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On Tuesday, we began by discussing our opinions of institutions/cultures that inhibit story change. Some ideas under this discussion were schools and success.

We then went on to ponder if Bryn Mawr inhibits expression. Eventually, the class came to an agreement that there were some topics on campus that are “taboo” and cannot be talked about openly. The most predominant taboo word of the discussion was feminism. Then, we contemplated if BMC inhibits people from thinking BMC is not a good place. Some ideas under this topic include: “We ‘have’ to love it”, “Freshwomen have enthusiasm and that we are too idealistic”, and that there is pressure to love it.

Then we went on to decide where this pressure is coming from. Is the pressure external or internal? Is it from peers? From family?

Galileo became the topic of our next discussion. The topic was “was Galileo willing to think outside the box.” We decided he was willing to think outside society’s box, but not outside of his own box.

From this topic arose a very interesting question: “Is it worth being brilliant and ostracized or would you rather be accepted and not brilliant”. Some of us began wondering if it is such a polarized thing or if you can be both.

Professor Grobstein then proposed the question “Was it a good idea for Galileo to have upset things?”

On Thursday we first talked about Flatland. We mentioned the “antifeminism” in the book and wondered if it was a social commentary or if Abbot was actually an anti-feminist.

We then discussed the idea of different dimensions. Professor Grobstein explained how we really think in 6 dimensions and how time is a dimension. Someone then brought up the question “how many dimensions are there really?

We then moved to a philosophical debate of whether “if a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound or not?” There were two opinions on this point. One was that there is not a brain there to interpret the “data” of sound and thus there is no sound. The other was that sound, like matter, is conserved so it makes a sound whether we are there or not.

We then talked about altered states of consciousness. Buddhist monks’ multi-tonal humming, dreams, and hypnosis were all discussed.

We closed with a discussion of the similarities and differences between Galileo and Flatland.