The Seminar
Some of my favorite memories in life are from late-night debates in dorm rooms; from great conversations over lunch; or from those rare moments in the seminar room when a light suddenly went off in my head, ever-so-slightly altering my perception of the world.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how hard it is to cultivate this love of learning and conversation once you leave college. Life gets busy. Your close friends move away. Some other task always feels more pressing.
So, a few months ago, I had an idea: What if we build on the wonderful community that is growing around this Substack to create a space for this kind of intellectual exploration? A new way for all of us, from student to CEO, to read important texts and reflect on pressing questions together?
I’m calling it “The Seminar.”
Here’s the basics. Once a week, for four weeks, we meet for two hours to discuss exciting texts that grapple with an important topic. In this way, we explore some of the deepest and most urgent questions facing the world together. These aren’t impersonal lectures designed to be watched passively; rather, a small group of us will meet live, under my guidance but with everyone’s active participation.
For the next iteration, I decided to focus on one of the big debates of the moment: AI and Politics? Will Artificial Intelligence Undermine the Structural Foundations of Democracy?
A lot of debate about the topic is either stuck in the realm of science fiction (”Will AI kill us all?”) or focused on small effects the technology is already having (like “algorithmic discrimination”).
These topics are both important. But I am wondering about a different--and I think deeper--set of questions: Will AI decimate the middle-class? Can we still trust reality in an age of deep fakes? Is a deep crisis of meaning on the horizon as machines start to rival humans at things, like making art or writing novels, that we once thought were most distinctive to us as a species? And will all of these changes undermine the structural foundations for liberal democracy?
In this seminar, we try to answer this question by reading and discussing some of the most incisive articles published about these questions so far. The goal is to gain a little orientation in disorienting times.
There will be readings for each session, and we’ll proceed on the assumption that everyone has actually engaged with them, so we can have a high quality of discussion. But the readings will at most be 100 pages per week, and usually less than that.
The standard rate for joining this live, small-group seminar is $500. The seminar will run on Zoom on Wednesdays in late January and early February (1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11) from 12pm-2pm ET. (I will stick around for an extra half an hour after each meeting to chat with participants and answer any questions they may have.)
Would you like to join—or gift participation in The Seminar to someone who would?
If that’s beyond reach, we offer some full scholarships. Please fill out this form to be considered.
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, just drop me a line by responding to this email.
See you soon in class,
Yascha