At Northfield Mount Hermon, the New England boarding school where I teach, we often begin all-school meetings with a few words of reflection or provocation and then a minute of silence to sit with what we’ve heard. At the beginning of each academic year, when the community re-forms anew, we sometimes decide to open the [more…]
Teachings of the Elf Buddha
I hadn’t expected much from the afternoon. We’d help out with cleaning up Findhorn’s Singing Chamber, a work-in-progress earthen construction. Maybe we’d add some artistic touches if we had the chance. Little did I realize that we would work in the presence of an unexpected sage. Ian Trumbull is the kind of spritely character that [more…]
Group Wisdom: Strong Like Ox
What can a one-ton farm animal show us about the power of shared intelligence? Lior Zoref—and his many friends—have an idea. This week’s New Yorker magazine includes a piece that references Zoref’s TED Talk about the wisdom of crowds. In the presentation, Zoref demonstrates how groups access knowledge in a different way than individuals can. [more…]
