Forum

A 3-day educational program about the meaning of life.
More than 70% of the people who complete the course
report it to be one of their life's most rewarding
experiences. The course draws on the teachings of
various philosophers (most notably Alan Watts and
Martin Heidegger). The course illustrates how
people assume that their interpretations of events
are actual facts, and that such assumptions are
what keep people from being satisfied with their lives
and what stops people from doing and having what
they want. The course is offered by Landmark Education.

I participated in the Forum, back in the eighties, as part of my ethnographic research of quasi-religious organizations and new religious movements. My impression, which does not constitute a statistically significant amount of data, was that it was one of the most boring and depressing experiences I've had. Really, it's remarkable how unpleasant it was, considering that I was not in any danger or pain. But do bear in mind that the plural of anecdote is not data, and that YMMV.

Forums are things websites often add because they think that it'll attract more people...

"Interactivity, people like that, right?"

The only problem is now EVERYBODY has added a forum of some sort to their webpage and now none of them get used. Forums have essentially killed the old newsgroups.

forum n.

[Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. `fora' or `forums'] Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in BBS, a mailing list, or a newsgroup (see the network). A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit postings for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast real-time chat via talk mode or point-to-point personal email.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.

An open space in an ancient Roman town or city. The forum was the heart of civic life, where goods were bought and sold, gods worshipped, legal cases heard, and laws made. It was the equivalent of the medieval piazza grande.

"The Forum" (with a capital F) refers to the Forum Romanum, the principal civic space in ancient Rome. However, Rome had numerous fora, each with its own practical role or political message.

Just to give a general idea of the lie of the land, here is a map of central Rome in ancient times.

                             ::::::::::
             ^                :::::4:::::
             |          .::.   ::::::::: 
           North       :::::     ::::::
@                      :::::                 :::
@@ <- 1               :::::        D     :::::::
 @@@               .:::                ::::5::::
  @@@@@@@@@@      .:::.       A       ::::::::::
      @@ 2 @@@    ::3::                  :::::::
        @@  @@@    :::      :::::...           :
          @@@@@@  B        ::::::::::::...   
            @@@           :::::::::::::::::.
            @@@           :::::::::6::::::::.
           @@@             ::::::::::::::::::
          @@@               :::::::::::::::::
        @@@       C            :::::::::::::
       @@@                         :::::::

Landmarks in the map above:

1. River Tiber
2. Insula Tiburina
3. Capitoline Hill
4. Quirinal Hill
5. Oppian Hill
6. Palatine Hill

The fora in Rome can be divided into two groups by age. There were "Republican Fora" and "Imperial Fora". However, the difference between these two groups goes deeper than whether they originated while Rome was a Republic or after it became an Empire.

These fora existed from Rome's earliest days. They evolved, rather than being deliberately planned and constructed.

• Forum Romanum (A on the map above)
• Forum Borarium (B)
• Forum Holitorium (C)

Other fora, such as the Forum Piscinarum (the fish market) did not survive, and their layouts are not known.

Unlike the Republican fora, these were designed spaces, with definite political intents. They were generally vowed during battles, and constructed to glorify both a certain god and the man doing the building. They were grouped together in one area (D on the map above).

                        North
                            \
        _       _           __
       / \_____/ \____    _|  \_      ________
   ___|               \__/  2   \__  |        |
  /                    \ \      /  | |        |_
 |          5          |  |    |     |   3     _|
  \___                 /       |  4  |        |
      |   _____   ____/--------|     |______  |
       \_/     \_/             |     |      '-'
                 |       1     |_____|
                 |_____________|     

                    Forum Romanum

1. Forum Iulium
2. Forum of Augustus
3. Forum of Peace
4. Forum of Nerva
5. Forum of Trajan

• Course notes from "The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome", taught at UC Berkeley by Professor Stephen Millar
• The Ancient Roman City, by John Stambaugh (course text)
• The Mute Stones Speak: the Story of Architecture in Italy by Paul MacKendrick (course text)

Former home of the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers, Sparks, and Kings. it is located in Inglewood.

It was built in 1967 by sports promoter Jack Kent Cook and its design was inspired by the Roman forum. It seats between 16,000 to 19,385 depending on the event, hosting everything from basketball to business meetings. In 1979 by Dr. Jerry Buss and named the "Fabulous Forum," but changed its name to the Great Western Forum when the now defunct Great Western Bank became its major sponsor. As of now, the future of the Forum is uncertain, with the last major team, the Sparks havning moved to Staples Center. Many Inglewood residents want to see a church buy it out and convert it.

Fo"rum (?), n.; pl. E. Forums (#), L. Fora (#). [L.; akin to foris, foras, out of doors. See Foreign.]

1.

A market place or public place in Rome, where causes were judicially tried, and orations delivered to the people.

2.

A tribunal; a court; an assembly empowered to hear and decide causes.

He [Lord Camden] was . . . more eminent in the senate than in the forum. Brougham.

© Webster 1913.