Norman Cousins wrote, in his book Human Options,

“Our own age is not likely to be distinguished in history for the large numbers of people interested in finding some time to think. Plainly, this is not the age of Meditative Man. It is a sprinting, squinting, shoving age.”
- Norman Cousins, Human Options, p. 69

Cousins published those words in 1981, well before the rise of the internet. Today we still sprint, squint and shove, but we also jet-ski across an ocean of information. For all its benefits, I wonder how often the internet and TV is used as a tool for deep thought.

Many business professionals do spend extensive time reading below the surface. As technology and knowledge rapidly change, we must constantly re-educate ourselves in order to be marketable. Therefore, we are often required to read books and articles related primarily to a specific professional niche. Reading of this nature can be deep and specialized, but it’s also narrow. This demand, combined with rushed pace of life, often diverts people in business from learning about the broader cultural context, the history of ideas, and our place in the world.

One man in Brazil, disconcerted by these trends here, decided to do something to help. About four-years ago, economist, author and former business consultant José Monir Nasser implemented a program designed to invite business professionals a chance to think about the big picture of life by holding educational discussions about the great books of Western civilization.

The overall purpose of the program, Nasser told me, is to help overcome Brazil’s “intellectual poverty,” (a problem not limited to Brazil). The only way to change the situation, Nasser believes, is to bring together small groups of people—especially business leaders—who   are willing to plunge into the depths of great Western literature.

Nasser said he hopes that the program will help “restore in Brazil a true Western culture” that combats the “deconstructionist” trends in today’s universities. The typical participant, Nasser told me, is seeking a cultural and educational opportunity that has become   difficult to find in Brazilian universities because of the left-leaning politics and philosophical “nihilism” that’s so ingrained in academic environments here. Many participants, he said, find that the discussion groups and the books are like an “island of meaning” in what is often a superficial and cynical culture.

The program, called “Expeditions through the World of Culture,” started in Curitiba, the capital city of Paraná, in southern Brazil. Nasser started holding book discussions with a group of his civic entrepreneurship students. He then announced his discussion groups in the city’s largest newspaper. As his program gained in popularity, a branch of the Paraná Federation of Industries officially adopted the program and began to promote and finance Nasser’s efforts. Over the years, Nasser has started the program to three other cities in Paraná. He travels to each of these cities at least once a month. More than 2,000 people have participated statewide since the program began.

The groups in Curitiba have read and discussed 66 of the 100 books on Nasser’s reading list so far. Included are such titles as Genesis and Job, Hamlet, Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn. The books represent a broad range of perspectives, but he only selected books that do an outstanding job of describing the human condition.

Nasser said that his idea for the program was influenced by the Paideia Group founded by the American philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler, who died in 2001, and other renowned thinkers such as Jaques Barzum (who wrote From Dawn to Decadence, a book about the decline of Western culture over the past 500 years). Adler, who became a Christian late in life, founded The Great Books of the Western World program, which started at the University of Chicago as a cultural and educational course for business leaders.

I recently attended one of Nasser’s discussion groups held at the local association of industry and commerce. About 30 business professionals attended the four-hour meeting, which focused on Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. Nasser, without using any notes, brilliantly put the author and his play into the context of modern thought and history, making connections between philosophy, the economy, and politics. The discussion was content-rich, and by no means dry or “academic.”

As I listened to the thoughtful conversations among the participants that night, I was reminded about how thirsty people are for meaning. Many people are eager to go beyond the superficiality of today’s culture. Given that we are made in God’s image and that God has embedded eternity in our hearts, that longing for meaning should not surprise us.

Obviously, not everyone can find a discussion leader like José Nasser. But it doesn’t take a doctoral degree in literature to organize a monthly book discussion group. Small group discussions could take place during a lunch hour or even during happy hour. You just need a few friends who are willing to read some good books and a regularly scheduled face-to-face dialogue during which each person can share opinions and thoughts. You can find help with selecting a great book by visiting www.greatbooks.org.

I think the benefits will be amazing. Good books take us deeper and at the same time help us to understand our history and cultural context. Beyond that, using books as a catalyst for discussion with other people opens the doors to new and more intimate friendships.