Proceedings of the Sisyphian Society
Vol. I, No. 1. Introduction.
Summary: Matt and Kyle provide disclaimers, rules, prefaces, rationales, and background information concerning the Society and this podcast.
N.B.: For greater convenience and more-functional controls, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Proceedings as a “podcast”.
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Friends of the Society have begun transcribing this issue in their Facebook group.
Minutes of the Meeting.
For corrections to this issue, see errata of Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 3.
The meeting of the Sisyphian Society was held on Tuesday, 16 June 2020, remotely, the co-chairs pro tempore being in the chairs and the secretary being present.
Meeting called to order.
Disclaimer: This meeting has been held several times.
Apologized for jocularity. ["Conflicted and interesting thoughts on humor" were indeed discussed in Vol. I, No. 2.]
Apologized for poor audio. Solicited advice from audio editors. Mentioned NPR (National Public Radio), PRI (Public Radio International), This American Life, All Things Considered, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Ben Shapiro Show, Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!, Serial, How Did This Get Made?, 99% Invisible, A Prairie Home Companion.
Pleaded for money to hire an audio editor, voice actors, and the like. Pleaded for musicians to re-record theme music.
(Global) pandemic has required meetings be convened online. Society decided to begin publishing proceedings. Cited definition of pandemic from Lexico by Oxford Dictionary.
Rule of discussion: Only topics not in members’ areas of competency.
Rule of discussion: Only one hour may be spent in preparation.
Why the Society is publishing these proceedings: to facilitate the “workshopping” of ideas, to facilitate others developing ideas discussed here, to “crowdsource” and cooperate for mutual benefit.
Disclaimer: Proceedings might be unpublished in the future. Mentioned broadcast restrictions of NFL (National Football League).
Disclaimer: Anything said in these meetings deemed problematic intended as ironic.
Disclaimer: Members do not necessarily endorse each other’s views.
Rule of discussion: Only first names.
Matt and Kyle introduced themselves and their interest in systematic improvements.
Pleaded to not listen to this. Mentioned Homer, Augustine, Bach, Bible, Quran, Vedas, Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx.
Only reason to listen to this.
First category of discussion topics: “the boring topics”. Discussed “lifehacking”, what lifehacking has become, xkcd comic “The General Problem” and “master artisans of great foresight”. These topics focus on finding “the best x”, optimizing, and improving the day-to-day components of life via useful knowledge. Examples of possible topics in this category mentioned were Esperanto; fixes to the United States postal system; parliamentary procedure; linguistic style guides, vocabularies, grammar, and how to fix language; productivity methodologies, including the Getting Things Done system [buy on Amazon]; “quantified self”; the ideal diet and Soylent; time tracking; documenting things for oneself; the best men’s clothing, possibly the best women’s clothing, and possibly Amish clothing; book summaries; indexes; documentaries; making music; reading and marking a book; organizing and cataloging books; genealogy; 24-hour time, daylight-saving time, and time zones; the great books; language scripts; journaling; “everyday carry”; the best wristwatch; indoor plants; an application for finding parking; food tracking; sleep tracking; cursive and the best way to write; how to set and maintain and monitor the temperature of a refrigerator; the best car; the best car emergency kit; the best sunglasses, the best glasses, and computer glasses; the best sizes of paper; the best pens; gardening; personality tests; heraldry; interior decorating and architecture; modes of personal transport; reading and writing poetry; the best backpack; why everyone should go by full names; the best wallet; and a technology subcategory covering all things technology-related, hardware and software.
Second category of discussion topics: “the ‘fun’ topics”. Examples of possible topics in this category mentioned were podcasts, The Beatles, Looney Tunes, geocaching, xkcd, ASMR, CouchSurfing, Megabus, YouTube, video games, TV shows watched as children and the differences between networks, and stand-up comedy.
Discussed length of meetings.
Discussed frequency of meetings. Pleaded again for money.
Discussed target audience.
Called for co-host and/or guests. Mentioned the Borg.
Explained meeting minutes (comparable to “show notes”).
Disclaimer: Nothing said in these meetings should be construed as medical, legal, or financial advice. Listeners should consult experts.
Meeting minutes, cont. Mentioned all-avocado diet. Discussed Subscribing to the Proceedings as a “podcast” or viewing issues on the Society’s website. Mentioned Kyle’s grandma having a fax machine.
Peer review: Encouraged listeners to correspond with Society by calling its telephone number, +1 805 538 2382, and leaving a voicemail message. (This number routes directly to voicemail.) Success of Society’s endeavors depends upon cooperation and peer-review of listeners. Please correct errors, contribute expertise, or provide general feedback of any kind. Note that Society will not return any calls but might play your message at a future meeting (and so also include it in Proceedings). If you do not wish your message to be included in Proceedings, please note so in message. For updates to these instructions or other methods of correspondence, see Correspondence.
Matt and Kyle shared hope that this project fails.
Refreshments.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kyle, secretary
“Well, the second elephant chronologically, but the first elephant logically.”