Socrates Cafe

[Yarram]

Linky (http://www.philosopher.org/en/Socrates_Cafe.html)
I think I'm safe posting about this, because despite political views sometimes being discussed within the meetings themselves, the concept of the meetings doesn't push any particular political agenda.
This morning I tried something really cool, that I think is a really good idea, but would never bother trying on the internet because it's full of people with opinions that matter.
Anyway, once a month, at a Cafe in my town, a bunch of people get together and talk. What happens is that everyone writes down a philosophical question on a piece of paper, and then we all voted on which question we wanted to discuss. The purpose of the discussion is to educate those attending by making us talk about things we normally wouldn't. The question our group voted for was "Is matriarchy the solution." to which I'm not going to give out what we came up with because that's not really important, and the purpose of the meeting isn't to answer the question, but to explore every possible outlook on it.
Notably, I was the only person present under 60, and the atmosphere was very relaxed, polite and understanding, as long as noone became passionate about convincing everyone that their political views were correct, which didn't occur with the regular members, but this guy wandered in off the street (I'm only mentioning this because it was mildly funny in hindsight, but kindof sad at the same time. This was apparently the only time it had happened in three years, and I believe them) and immediately said (Cutting someone off while they were talking) very confidently/authoritatively, "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I saw the sign outside of your door, and I just want to say how glad that people like you guys come and discuss important stuff like this, it's something very valuable" so he was politely invited in and took a seat.
Famous quote from this person:
"I bet 90% of people don't even know what Matriarchy even means." To which he was pulled up on, because that's really patronizing to the rest of the human race.
A few more statements like that later, specifically trying to show why his particular political views were right, (I'd swear he was trolling if he were on the net) he was pulled up for being closed-minded again, and so he left in a "Obviously I'm not wanted" manner. Cue mild satisfaction, slight giggling and a little bit of being upset because of his ignorance.

But anyway, despite that minor drawback, (15 minutes out of two hours) the whole thing was very entertaining and educational. I can see it not working with the wrong group of people, and so I'm interested in other peoples perceptions of the idea, and if anyone does something similar (Just sitting down and talking about important things from the most objective point of view they possibly can)

Again, there is no way it could be pulled off in the playground, as it would be a political troll-fest, but IRL...

[onthetown]

I think that would be majorly fun. Unfortuantely, I live in a fairly small, closed-minded province; with people over 60, it would actually turn into a political troll-fest.

I might try to organize one of these at my college (we're all fairly liberal when dealing with each others' opinions).

[Douglas]

Now to make it really interesting and live up to the name, you should institute a rule that all debates must be conducted entirely in questions.

[Zocelot]

Now to make it really interesting and live up to the name, you should institute a rule that all debates must be conducted entirely in questions.

Even more interesting would be conducting it entirely in a rap battle.

On topic, that does sound very interesting. It's good to hear people try to share information and arrive at the correct viewpoint rather than just stress their own.

[Telonius]

"I bet 90% of people don't even know what Matriarchy even means." To which he was pulled up on, because that's really patronizing to the rest of the human race.

I suppose at least 73% don't know what the word means, since they don't speak English (using Wikipedia's high-end estimate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language)of 1.8billion English language speakers). :smallbiggrin:

[Sneak]

Not to rag on you guys, and I wasn't there so I really don't know how it all when down, but from the way you described things, it really seems like you guys were the ones being close-minded, not the guy who came in from the street. His statement about matriarchy may be controversial, but it actually does have some truth to it. And isn't the whole point of an open debate to try to share your viewpoint with others and why you think it's right? I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with trying to convince others that your political beliefs are right. And the fact that you giggled and felt satisfied when he left just seems a bit obnoxious on your part.

Once again, I wasn't there, so maybe I'm completely off base on this one.

As to the idea itself, I think it's very interesting and sounds fun. I would personally feel a little uncomfortable as the only <60 year old in the place, however, given that I'm pretty young (16) and would feel a bit out of place, not to mention the fact that our society (while it may have the best of intentions) is a bit agist towards youngins—they might not take a teenager seriously.

[Yarram]

It may have seemed like we were being hypocrites to you, but then you weren't there. I agree.
The guy actually shared the same beliefs as most of us, and the frustration directed at him wasn't because we disagreed with what he said, but because he was damaging the atmosphere and system that's required for civil communication.

On another note, old people are pretty damn smart, and I'm a meager two years older than you but my addition were just as credited/discussed as anyone else's. I found the different age groups enhansive, not only because of the different perspectives offered.
While I could not add as much as anyone else (And I didn't try too), being proud of soap-boxing isn't the appeal behind it, rather finding out what others thought.

[Kallisti]

This sounds like a wonderful idea. I actually think that maybe we could pull off something like this in the Playground if we stuck to more abstract philosophical questions. I'd be interested to see that, if I could find similarly-optimistic others. Although everything seems more condescending over the internet for some reason. To me, at least. It's sometimes hard to tell if someone's trying to be nice or condescending when you cannot see or hear them.

Even if SocratesITP were unrealistic, though, it's a wonderful idea IRL and I hope your group meets many more times and you continue to enjoy it.