Would anyone be interested in a Human Action study group?

Miscellaneous General
1

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I recently received my copy of Human Action, Scholar’s Edition as a gift from the Mises store. I have read little bits and pieces, the “Introduction” and the even part of the first chapter. I’m excited to use the free PDF version (thanks Mises Institute) from Robert Murphy to study the work. However, I know that this is a very intense work, and will require all my mind’s effort to begin to understand.

I tried to convince a coworker that he should read along with me, so we could bounce ideas off of each other, but he’s not into it right now. That’s when I thought, “Hey, what about those guys and gals on Mises.org?” Candidly, I must admit, the advent of the Mises Academy, which looks really awesome, was also responsible for sparking this idea.

I propose that any interested parties notify me through this forum. If there is enough interest, I will coordinate and provision the necessary resources to accomplish the goal. Here’s what I propose:

  • Interested parties would join the group using some kind of Internet-based collaboration tool.
  • An established reading plan would be generated that details which chapters/portions of the book will be featured in some particular time frame.
  • Study guide assignments to accompany the reading schedule would be listed.
  • Each person would conduct the reading and study guide assignments on his or her own time.
  • An asynchronous forum would provide discussion of troublesome or interesting topics throughout the reading period.
  • At the end of the reading period, the group members would meet together on the Internet to discuss the reading, study guide assignment, as well as any insights or questions. Video conferencing would be ideal for this purpose.

Of course, all of this would be completely voluntary. No one would “expect” you to show up at the synchronous discussion or demand that you contribute to a discussion, etc.

I hope this takes off, because I really need some like minds to help me through this classic. Please respond to this thread if it’s to your liking.

Best,
StatelessElement

EDIT: I normally lurk here, so that explains why my post count is not so high.

2

I’d love to get in on this. I’ll send you a friend invite and I’d appreciate being informed on any further details. I read about 200 pages of human action but then abandoned the reading temporarily to become more familiar with economics in general. I only have the PDF mind you.

3

Sign me up

4

It would be a good idea to start a group here on the forums.

5

I would be very interested in participating in a Human Action study group but I’d be unable to contribute much until the beginning of summer. Exams are steadily approaching and I’m having to devote most of my time to preparing for them.

6

Also remember that we have a Book Club, where you may also want to post this. Perhaps it will stir up some activity there.

7

All,

I have created the Google group for this purpose. The group is wide open with regard to reading the content, in the true Mises style, but you have to request group membership to post (in order to keep down spam). All you have to do is click “Apply for Group Membership” on the right and I will quickly approve you. I hope everyone will feel welcome here, since I am a novice Human Action reader myself. After we have a good showing of folks enrolled in the group, we can begin to discuss the reading schedule and discussion group schedule. This can be very fluid and flexible, since this is the first time doing something of this type. If we later discover a different approach works better, perhaps we will change course. I just wanted to get something rolling.

http://groups.google.com/group/human-action-study-group

See you there!

Regards,
StatelessElement