OC ACXLW Meetup #89: “Bring Your Own Values”
Saturday, March 15, 2025 | 2:00 – 5:00 PM
Location: 1970 Port Laurent Place, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Host: Michael Michalchik (michaelmichalchik@gmail.com | (949) 375-2045)

An Invitation To Share & Reflect On Core Values

For our next OC ACXLW session on March 15, there are no required readings. Instead, we ask that you show up with your own thoughts about the values you believe society (or humanity at large) should carry forward:

• Foundational, time-tested virtues that keep our civilizations strong
• Contested values you see in flux amid modern debates that ned attention
• Forward-looking principles that might shape civilization for centuries or millennia

We want to spark an open discussion where each of us brings a few personal reflections or stories illustrating what we regard as key moral/cultural/political values. This can include:

1. Your personal moral compass (e.g., compassion, freedom, curiosity)
2. Values you believe are missing or overshadowed in today’s public life
3. Speculative “alien” or futuristic ideas that challenge us to imagine new norms

Optional Food For Thought

While you don’t need to read anything in advance, we offer a few voluntary resources if you want to stoke your imagination:

1. 75 Interesting People’s Values (Document)
   
    
   • Link
   • A big list of various thinkers/leaders’ value statements—helpful to see common threads or wild divergences.
2. “Value is Fragile” by Eliezer Yudkowsky
   
    
   • Text & Audio on LessWrong
   • A short essay on how easily the things we cherish could be lost or subverted if not carefully preserved.
3. Alien Values: “Three Worlds Collide”
   
    
   • Text & Audio here
   • Warning: Intense or challenging. Explores radically different moral frameworks.
4. Horror-Fiction Take: “Sporting with the Chid”
   
    
   • Text & Audio version
   • Notoriously unsettling. For some, this might illustrate how alien or “inhuman” values can unsettle ours.

None of these are required; they’re merely prompts if you’d like external inspirations for imagining what values might stand the test of time—or warp under pressure.

What We’ll Discuss

• Favorite Values: Bring 1–3 you hold dear. Why do you see them as vital or threatened?
• Value Tensions: Are certain good values mutually exclusive? Could “alien” value systems be positive in ways we don’t expect?
• Future Shaping: Which guiding principles might best protect what we cherish if society or technology changes drastically?

We Look Forward to Seeing You!

This meetup aims for a freeform, philosophical discussion rather than a text-based debate. Whether you’re drawn to personal virtues, civic ideals, or big-picture cosmic planning, join us on March 15 with your insights.

Questions?
Email or call Michael (contact info above). Thank you, and see you soon for a creative exploration of the values that define us—and that we believe can guide our future.