Are We Stagnant?

Café-Salon Philosophique #17

July 11, 1998

No. of Participants: 25

Evening's Topic: "Is Society degenerating or advancing? Where do we think it is going? Are we going "down the tubes," or "walking in place?" In other words, ARE WE STAGNANT?"

Samuel began the evening by welcoming newcomers to the group by giving an introduction to Cafe-Salon Philosophique. Angeline then read the Cafe Guidelines.

The first question for the evening's topic was, "What is Society?" Society was defined as "a group of people in a specific community such as, family, church, school, state, etc. Marc referred to the animal community and spoke about how animals "group together" and become "different" societies. Ciona wanted to know if criminals were thought of as part of Society? Brad elaborated on the various "subgroups" within our Society and answered Ciona by stating that criminals are a part of Society as sociopaths."

Carla wanted to know "what size" Society we were talking about - Boulder, Colorado, The States, The World? The answer was, "whatever your definition of a Society is." Angeline sees a Society which "evokes creative expression from within. What needs to change, is our attitude towards other people. We need to learn to quit being so judgmental and open up to love and enjoying each other."

Samuel stated that we need not let Society define us. Instead, we need to learn to define our own beliefs by breaking down the old systems, and creating new ones. Marc agreed, but added that "even though we are working on our individuality, we still need to relate and interact with various groups of people in order to link us as a Society. Even though we are individuals, we are still held together by the "Intelligence of Society."

Oscar felt the opposite. He feels like, "the world is one great big conspiracy." "The way that we treat each other is abominable! This world isn't civilized. How can you say that it is? It's a conspiracy of everyone! Those in schools, church, state, etc." Many disagreed with Oscar, while many didn't understand what he was trying to say.

Samuel reminded us that "conspire" can also mean to think together, not just separately. Ciona believes that "Society is not going down the tubes." She has faith "that there are individuals working towards changing the whole."

Discussion then moved to how TV has contributed to the "increase of violence" in our youth by the images that are seen on TV, received from the media, and what happens in real life. Concerns were expressed about TV being "substitute parenting," "a baby sitter," and "boring entertainment."

Kaku thinks also that "we live in a very violent Society and used the "school shooting incidences as a reference to point this out." Samuel said, that we should not exaggerate the statistics of "media hype." One needs to look at the larger picture, past the 10 school shootings. He continued, "one should not give into the fears of mass media hysteria when we are talking about 10 schools out of 500,000 or more." "Yes, the death of innocent people is a tragedy, but do we have to stay rooted and live in fear?"

David, who claimed to be a pessimist, believes that "we are on a path towards world destruction because of how humans abuse the use of intelligence and their bodies." The greed for power and money has lead humans to value and see reality as materialism and consumerism.

Samuel then asked us to share "our visions of Society in the future." Marta sees "mass migration happening." "I believe people will collect together and become a kind of "melting pot." Marc thinks that in "twenty or thirty years, we probably will be living in small communities. But, we will need leaders to do this. This will take money, time, energy and effort."

Another stated that communication will be important. We need leaders who will know how to articulate and speak for the needs of all people, and not just from governmental body officials. Angeline said that we will also need good "visionaries" to help manifest ideas. Samuel pointed out that one will need to master their thoughts in order to focus clearly and act in a efficient and effective manner. Duane thinks that if we were to "simplify our lives maybe there would be less stress and more enjoyment with life."

The next subject was "a discussion on language" and how we "talk too much" and "overuse words." Samuel gave the example of how when he first heard and was learning the English language, he thought it sounded like a "bunch of idiots babbling. Someone then asked, "But, if we didn't have language to communicate with, how would we relate?" Marta didn't think we could go around "miming" all the time. Samuel replied by stating that most communication is done in silence. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of communication is nonverbal through body language, gestures, the eyes, etc. "One can be playful without words."

Angeline reminded us that there are other forms of language besides words and silence. Music is another form of language. "Sounds, tones, songs, rhythms are ways of communicating." Different societies in different cultures have their own sounds, dance and rhythm. "There's a "musicality" to a variety of different things - dance, painting, nature, etc." - (crickets or bees)

The next question was, "How do we change the direction in which we are going?" Responses, were "we need to focus on bettering ourselves as individuals." "We need to look ahead to what is good for all of humanity and not just the individual self." Marc calls this "being conscious of the world as a superorganism." Duane thought that, "we need to maintain positive intentions and carry through with them." We also need to "eliminate unconscious, negative intentions." Someone added that "these negative intentions are usually based on fear."

Samuel stated that, "The future belongs to the "geniuses," who can narrow the gap between thought and action, abolish laziness and quit masking the "one who knows." If we could open to learning how to learn in developing "this genius," then conscious effort could manifest better human beings for the benefit of all.

The last question for the evening was, "Where are we going as a Society? What lies ahead for the future?" David feels that "natural disasters will continue to increase and escalate before people "wake up." Angeline thinks that "the world could be one big musical." Suzy thinks it will probably be "emotional." Oscar sees it as, "a losing proposition with Society, but individuals will continue to evolve separately." John thinks that in the short term, it will be very bad and in the long term, he's more optimistic." Marc feels that we "need to stick with our visions in order to create a new society." He believes we also "have to have passion for about what we are doing."

What will happen? Who knows? It's something that we all need to think about.

Our next topic for discussion will be: "The Politics of Relations - Groups, Friends, Religion."

Please join use July 25, 1998 at Barnes & Noble , 2915 Pearl St., Boulder, CO at 7:30 p.m. Invite your friends!

Reported by Alessandra