Monthly Archives: May 2015

Adventures in Changing Our Minds: A CNY Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross & CNY Monthly Leadership and Team Building Meeting – Jun 18

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                   Thursday, June 18, 2015

     Adventures in Changing Our Minds

      A CNY Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

6:15-7:45 pm

 

&

CNY Monthly Leadership and Team Building Meeting,

8:00 – 9:30 pm

 

Both at: Adelphi University Manhattan Center

75 Varick Street

Room 260-261 on the Second Floor

(75 Varick is between Watts and Grand Streets)

RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com

&

RSVP to  http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/222814774/

Please bring photo ID required for entree to building

 

DIRECTIONS

Subways: #1 to Canal, or   A, C. or E to Canal, exit next to the building.

 J, N, Q, R, W, Z or #6 to Canal, are about 5 blocks southeast at Broadway and Canal.

Bus: M20 stops at the front door.

 

COFFEE/FOOD/BEVERAGES/ETC.

Excellent take-out food can be purchased at The Mill (www.TheMilltoGo.com),

which is part of the same building, and brought to the meeting.

 

 

 

Conversation:

Adventures in Changing Our Minds

6:15 – 7:45

 

Q.:  What does it feel like to be wrong?

 

A.:   It feels like being right.

 

To err is human. Yet most of us go through life tacitly assuming (and sometimes noisily insisting) that we are right about nearly everything, from the origins of the universe to how to load the dishwasher.

 

If being wrong is so natural, why are we all so bad at imagining that our beliefs could be mistaken – and why do we typically react to our errors with surprise, denial, defensiveness and shame?

 

Let’s explore why we find it so gratifying to be right and so maddening to be mistaken, and how this attitude toward error corrodes our relationships—whether between family members, colleagues, neighbors, or nations.  

 

Consider the range of human fallibility, from wrongful convictions to no-fault divorce, medical mistakes to misadventures at sea, failed prophecies to false memories, “I told you so!” to “Mistakes were made.”   Perhaps we need new ways of looking at wrongness.   Maybe error is both a given and a gift – one that can transform our worldviews, our relationships, and, most profoundly, ourselves.

 

At a time when economic, political, and religious dogmatism increasingly divide us,  we need to explore the seduction of certainty and the crisis occasioned by error.

 

Let’s learn to ask one of life’s most challenging questions:

What if I’m wrong?

 

Suggested Reading (optional): BEING WRONG , by Kathryn Schulz, CHANGING MINDS, by Howard Gardner; MISTAKES WERE MADE – BUT NOT BY ME: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts,  by Carol Travis and Elliot Aronson

Conversations New York

(8:00 – 9:30)

 (www.conversationsnewyork.com)

       Our exciting Action Agenda will be  highlighted by:

 

  • Semi-final planning for our 2nd Annual CONVERSATION DAY in Bryant Park on Sat., July 18th in collaboration with our trans-Atlantic partner Talk to Me London;

 

  • Display of ten of the best books on Conversation

 

  • Update on Fall symposium on “Reclaiming Conversation” with Sherry Turkel of MIT; Upgraded website features presence on the Internet; and

 

  • Honoring an outstanding contributors with our prestigious Plato Awards (“…and this month’s award goes to….”)

CNY Leaders Meeting, Mon., 8 pm, following “If You Were Mayor…”

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Please make every effort to join us for this premier session at our new location, as we forge exciting plans for CNY’s summer and fall initiatives (see below). Your energy and counsel will add to our strength!


IF YOU WERE MAYOR… Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Monday, May 11, 6:00 – 7:45 pm & Conversations New York (CNY) Team Meeting 8:00 – 9:30 PM

RSVP to GrossAssoc@AOL.com

And

CNY meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/222426728/ 

NEW LOCATION: Adelphi University’s Manhattan Center 75 Varick Street — Room 260-261 on the Second Floor
(75 Varick is between Watts and Grand Streets)

Subways: #1 to Canal, or  A, C. or E to Canal, exit next to the building.
J, N, Q, R, W, Z or #6 to Canal, are about 5 blocks southeast at Broadway and Canal. Bus: M20 stops at the front door.
Note: This Center is state-of-the-art,
and excellent take-out food can be purchased at The Mill (www.TheMilltoGo.com) which is part of the same building,
and brought to the meeting.


  • What are your ideas for helping all of us New Yorkers to live together more happily, healthfully, safely, and enjoyably?
  • What bugs you about  the City, that you think could be improved?
  • What do you like about other cities you know, that could make New York better?
  • What changes would you like to see in  our cultural activities, streets, parks, schools and colleges, healthcare, local businesses, housing, environment, law enforcement, rules, regulations, and priorities for spending public funds?

Let’s advance our ideas for improving our city, in the run-up to the international Ideas City Festival at the New Museum and throughout the Bowery on May 28-30 (www.ideas-city.org). “If You Were Mayor…” is a month-long, city-wide array of conversations which will complement the Idea City Festival’s wondrous offerings of ideas from throughout the world, with ideas from New Yorkers themselves.We’re inspired by Mayor DeBlasio’s words:

‘If you give people a chance to offer their ideas, you’ll find an extraordinary number of New Yorkers who have positive, productive ideas.’”
Suggested Readings (optional): If Mayors Ruled the World, by Benjamin Barber; Happy City by Charles Montgomery; Who’s Your City? by Richard Florida; Urban Acupuncture: Celebrating Pinpricks of Change that Enrich City Life, by Jaime Lerner.

Conversations New York (starts at 8:00 PM)
(www.conversationsnewyork.com)

Our exciting Action Agenda will be  highlighted by:

  • planning for our 2nd Annual CONVERSATION DAY in Bryant Park on Sat., July 18th in collaboration with our trans-Atlantic partner Talk to Me London;
  • launching our Conversation-Friendly Restaurants Project to recognize eateries where we can hear each other talk;
  • considering  a Fall symposium on “Reclaiming Conversation” with Sherry Turkel of MIT;
  • impelling new city-wide/month-long gatherings on provocative topics in June and July;
  • expanding our website and presence on the Internet; and
  • honoring outstanding contributors with our prestigious Plato Awards (“…and this month’s award goes to….”)

 

 

 

 

IF YOU WERE MAYOR… Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross – May 11 (NOTE – NEW LOCATION)

Posted on by

Please join us to celebrate our premier session at our new location!  

IF YOU WERE MAYOR…

Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Monday, May 11, 6:00 – 7:45 pm

&

Conversations New York (CNY) Team Meeting

8:00 – 9:30 PM

RSVP to GrossAssoc@AOL.com 

and   http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/222205825/


NEW LOCATION:

Adelphi University’s Manhattan Center

75 Varick Street — Room 260-261 on the Second Floor
(75 Varick is between Watts and Grand Streets)


Subways: #1 to Canal, or  A, C. or E to Canal, exit next to the building.
J, N, Q, R, W, Z or #6 to Canal, are about 5 blocks southeast at Broadway and Canal.

Bus: M20 stops at the front door.


Note: This Center is state-of-the-art,
and excellent take-out food can be purchased at The Mill (www.TheMilltoGo.com) which is part of the same building,
and brought to the meeting.

 

  • What are your ideas for helping all of us New Yorkers to live together more happily, healthfully, safely, and enjoyably?
  • What bugs you about  the City, that you think could be improved?
  • What do you like about other cities you know, that could make New York better?
  • What changes would you like to see in  our cultural activities, streets, parks, schools and colleges, healthcare, local businesses, housing, environment, law enforcement, rules, regulations,  and priorities for spending public funds?

Let’s advance our ideas for improving our city,  in the run-up to the international Ideas City Festival at the New Museum and throughout the Bowery on  May 28-30 (www.ideas-city.org).  “If You  Were Mayor…” is a month-long, city-wide array of conversations which will complement the Idea City Festival’s wondrous offerings of ideas from throughout the world, with ideas from New Yorkers themselves.  We’re inspired by Mayor DeBlasio’s words:


‘If you give people a chance to offer their ideas,

                                     you’ll find an extraordinary number of New Yorkers

                                     who have positive, productive ideas.’”


Suggested Readings (optional):  If Mayors Ruled the World, by Benjamin Barber; Happy City by Charles Montgomery;Who’s Your City?  by Richard Florida; Urban Acupuncture: Celebrating Pinpricks of Change that Enrich City Life, by Jaime Lerner.

Conversations New York  (starts at 8:00 PM)

(www.conversationsnewyork.com)


Our exciting Action Agenda will be  highlighted by:

  • planning for our 2nd Annual CONVERSATION DAY in Bryant Park on Sat., July 18thin collaboration with our trans-Atlantic partner Talk to Me London;
  • launching our Conversation-Friendly Restaurants Project to recognize eateries where we can hear each other talk;
  • considering  a Fall symposium on “Reclaiming Conversation” with Sherry Turkel of MIT;
  • impelling new city-wide/month-long gatherings on provocative topics in June and July;
  • expanding our website and presence on the Internet; and
  • honoring outstanding contributors with our prestigious Plato Awards (“…and this month’s award goes to….”)