
Thinkers and Drinkers - pepys
https://literaryreview.co.uk/thinkers-drinkers
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bluejellybean
I've recently moved back to Ann Arbor and one of the goals I set was to create
some type of social club that is in a similar vein as the one described in
this article. Essentially I hope to create a chill 'third-spot' for the
mingling of smart minds from different disciplines and age groups. Somewhere
to openly argue or perhaps share the wealth of their obtained knowledge. Has
anyone on HN attempted anything similar? Any advice on what worked well and
what failed?

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debatem1
The key seems to be the same with these as everywhere else: you have to
recruit and hold onto smart people, and be able to tell actually smart ones
from people who love to talk.

In the setting described here, joining such clubs conferred considerable
status and status was a desirable commodity. That made both attracting and
retaining people who by and large had a lot to do much easier. On the other
hand, it sounds like they struggled to keep the talkers from talking.

Today I think the situation is reversed. You have essentially no way to
generate anything valuable for your members outside of the direct value they
get from the club, which is necessarily inversely proportional to their
contribution to it. And because specialist knowledge is so much more valuable
now, your focus probably has to be on keeping the people who don't want to
talk talking rather than shutting up those who would talk to an empty room.

The closest I can name to something like this is toastmasters, which has an
aspect of self-improvement that seems to keep it going, or the Rotary Club
which provides business connections. Neither (AFAIK) is in a growth period.

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heavenlyblue
You’d think that a highly educated benevolent dictator could solve the problem
of picking the right people for the club.

They must be aiming for the discourse, rather than their own power though - so
that they could pick people hated by themselves or the other members of the
club, if those people are bringing something new to the table.

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drawkbox
“I drink and I know things” -- _Tyrion Lannister_

Sometimes you need to step outside yourself and let your guard down on your
normal routine to see things more clearly.

Humans and sedation have always been a part of one another, it can lead to
realizations. A good place or group of friends/debaters can help
understanding, analysis and lead to quality of life improvements.

Sometimes you need to take the scenic route and just take it in to see things
from a new perspective more open than closed.

~~~
brootstrap
Scenic route is definitely enjoyed especially in todays society. Even better
if you are a little bit fucked up on drugs and traveling safely (train,
passenger etc).

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mkane848
I'm lucky to be a part of something like this. I get together every Tuesday
with a group for a whiskey tasting. We talk about the drink of course, but we
also end up talking about politics, social issues, day to day nonsense, etc.

I'm significantly more left leaning that anyone else in the group, and most of
them are also 30 years older than me, with the other two still being a few
years my senior.

We bicker a lot, but it's gotten me to see things from a ton of different
perspectives. And even if we don't agree, it gives me a chance to better argue
against those points later or at least better understand why someone might
think that way.

Obviously I don't think we're the brightest minds in town or anything like
that, but I think there's something to be said about this sort of social
gathering. It's almost like sparring with people I just disagree with but
(mostly) like so that I'm better equipped against the real thing.

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gvand
Sometimes I feel I really need something like that.

