us are re-discovering the power of this discipline which has been neglected for several decades. It has been harnessed for good and not-so-good, by marketers at Proctor & Gamble and Target, CEOs at ALCOA and Starbucks, and other organizations ranging from the Civil Rights Movement to major churches.Most importantly, each of us can use it to transform our lives.

Please join us to share your opinions, experiences, and reflections: 

What are some good and bad habits? Would you like to change any of your habits, or cultivate any new ones? How do habits determine how we vote, what we buy, who we know, and how we keep healthy, or get sick?

Suggested optional reading:

THE POWER OF HABIT, by Charles Duhigg.

Note: This book is the current selection of the Leonard Lopate Book Club; the author will be interviewed by Leonard on WNYC on Tues., Feb. 5th

Light refreshments will be available.  

Beverages available for purchase in Coffee Shop on first floor where you enter building.

There will be a display of relevant recent and classic books.

For more information: www.socratesway.com/join.html

Laughing Matters!:

What Role Does Humor Play in Your Life –

and in Our Culture?

Hosted by Ron Gross of Conversations New York (CNY)

and Columbia University

January 14, 2012 @ 6:15 PM — Location still to be Decided (please check back closer to date)

RSVP to: http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/95761892/ 

1.   What makes you laugh, and why?

2. Who is your favorite comic performer, author, or work? (New Yorker cartoons, Jon Stewart, Woody Allen, Guys and Dolls. Seinfeld, or….)

3. Is your sense of humor different from other peoples?

4. Do you find some current humor objectionable, “politically incorrect,” or just not funny?  (e.g, jokes about women, people with disabilities, minorities, the elderly, or….)?

5.  What role does humor play in our lives and culture – according to philosophers, psychologists, and humorists?

You’re also invited  to bring the funniest joke you have heard during the next month, to share!

Suggested Reading (optional):

• Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind, Hur, Dennett, and Adams, MIT Press;

• Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters, Ted Cohen;

• Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One: A History and Philosophy of Jokes, Jim Holt.

Imagine…

Hundreds of New Yorkers coming together in small groups of neighbors

and fellow citizens to discuss topics of intensive interest…

Hosted at no cost and at convenient locations and times…

Aided by simple guiding principles…

Inspired by the city’s grand tradition of robust conversation…

Our vision is to inspire, organize, publicize, facilitate and celebrate

a renaissance of healthy dialogue in New York City.

How You Can Help Us Grow!

If you would like to easily add to our strength, we’d be grateful for your taking these easy steps:

1.  Visit us at https://conversationsnewyork.com/about-cny/ to learn more about us.

2. Share with us your reactions, questions, and suggestions about this venture.

3.  “Like” our organization on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ConversationsNewYork

4.  Join our Meetup group at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/

5.  Consider convening a Conversation yourself – our site will soon provide resources, but in the meantime just ask us.

6.  Tell us about Conversations you think should be listed on our on-line calendar.

We hope you’re as excited as we are about promoting and encouraging stimulating conversations in New York City! 

Thank you
conversationsnewyork@gmail.com