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We’re back with The Talk Shop Conversations!
Talk Shop Conversations are aimed at making sense of emerging the New Normal.
The online conversations build on the popularity of Talk Shop Conversations that were a staple at the Talk Shop office at Kochi and the annual conference “Stirring Research” that was held in collaboration with the Dept of Management, GOA University.
How it works – Conversation Starters
During Talk Shop Conversations, we take up a topic for discussion in depth. Typically the conversations have a slide deck associated with them. The function of the slide deck is to outline some of the key concerns in the area. It does not represent the topic someone is going to present. Sometimes conversations have one or more “Conversation Starters“, individuals who are familiar with the field and the issues in it. A Conversation Starter may also be a short film, a painting, or an article that is taken up for discussion. But the real stars of the events are the participants and at least 50% of every conversation is reserved for discussion. Discussions are not limited to questions asked of the presenter – they are interesting points of observation that anyone can respond to. The discussion will be moderated by Dr Mathai Fenn. (If you would like to start a conversation about something important, please do send an email to mathai (at) thetalkshop (dot) in )
Next Wednesday’s Conversation – Psychoanalytic Therapy, ( part of Deep Dive November)
Join the new format at https://www.thetalkshop.in/talk
Talkshop Conversations 54-58 Deep Dive November
For the month of November, The Talk Shop will focus on Depth Psychology. Each week, for Talk Shop Conversations, we take a concept from the Psychoanalytic tradition and discuss its relevance to Modern Life. As usual, Talk Shop Conversations will be conducted on Wednesdays from 8:00 to 9:30 pm (India Time) on the Zoom Platform (get the link here https://www.thetalkshop.in/conversations). Each session is divided into two. For the first 30 minutes (8:00 to 8:30) the topic is introduced and the next one hour is set apart for discussion (conversation).
4 Wednesdays of Deep Dive November
3rd November, Wednesday – The Unconscious Mind – What lies beneath? This conversation explores the part of our mind that we are not aware of normally. Although Freud was the first to bring this to popular attention, there are widely different views about this. How can we understand the unconscious mind? How can we tap into its huge potential? After all, even modern neuroscientists would agree with Freud in his observation that our conscious mind is only a small part of our information processing capacity.
10th November, Wednesday – Libido – Life Energy and sex Freud said we all had a finite Life-Energy called Libido. Perhaps he got the concept from his readings of Eastern Philosophy, where similar energy is called Kundalini or Chi. Libido has also been compared to money with which we can buy things. Healthy Libido is in circulation and can be invested in relationships, work, life etc. But sometimes its flow is hindered. Say when a loved one dies, we feel our energy is sapped and that makes it very hard to get back to life. How can we maintain a healthy flow of Libido in life? What does a healthy libido mean?
17th November, Wednesday – The Ego and its Defense mechanisms – Freud’s concept of the Ego can be loosely translated to mean The Self. When the ego is faced with a threat (often a revelation about ourself which is hard for us to accept) it moves to protect itself / its belief structure through a number of defense mechanisms. They include Projection – when I refuse to accept my shortcomings and instead, I blame someone else… Another one is Rationalization – providing rational explanations to avoid having to accept the truth.
24th November, Wednesday – Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy – The Talking Cure. In the process of Psychoanalysis, just what is analyzed? The client/Patient or something else? How does it work? How long does it take? What are Transference, Catharsis etc. that we hear about in Psychoanalysis? How can I help myself? (View Slides Here)
The Talk Shop Conversation 53 – Work Place Diversity in India
This Wednesday is a continuation of last one because the discussion was unfinished.
The Talk Shop Conversation 52 – Work Place Diversity in India
” We do not consider diversity as a priority for India, although it is for USA and Europe. ” _said a global HR Leader of an American Company ranked among the top 50 companies on the Fortune list of companies. It sounds strange considering that India is a country with over 19600 languages. During Indian independence, even the formation of Indian states was done along linguistic lines. Yet, beyond languages, there are many other differences that divide us. Caste and Gender-based discrimination are just one part of this issue. Other forms of discrimination include age-based, skin colour based, religion-based, etc.
Discrimination is often camouflaged as a benevolent “concern”, but a closer look reveals that much of the time, it results in the person not being able to do whatever he or she wants to. It is restrictive.
India’s founding fathers suggested that India’s strength lies in “unity in diversity”. Let us take a closer look at diversity and discrimination. Join us for the 52nd Talk Shop Conversation at 8 pm on Wed Oct 20, 2021. For more details and the zoom link, go to www.thetalkshop.in/conversations.
Talk Shop conversation 51 – Harvard Medical School on The Art of Ageing Well.
With conversation 51 we are experimenting with a new format, suggested by a participant. The new format is to share a video or article that I have come across and then build the discussion around that. Perhaps we can do our future conversations in this method. After all, today most people have access to almost unlimited free music. The only problem is how to figure out what to listen to? I am excited about this new experiment and request you to let me know what you feel about it, whether you see the video or not.
Talk Shop Conversation 51 will centre around the Harvard Medical School video “The Art of Ageing Well”. The video itself is 1hr and 27 min. We will start by summarizing the main points in 20 min to start with. Afterwards, we will have our familiar discussion at the end of it.
We will also discuss the United Nations www.decadeofhealthyageing.org during this conversation.
The video discussion looks into research about Ageing and talks about amazing discoveries that are just over the horizon. This is very important not just to old people like me, but also to entrepreneurs who are looking for the next big thing, for young people who are looking for a career option with guaranteed growth and for policymakers who have to plan ahead.
Talk Shop Conversation 50 – Sex and Relationships
Sex and Relationships – A Psychoanalytic View – (Presentation)
How good are you with relationships? What do people look for in relationships? Is sex and love the same or are they different? Are sex and intimacy the same thing? How do we deal with attraction in the workplace? In a country that gave the world the Kamasutra and the Sculptures of Konark, how did sex become a taboo subject?
Continuing in the tradition of Talk Shop conversations that take up topics that we normally don’t speak about, let’s have an open conversation about sex and relationships in general.
Talk Shop Conversation 49 – Internships that Matter
Join the conversation on September 22nd, 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM, Indian Time
Time: Wednesdays from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm (Indian Time)
Internships- Learning by doing
There are three kinds of knowledge. One kind can be easily put into words, and hence can be written down and made into text books. The second kind is visual and can be learnt by watching others do things. The emergence of YouTube as a learning resource is a testament to the importance of this kind of knowledge. Yet, by far the biggest part of learning are things that we can learn only by doing things. From learning to walk and talk…to learning how to drive complex machines and do experiments. Another part of this includes learning to deal with other people and getting work done.
Formal education deals primarily with the first part of knowledge and to a far lesser extent the second. In pre-modern, traditional societies apprenticeships were an integral part of all learning and this is how skills were passed down from generation to generation. The growing popularity of internships show the great need for learning by doing. However most companies do not want to invest too much in training short term interns and interns on the other hand, see internship more as employment rather than learning opportunities. How can we truly learn from internships?
This Wednesday join us.. for conversation 49: Internships that matter
Some questions we hope to explore…
Talk Shop Conversation 47 – Sleep and Dreams
Join the conversation on September 8th, 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM, Indian Time
Why do we need sleep? How much sleep do we need? What if we have too little sleep? What are the four stages of sleep?
Dreams and Symbols: Unconscious, dreams and their interpretation.
Study your own dreams.
Talk Shop Conversation 46 – Not all negotiations end in Win-win
Join the conversation on September 1st, 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM, Indian Time
When is the last time you had to negotiate with your boss, a vendor or a family member? Does negotiation leave a bad taste in your mouth? Not all negotiations can be resolved in a win-win way.
Or may be you are someone who never asks for what you want because you hate negotiating? Can we negotiate and still salvage the relationship?
This Wednesday join us for a conversation: Not all negotiation end in win-win.
Talk Shop Conversation 45 – The Purpose of Life
Join the conversation on August 25, 8.00 PM to 9.30 P.M, Indian Time
This Wednesday join us to discuss the BIG QUESTION: Does life have a purpose?
Why are we on this earth? Why are we born as we are? Does life have a purpose? Or as Camus tell us, is it absurd? If life does not have a meaning, does it set us free? Or is it scary?
Talk Shop Conversation 44
The Soul in Plain Language
Join the Conversation on August 18, 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM, Indian Time
The topics that dominate our conversations today is about Science, Economics, Business and Health. They are mostly about material things. Things that have weight and volume. In today’s world, is there a space for talking about the Soul. Or is it purely limited to religious meetings? Join us on Wednesday, 18th August at 8.00 PM for a conversation about the Soul. Its free to attend.
Click the link for an invitation by Dr. Mathai Fenn, https://youtu.be/K3hFBSe6EPg
Talk Shop Conversation 43 The Ship of Entrepreneurs
The Entreprenurial Mindset.
Wed 11th Aug 2021 – 8 pm India time, (Zoom Link Above)
This time’s conversation is about the journey of the entrepreneur. It’s definitely not for everyone, and those who value the comfort of family and a home-cooked meal should think twice before setting out on this journey. Loneliness is your constant companion for the journey and you will face a steady stream of criticism from the very ones you love. Of course, once you make landfall and return with strange objects and treasures of a faraway land, you become everybody’s hero. For many people, that’s exactly when things lose their lustre and you start preparing for the next journey.
The two critical requirements to embark on the Ship of Adventure are…
(1) feel uncomfortable or disconnected with the world around you and a constant question of how one can make it be better, rather than just complain about how bad everything is.
(2) have the courage to take the leap of faith, to leave everything behind and board the ship for an adventure with just a very rough map and a compass.
Talk Shop Conversation 42 (Aug 4, 8:00 PM) – Add Life to Years, not just years to life.
When you look back at life, what do you see? A life well-lived? Or do you see a reminder of what could have been? Do you see Integrity or Despair? There are many aspects of growing old that we can prepare for, but nothing is as important to the quality of life. It is important for those who are planning how to face old age and death (something I have done all my life) as well as it is important for those who are caregivers for older people.
As usual, we do not claim to have all the answers but would love to have a conversation, perhaps start a longer conversation about the Golden Years of Life
Scroll up for the timing and zoom link. Add your name to the list so you will be updated about future Conversations.
Talk Shop Conversation 41 – Many Worlds Within Us : States of Consciousness – Join the conversation on July 28, 8.00 PM to 9.30 PM Indian Time
Where do dreams come from? What do they mean? Is Past Life Regression real? What is hypnosis? How about multiple personality? Or someone who walks out from their life and assumes a totally new identity, later waking up to their previous identity? Ever get the feeling that there is more than one person living in your body? Join us for a discussion on the Many Worlds Within – Altered States of Consciousness on Wed 28th July at 8 pm to 9:30 pm
What if, as the Mandukya Upanishad says, there was more to our consciousness than the binary states of conscious or unconscious? When we dream are we conscious or unconscious? What happens when we take drugs. Sometimes we escape into the world of a book or a movie. It seems like there are many worlds within us.
Join us on 28th Wednesday to explore the many worlds within us.
Talk Shop Conversations 40 – End of the Leadership Cult – Join the conversation on July 21, 8.00 pm to 9.30 pm Indian Time
For years management theory has used the cult of leadership as its key selling point, pointing to a few charismatic individuals who have achieved commercial success, like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, and others. This is no different from using a celebrity star to sell soap.
In reality, “Leadership is a team sport”, as Manfred Kets de Vries says. For the next conversation, let’s talk about the demise of Leadership-Cult and ask what can take its place?
Talk Shop Conversations 39 – The Ups and Downs of Life – Join the conversation on July 14, 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Indian Time
View the Introductory Video Here.
View the Slide Deck Here
This pandemic has made us more aware of our mood swings, perhaps even made them swing a bit more than otherwise. This session is requested by Jerry Joseph, a Holistic Healer based out of Bombay. During the session, we will discuss Mood Swings and what we can do about them.
- The aim of Yoga is to quieten the mind – Chitta Vritti Nirodha. A still mind is like a still pond, reflecting the moon perfectly but when the surface is disturbed the moon breaks into 100 pieces. Or like a Candle Flame in a windless room.. it is straight and steady, it shines its light in all directions without flickering.
- The Stoic Philosophers also felt the challenge in life is to manage or accept the ups and downs in life.
- ICD9 Describes F31 as Bipolar Disorder and F34.0 as Cyclothymic Disorder. While many get some relief from Mood Stabilizers and other drugs.
But everyone has to deal with the ups and downs in life. Come, lets talk about it.
Talk Shop Conversation 38 – Ghosts, Telepathy and the Paranormal Join the conversation on July 7, 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Indian Time
Do I exist? What do you think?
Are Ghosts Real? What happens when we die? Does Telepathy work? Do things in our dreams come true in real life? This week our conversation takes us to the very boundaries of science. In discussing the paranormal we also discuss what is science and what it’s not. Perhaps there are a lot of things that science has yet to discover? Maybe these questions are beyond science, after all, if we believe in God, why not believe in Ghosts?
Zoom Details: (Its free to attend)
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83874761905?pwd=UlJDUFJiY3c1cWpoVENDbVhQeTBwdz09
The meeting ID is 838 7476 1905
Password is 954337
Talk Shop Conversation 37 – Anxiety – June 30,
8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Indian time
After spending months in lockdown (or is it lockup), we still can’t say we have Covid 19 under control. It is time for us to speak the A word. What is anxiety? A high number of people have it, but don’t like to talk about it. How does it feel? Most importantly, what can we do about it?
Anxiety is not fear. The flight or fight response, as fear is called, is an evolutionary necessity. Our ancestors would not have survived in the jungle if they have no fear.
This week’s conversation is done in collaboration with Storysurf ( https://storysurf .app ), the antidote for social media.
Cost: Talk Shop Conversations are FREE to attend.
Wednesday 8 pm to 9:30 pm (Indian Time)
Zoom Details: (It’s free to attend)
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83874761905?pwd=UlJDUFJiY3c1cWpoVENDbVhQeTBwdz09
The meeting ID is 838 7476 1905
Password is 954337
Talk Shop Conversation 36 – The Myth of Mental Illness. – June 23, 8pm Indian time
The Myth of Mental Illness
This time, Talk Shop Conversation is about Mental Illness and its nature. The title comes from Thomas Sasz’s 1961 book of the same name. Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) is often credited as the Father of modern psychiatry. In the 100 years since then, have we clearly established a biological basis for Mental illness?
Some important questions
- Is Mental Illness a disease like other physical diseases?
- How much of it is biological/hereditary and how much is learned behaviour that can be unlearned/re-learned?
- What if Mental Illness is an artefact, in the way they say that in quantum mechanics, the experimental setup decides whether light behaves as a wave or a particle?
- Does mental illness run in families?
- What does it mean to be normal?
- Whether it be PSTD, ADHD or ADD, Biopolar or NPD, in different times popular media highlights a different set of behaviours. This itself highlights the influence of Culture on mental illness.
- Many mental illnesses are a syndrome – this means that certain behaviour patterns may occur together, hence they may correlate statistically, but this does not mean they have a common underlying cause, hence they cannot be called Symptoms as is often done
- There is no denying the EXPERIENCE of the “patient”. Naming something “psychological” or “cultural” or “learned behaviour” are often cause for saying that the person is “imagining things”. This is typical of the modern materialistic-reductionistic outlook. However the person responds and generally lives life based on what he or she experiences, making the experience of utmost importance. If you hear voices, is your concern about stopping the voices or what they say?
- Many if not most Psychiatric Medicines are based on clinical evidence and though they do work, they shed precious little light on the underlying causes of mental illness
- If Mental Illness is biological and if the mind is a function of the brain, what is the difference between Neurology and Psychiatry?
- If mental illness is a set of behaviours that co-exist, how much does an medical degree equip a doctor to facilitate behavioural change beyond prescribing drugs. Dealing with behavioural and lifestyle change is increasingly part of medical practice for treatment of lifestyle diseases like Diabetes and Hypertension
- In the middle of all this, what is the “patient” or the family to do? How much can such a person influence outcomes? If diabetes and hypertension is about lifestyle management, what is its role in mental illness?
Conversation 35 (16th June 2021) : Postmodern Marriages
Marriages are changing in modern times. Families are changing too. First came the shift from the joint families of the Indian agricultural society to the urban nuclear family. Then came the shift from “Arranged Marriage” to “Love Marriage”. What is next? Would marriage itself become irrelevant? Today, many questions are asked of marriage.
- Why get married?
- Do I need a husband for companionship? For sex?
- What if I do not want to have children?
- With modern amenities, men can manage a house without a woman’s help
- Men and women both work, why should a woman do any more housework than the man?
- When is it ok to say enough is enough and get out?
- How hard is it to live single?
- How hard is it to be a single parent?
- Why do parents think that getting married is a natural part of growing up? Don’t they think there is a choice involved?
- I have a boyfriend, but we are in no hurry to get married.
- My boyfriend wants me to marry him soon, I want to wait till I am more independent. Is it wrong to want independence?
- Does marriage really complete me? Or does it take away something?
………the list goes on. But do we really have a space to talk about all this?
Come join us for a discussion on how Marriage is changing in today’s world.
Cost: Talk Shop Conversations are FREE to attend.
Date: 16/06/2021 Wednesday 8 pm to 9:30 pm (Indian Time)
Zoom Details: (It’s free to attend)
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83874761905?pwd=UlJDUFJiY3c1cWpoVENDbVhQeTBwdz09
The meeting ID is 838 7476 1905
Password is 954337
Conversation 34 (9th June 2021) : Women can do anything.
If you have been told
… women cannot travel alone
… women have responsibilities at home and can’t just pick up and leave
….as a woman your primary responsibility is to keep the home well
Or if you wanted to travel but always felt that your parents or family will never allow you to…
Meet Mithra Satheesh, an ayurveda doctor who took her ten year old on a road trip across India. She was featured in Outlook Traveller.
Lets find out how it felt and how she managed to pull it off. How you can do whatever you want too…
Link to the outlook feature on her: https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/71360/meet-mitra-satheesh-the-doctor-who-took-her-10-year-old-on-a-road-trip-across-india
Her TouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRX80bDsbIW6mm8m4xdUwCw
Conversation 33 (2nd June 2021) : Future of Indian Cities
Conversation 32 (26th May 2021) : Seven trends that are shaping health care sector today
Talk Shop Conversation 32: Changing face of healthcare (Its free to attend)
Talk Shop Research presents 7 ways in which modern healthcare is changing.
I think, given the current crisis of healthcare, everyone would find this Conversation interesting, especially if you are….
- … looking at Healthcare as a long term career
- … already working in healthcare, from doctors to pharma
- … someone who is involved in Public Health planning
- … an Investor or someone who is financially tied to health sector
- … a long term sufferer who feels you are not getting the best of care
- … An ayurveda and other practitioner of Holistic Medicine
Healthcare as we know it came into existence after 1850 when John Snow adopted the Germ Theory from Louis Pasteur and became the first to employ modern epidemiological methods of contact tracing to connect an outbreak of Cholera with a particular water pump in Soho, London. It was also around that time that Florence Nightingale demonstrated that more soldiers died of avoidable diseases in the military hospital than on the battle field. Now healthcare is making a rapid change all over again.
The Seven Trends
- Treatment -> Prevention / Early detection
- Hospital based -> Community based
- IT – Use of IoT devices like smartwatches and home diagnostic equipment to monitor health in the community to the use of Machine Learning in diagnostics and drug discovery
- Treatment outcomes to be redefined to include more personal, social and economic outcomes
- Physician focus -> team focus (including IT specialists and field agents…even dogs and bees)
- Mass-produced one-size-fits-all -> Individualized Medicine (Beyond genetics and epigenetics)
- Disease centric – health/wellness centric (incentive structures have to be realigned too)
Join the conversation at 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm on Wednesday May 26th
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Dr Mathai Fenn
mathai@thetalkshop.in
Conversation 31: Post-modern Family – II: Parent Hood
How do we prepare our child for an uncertain future? From all accounts, it seems that our children are going to grow up to a very different world from the one that we have known. How do we make sure our children are ready for it? How long can I protect my child from the Big Bad World? Perhaps its better not to have children at all?
To get to know more about some of the issues, go through ( these slides )
Conversation 30: Post-modern Family – I: Love Courtship and Marriage
The break up between Bill and Melinda Gates was different from the usual high profile Hollywood break ups that we are used to. They were good people, having made their money they gave away a lot of it to people around the world who needed it the most. But they still broke up. Not surprising since increasingly modern marriages end up in divorce. Why do we still get married?
Just as joint families were the norm in pre-modern agrarian societies, nuclear families were the norm in modern industrial societies. What would the post-modern/post-industrial society bring us?
The institution of the Modern Family is breaking down. It’s not just divorce, it’s also changing gender roles, people choosing to live together but not get married, multiple partners/infidelity, etc etc
Check out the slide deck for some common questions asked about marriage today. (click here)
Previous Conversations
Conversation 29: Education: Preparing our children for tomorrow
Conversation Starters:
Dr. Anandakuttan Unnithan , Dean, IIM Kozhikode, former Director, SNGIST
Dr. Pramath Sinha, Founder and Chairman Harappa Education, Founding Dean ISB Hyderabad, Principal Mckinsey and Co., Founder and Trustee Ashoka University
Date: Wednesday 5th May 2021
Slide Deck
The slide deck that explores the topic can be found here. This is an independent presentation. The Conversation starter is free to choose however he wants to introduce the topic.
TALK SHOP CONVERSATION #28
Topic: Virus
Conversation Starter: Dr T Jacob John, retired professor and head, departments of clinical virology and microbiology, Christian Medical College (Vellore). He has played an important role in setting up the virology infrastructure of India. A fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Dr. John has been an important part of several high profile virus responses in India, including the tracking of HIV.
Date: 28th April, 2021
Conversation Starters
Dr. Mythili Anoop, Mohiniyattam Artist, holds a PhD in art and aesthetics from IIT Bombay
Dr. Deepak John Mathew, Head of the Design Department, IIT Hyderabad
Joseph Tsukka, currently doing his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and Art at IIT Hyderabad
The slide deck that explores the topic can be found here. This is an independent presentation. The Conversation starter is free to choose however he wants to introduce the topic.
TALK SHOP CONVERSATION #27
Topic: Questioning Digital Art
Date: 21st April, 2021
Read more on the topic by clicking here (Google Slides)