Beyond summer's nonsense . . .

[John Burik]

Is there really a place for civic engagement in a civil manner?

Visit Democracy, Growing Up at Public Agenda, a non-partisan public interest organization founded by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in 1975.

Yankelovich was an early supporter, if not initiator, of a changing the conversation approach familiar to many of us here.

Best,

John in Cincinnati

[John Burik]

Thanks for the memory jog. I recall now seeing your tweet or FB mention of Armstrong. Now I'll go back and actually read!

[Susan KG]

I just read an ON FAITH post in the Washington Post by Karen Armstrong - and in it I learned that the Socratic method was intended as a spiritual practice - would never have guessed it given my law school days and subsequent many, many years as a practicing lawyer. In the article she says:

"A Socratic dialogue was a spiritual exercise and, Socrates insisted, would not work unless it was conducted throughout with gentleness and courtesy. Nobody 'won' the argument: a Socratic dialogue always ended with participants realizing that they knew nothing at all, an insight that was indispensable to the philosophic quest."