Orlando Stoics

Last week we followed energy down through economy, life, and matter, until only the bare quantity was left. Now we ask what it costs to make energy useful. Energy never reaches us as energy; it comes as sunlight and wind, as the chemical bonds in coal and oil, as heat, motion, and the electricity we finally burn, and every form must be caught, converted, and carried before it turns a single wheel. Each thinker this week peels back one layer of that hidden cost.

We begin with Theodore Paul Wright, the aeronautical engineer who, in "Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes" (1936), found that each time production doubles, the cost of the next unit falls a fixed percentage. The cause is experience: we learn by doing. Whichever form of energy we manufacture toward, whether a panel for sunlight, a turbine for wind, or a cell for charge, the device slides down the same curve as we build more. Contribution: the price of capturing energy is not fixed by nature but falls, predictably, the more we make.

We then turn to Jeremy Rifkin, who insists no form of energy matters on its own. Every economic era, he argues, marries an energy source to a system of logistics and communication: coal to the railway and print, oil to trucking and the telephone, sun and wind to the digital grid. A barrel of oil or a shaft of sunlight is inert until a network moves and coordinates it. Contribution: every form of energy rides on a paired system of logistics, and it is the pairing, not the fuel, that builds an economy.

Finally we arrive at Charles Hall, who asks what it costs, in energy itself, to win energy from the world. His measure is EROI, energy return on investment, the ratio of energy delivered to the energy spent drilling, refining, and building to get it. Every form is paid for in another, and as easy deposits deplete, the surplus quietly narrows. Contribution: every form of energy carries a hidden energy cost, and what sustains a civilization is only the net left after energy pays for itself.

Wright's curve makes power look ever cheaper; Rifkin reminds us it rides on a substrate of wires and rails; Hall reminds us that beneath even that lies energy spent to make energy. As the price falls toward nothing, the question sharpens: if the cost never vanishes but only shifts out of sight, what endures beneath a falling price, and what have we really built when we build something cheap?

Links

Friendship plays a central role in Stoic philosophy. While the Stoics viewed virtue as the foundation of a flourishing life, they also recognized that meaningful friendships enrich our lives and provide opportunities to practice wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance.

Cicero's essay On Friendship (De Amicitia) raises questions that are still relevant today: What makes a true friend? How many friends should we have? Can friendship exist without virtue? During this session, we will discuss excerpts from the first fifty paragraphs of the book.

We'll explore a number of questions that sit at the heart of the essay. What is the foundation of a friendship, and where does our desire for it come from in the first place? Laelius argues that genuine friendship exists only between good people, so we'll ask what he really means by "good." We'll also consider questions that feel especially modern: what role does self-reliance play in friendships today, should we avoid having too many friends, and how can the friendships we keep help us become better people?

It helps to know the cast of characters behind the essay. The author is Marcus Tullius Cicero, who dedicates the work to his closest friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus. The main speaker is Gaius Laelius, who reflects on his deep bond with his best friend Scipio Aemilianus (Africanus the Younger), the model of ideal friendship throughout the piece. The essay itself unfolds as Laelius responds to questions posed by two younger men, Gaius Fannius and Quintus Mucius Scaevola.

No prior reading is required. We'll provide excerpts during the meeting and discuss them together.
English translations

Esta reunión es cada miércoles a las 7 p.m. EST
CALENDARIO
EPICTETO DISERTACIONES POR ARRIANO

5/27/2026 XXI A LOS QUE QUIEREN SER ADMIRADOS
6/3/2026 XXII SOBRE LAS PRESUNCIONES
6/10/2026 XXIII EN RESPUESTA A EPICURO
6/17/2026 XXIV CÓMO HAY QUE LUCHAR CONTRA LAS CIRCUNSTANCIAS DIFÍCILES
6/24/2026 XXV SOBRE LO MISMO
7/1/2026 XXVI CUÁL HA DE SER LA NORMA DE VIDA
7/8/2026 XXVII DE CUÁNTAS MANERAS SE PRESENTAN LAS REPRESENTACIONES Y QUÉ AYUDAS HAY QUE TENER A MANO FRENTE A ELLAS
7/15/2026 XXVIII QUE NO HAY QUE IRRITARSE CON LOS HOMBRES Y QUÉ COSAS SON PEQUEÑAS Y CUÁLES GRANDES ENTRE LOS HOMBRES
7/22/2026 XXIX SOBRE EL APLOMO
7/29/2026 XXX QUÉ HAY QUE TENER A MANO EN LAS DIFICULTADES

ZONAS HORARIAS

Hora de encuentro (EE. UU.):
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18:00 h, hora central
17:00 h, hora de las montañas
16:00 h, hora del Pacífico

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