Next Meeting
This Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:30pm at Uptown Espresso, 2504 4th Ave., Seattle
Jesse K submits this evidence.
While living in Seattle, Jesse used to dialogue regularly with SCS and now facilitates the San Diego Socrates Cafe, with 123 members. Last summer, he dropped by Socrates Cafe Seattle. You can hear him in the audio of our July 22nd discussion. (He weighs in on the politics of Burning Man.)
The fruits of insomnia.
You can now read this page in Greek (and 50 or so other languages, though, sadly, not Esperanto) simply by toggling the widget in the lower right sidebar.
Thanks for all the feedback on the new site! I’ve placed reciprocal links between new site and old (and fixed typos!), per your suggestions. So if someone seems interested in dropping by or joining the email list, tell them “Go to Socrates Cafe dot info” and they’ll find both sites.
Or, hey, you can tell them “Go to Groups dot Yahoo dot com slash Group slash (all one word) socratescafeseattle. No, don’t include ‘all one word’! I meant socratescafeseattle is all one word.”
I also tweaked language on the Yahoo Group to improve Google results for the old site.
I’m pleased to report that socratescafe.info now ranks on Google page 1 for both “socrates cafe seattle” and “seattle socrates cafe”. (Interestingly, Google treats these as different searches.)
Alas, the new site doesn’t even rank in Yahoo searches. But no matter! The Yahoo Group ranks on Yahoo page 1. (And its Google placement is also much improved.)
Now, back to philosophy.
We also have a members-only website at Yahoo Groups that now includes 78 people. If you’d like to receive email updates and explore the past several years of posts, please join us there as well.
I edited our July 22, 2009 discussion down to 20 minutes. That’s a lot of compression for a 2 hour discussion, and I’m curious to see if the discussion is interesting/sensible to people who weren’t there. Please comment!
The topic: Are there any better or novel models of social organization?
Enjoy!
LISTEN! to an edited recording of a Socrates Cafe Seattle discussion or READ a summary.
WHERE? Uptown Espresso
2504 4th Ave (@ Wall St. in Belltown), Seattle
WHEN? Each Wednesday evening from 7:30 to 9:30 pm
WHO ARE WE? We are a group of people interested in discussing the big (and the not so big) questions that affect our everyday lives.
WHAT IS SOCRATES CAFE SEATTLE? At each meeting the group chooses and investigates a single question (such as “What is the good life?”). We help each other become better critical thinkers, re-examine our assumptions, and study the chosen question by probing it from different angles.
Most importantly: We ask each other further questions.
A Socrates Cafe is a facilitated discussion in which civility and respectful listening are essential. However, we are not aiming for consensus (although at times we surprise ourselves and arrive there), but rather for the airing, sharing and deep consideration of diverse points of view. Group members facilitate on a rotating basis.
The first Socrates Cafes were started by Chris Phillips (see his book: “Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy”). Socrates Cafe Seattle convened in spring 2001.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SOCRATES CAFE QUESTION? All questions are welcome, especially those that perplex you and directly relate to your life and current preoccupations.
QUESTIONS and MEDIA INQUIRIES? Email socratescafeseattle@yahoogroups.com or just stop by the Cafe next Wednesday.
Information on Socrates Cafes around the U.S. can be found at the Society for Philosophical Inquiry.
CAN’T GET ENOUGH? Try a Conversation Café with meetings every day of the week.
It’s been frustrating for a while that our Yahoo Groups site doesn’t rank in the first 100 search results on Google for “Socrates Cafe Seattle”. And that the inactive Meet Up group ranks first. And that the functionality of the Yahoo site is so limited.
So I decided to put together this basic WordPress site and mirror some of the Yahoo Group content. I hope this will help people find us both on the net and in person.