CxD #204: 2x🇷🇺=🤯; 🌈

I’m genuinely delighted by the little community starting to come together over on www.cxd.community. Folks from all over the world, literally, are introducing themselves, saying hello, looking into the book club selection Outline, which we’ll be discussing on Jan 23rd, and slowly starting to drop a few kernels of wisdom here and there. 🤗

I like that we’re small in number and only there because we care about Character in some shape or form.

Maybe this little experiment in community building will turn into something after all?

It’s open to all subscribers of this humble rag (If you’re a subscriber, check all your inboxes and spam nooks and crannies for the invitation to join the CxD circle community).

To CxD matters:

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1. What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows. ~Epictetus

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2. My jaw is still hanging ajar after listening to this conversation between two Russian ex-pats: one an expert in AI/machine learning and the other a writer who advocates anarchist principles. The last hour, starting around 2:09, I think, is especially worthwhile for us to listen to and discuss:

What I want to underscore is not that I agree with any of these positions or arguments; some I vehemently disagree with. But the openness and willingness for both these guys to listen to each other, and consider the ideas being espoused, and to enact the principle “I disagree with your idea, but I love you as a friend and I’m willing to learn and consider that which I’m initially opposed to,” feels like the only way forward for us to avoid another “national divorce,” a euphemism for the civil-war that’s brewing in our national character. After listening—on your way to and from work, during workouts, while you clean the house, or in deliberate focus—please post your thoughts at www.cxd.community in the #newsletter channel. 🙏

Below: Stunningly wise words from a Zen Priest to a graduation class + my best CxD TV recommendation of the month.