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One project I would like to see us tackle for 2022 is to have a weekly video Zoom meeting for our regulars here at the forum. Let's use this thread to brainstorm the possibilities: Day and Time. At times in the past when this has been discussed, I think the consensus tends toward a weekday evening, probably Sunday through Thursday nights, and probably no later than about 8:30 or 9:00 East Coast USA time so that our friends on the West Coast have a reasonable late-afternoon / early-evening hour. …

I understand your concern Don but I think it's a matter of individual preference. Those who wish to attend will do so, those who don't won't. I definitely agree that many of these points apply to how we do the 20th. But as to whether this would help or hurt a connection with the real Epicureans of the past, I think that the authentic ones of the Greco Roman period were likely immersed in each other's company most of the time. As for those in the intervening centuries who saw the topic as one lim…

No issues as to wet blankets! Caution is a good thing. I received a private comment asking if we would be able or willing to post the audio publicly for others to listen to. That question raises several issues we can include in the discussion. As it is, I spend a lot of time editing the Lucretius Podcast to cut out the silent sections and any unproductive tangents, and I doubt that I would have the time to do that fora second program. I do see the desirability of allowing others to listen, but I…

(Quote from Kalosyni) Maybe that depends on how much a person likes to think of themselves as an ancient Greek! More seriously maybe we just have some kind of basic reading list "test" and trust people to rank themselves by how much they have read. But even more practically, we probably just need to keep something of a tight reign from the beginning using moderators, and then as we see how people actually do over time the moderators can allocate time based on subjective views of how much people …

As for the free time requirement we probably need to find ways to structure this so that for most of us we don't find it a burden or something we need to spend much time in preparation for or editing anything afterward.

You are being ambitious but that is the only way to grow! When we stop adding / replacing atoms we start to die......( I am pretty sure is somewhere in Lucretius! ) But ambition is good! ( I say as I listen to Rienzi and read the book on which it is based )

Ha -- "the telos of Epicureanfriends.com" I would describe that as a combination of the attitude of (1) Lucian in "striking a blow for Epicurus" and pursuing the attitude exhibited in "Alexander the Oracle-Monger" and of (2) Lucretius in using smart technology (his poem, our internet) to present the full meaning of Epicurean philosophy in its most fundamental form. Sometimes I also think it can be expressed in thinking about how Epicurean philosophy differs as much from what is conveyed by "hedo…

(Quote) I suspect it was much the same in ancient Greece and Rome, but yes.

Ha I just came across another way of stating the telos of the forum: The goal of Epicureanfriends.com is to be a friend to the friends of Epicurus.

Yes I think you are right, boyh0wdy, in emphasizing Don't point that whatever this turns into it cannot turn into a burden. Some amount of "commitment" is probably an inevitable part of any project, but we need to make it easy for people to be absent without feeling guilty, as I would think that marks the line between burden and enjoyment. it needs to be something that is dominantly pleasurable or it won't become a habit to be there when possible. that's one reason I do think it needs to have a …

This past weekend Martin and I had a chance to discuss a number of aspects of a weekly Zoom meeting, and here are a couple of our current thoughts: Video preferred but optional Don't record the session by video or audio, generally, unless there is a special presentation. We want the discussion to flow freely and recording can be an obstacle to that. We won't push too hard to turn on video. We want to be sure to make clear that there is no obligation to attend, as otherwise a weekly option can tu…

I have been reminded in a private conversation that there is a significant issue in the use of Zoom and video meetings which we have not already discussed, and that is the issue of safety and security of the participants when new and unknown people are allowed to participate. I think most and maybe all of this in this thread have been proceeding under our past well-established pattern that our meetings are essentially "invitation only" and that invitations are issued to new people only after a s…

Also we have been talking recently about the long-existing project of writing personal outlines. It might well be a good idea to condition participation in some of the more advanced activities here on people participating in that project as a means of clarifying their own thoughts and getting constructive commentary from others on aspects that they might be overlooking: Personal Outlines of Epicurean Philosophy

I may have the time to try a Zoom meeting Tuesday night if anyone is interested. We have not yet made any decisions on a weekly format but we can discuss that as the main agenda among whoever is available. One thing we have not finalized is how "open' to make this. For now, let's do this on the basis of "if you are interested, message Cassius and he will check with those who are established regulars and coordinate introductions" basis. In other words, if you would like to participate but have no…

OK later today I will send a link to those who respond affirmatively to this thread. Might be just before 830 pm eastern that I send the link, but it will come.

If anyone else is interested let me know.

We had four participants last night - thanks to all who attended. I don't see any reason not to do this again next Tuesday night at the same time, so let's tentatively plan to do so. But let's consider this only tentative for the moment as we still have lots of things to figure out.

One lesson that seems pretty easy to draw is that when we have just a few people who know each other well, we can be more "free-form" and probably satisfy everyone that their time is well spent. And when we have just a few people plus a small number of "new" people we can take the time to have general conversation to learn about their background. But the more people we have who attend, the more important it's going to be to keep things more organized so that everyone knows what to expect, we hav…

That is a VERY good suggestion. I presume you're including the idea of inviting them to ask questions in addition to introducing themselves, and probably other things make sense as well. Thank you!

(Quote from Pacatus) Almost like, in addition to the "Welcome Post," we need a "Welcoming" committee to coordinate new participants.