The photo Marta took only tells part of the story! “Here we be the Sapiens Three (with 1 a little backwards…
” she wrote. Both she and Charlie understood why Marta’s photo (she being the photographer) was backward and I think they felt they could figure out the solution but we were running out of time. And anyway, to my way of thinking, it represents the three of us quite well!
Marta’s the “Take Charge” one of the trio. She sets up our zoom meetings choosing a time that will coordinate with her busy pet sitting business — usually Sunday, sometimes Monday evenings. And she’s the one who is often gobsmacked by one of Harari’s revelations — like the impact the Agricultural Revolution has had and is still having on us and the planet. She brings it “home” — right on down to Trader Joe’s and Jack’s Country Store!
Charlie is the “Voice of Reason” and also the one who can often bring deep historical perspective and classic literature into our discussions. I am always amazed at his analysis of the ideas presented — often parsing the language and even the ideas with references to Latin or Ancient Greek. (I forget that he took courses at UCLA — or was it USC? — when he was writing comedy scripts for Disney and Hanna-Barbera. He wanted to understand the humor of Aristogenes in the original, for instance. (I hope he weighs in on the comments here. I’ve undoubtedly misremembered.)
Even The Illustrations Are Evocative
And my contribution? Probably the typical teacher tricks — asking for clarifications, explanations, getting us all to connect the dots. But not to illuminate things for their edification as was my role for years in the classroom. In this group, I’m the learner as much as they and the one seeking explanations, or at least that’s how I perceive myself. And, of course, I’m the one who sets the goals — how many chapters (or more like pages) for next week.
But we are seldom on the same page — in more ways than one! And that’s the fun of it!
