ThoughtClub

I had an idea today and I’m curious to know how many of my friends would be interested in participating.

The idea would be something like a book club except that instead of everyone reading a specific book and then getting together to discuss it, we would choose a scientific topic with broad philosophical implications, everyone would think about / research it on their own for a month or two, and then we’d get together to discuss for a few hours over snacks and drinks (or cannabis or whatever helps you think about these things or express yourself better.)

Perhaps we could even invite a subject matter expert in the chosen area of exploration to start (or maybe end) the meetup with a short presentation of their views on the topic.

Preliminary ideas for topics of discussion might include things like determinism vs free will, the possible near term implications of continued AI development, the simulation hypothesis, whether alien life exists, how likely we are to encounter it and what it might look like, the pros/cons/feasibility of alternative economic systems, etc.

We would have an online repository where everyone could share interesting resources (books, articles, podcasts, etc.) that they find about the chosen topic.

This is similar to something called Socrates Cafe that I used to do from time to time except that, like a book club, this would involve significant time for preparation (as much or as little as you wanted to do) and it wouldn’t be an open group that anyone can just drop in for (although members of the group would be allowed to invite new people).

Let me know if that sounds like something you might be interested in.