
Ask HN: Do you want to talk someone who is very different than you? - jsolomon
Do you want to talk someone who is very different than you?<p>If yes, please share here or via https:&#x2F;&#x2F;goo.gl&#x2F;forms&#x2F;X7QeGn3BuT4Is2pt2:<p>- a bit about yourself<p>- roughly who you&#x27;d like to talk to<p>- if&#x2F;how much you&#x27;d be willing to compensate the person for their time<p>- preferred medium (online chat, phone, video)<p>- contact info for me to get in touch with you off-thread<p>I&#x27;ll recruit folks online and play matchmaker for this little private-AMA experiment. I&#x27;ll make sure to confirm with you before making any intros.<p>The motivation is that many of us rarely talk to people who are very different than ourselves and this leads to lots of misunderstandings, alienation, and destructive tribal behavior on both sides. Obvious h&#x2F;t to @sama&#x27;s post about the election https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12728249.<p>Personally, I worked in social services for the last few years so had the great opportunity to peak outside my personal bubble. And not just politically...for example, about HALF of all Americans can&#x27;t come up with $400 in an emergency without going into debt[1] and in my day-to-day life this ubiquitous experience is basically invisible to me.<p>Thanks all and looking forward to hearing what you think.<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.federalreserve.gov&#x2F;econresdata&#x2F;2014-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201505.pdf
======
schoen
This is a neat idea. Some thoughts:

Maybe there are already other projects like this?

Maybe it could use some kind of taxonomy of whom you might get to talk to?

Maybe it could use some kind of ground rules about confidentiality? (or am I
being too paranoid?)

Maybe it could use some kind of advice for people's ensuing conversations? (or
am I being too pessimistic?)

~~~
jsolomon
Thanks, @schoen.

Good points and I agree all around - just wanted to keep it as lightweight as
possible to start.

I did a bit of searching first and didn't find much. Something like
chatroulette.com has similar features but doesn't quite hit the mark of a
respectful, private-AMA. Let me know if you see anything else.

------
mmatoscom
this is a great idea, congrats. reminds me of a project where people intending
to learn English could speak to elders and seniors living in a retirement
house. Will follow up. Thanks, M Matos

~~~
jsolomon
thanks - yes I've heard of that one! Great example of the internet promoting
human connection...

Hope I can find you an interesting conversation :)

------
NumberCruncher
No thanks! I talk all the day to marketing people. That's more than enough for
me.

------
nicomfe
awesome idea, is the compensation required to be money? or it could be an
exchange of knowledge?

~~~
jsolomon
No need for cash compensation, though since I'm just doing this for a few
people I probably won't be able to match based on specific learning/teaching
areas. If it's a matter of logistics I'm happy to accept paypal/venmo and just
send the other person an Amazon gift code on your behalf.

