Hi All,

Just an email to tell you about the last meetup and what the next meetup will be. Last meetup we discussed a few technical issues among them emailing messages to the group. It was suggested that this was not a good option due to the fact that inboxs where filled with messages and people would prefer to read from the message board. I have taken this into account and it seems fair so this will be the last group email.

The last meetup discussed:

The way that politicians/media used language to control public opinion. We discussed to what extent rhetoric was a tool used by politicians and to what extent was it produced by the need for media to provide small digestible soundbites.

We also examined how the way people in power use language can effect the extent to which the people are involved in the democratic process. This developed into a discussion of how the political system could be more democratic.

We explored to what extent manipulation of language took place and how that affected thinking.

The NEXT meetup will be about the philosophy of happiness.