About us
Welcome to The Free Thinker Institute
[www.FreeThinkerInstitute.org](freethinkerinstitute.org)
Are you interested in a community that values critical thinking, transparency, and open-mindedness? The Free Thinker Institute (FTI) is a group of like-minded individuals who prioritize the following intentions:
- Devotion to using reason and intuition to be the best version of yourself, seek truth, and be fair
- Transparency & Open-Mindedness: Being transparent about who you are and what you believe to the extent that you trust someone, and having an open mind towards new ideas that help you achieve the first intention.
- Commitment to Critical Thinking, so we can better discern fact from fiction and wisdom from folly
- Attempt to Maximize Happiness While Minimizing Harm and empower others who do the same
- Eagerness to Give and Receive Love - Platonic as well as romantic
At FTI, members support each other, stay in touch, and enjoy learning from each other, while also valuing attributes such as sincerity, integrity, wisdom, and fairness. The FTI also values and respects diversity, making it a welcoming space for all opinions and backgrounds. If you're interested in being a part of a positive, growth-focused community, then consider joining the FTI.
In addition to our in-person meetings, you are also invited to join the FTI text chat discussions on Discord (https://discord.gg/fksQBjS).
If you want to speak or nominate a speaker, or have a topic you'd like us to discuss, email Garrett@FreeThinkerInstitute.com.
We'd love to see you in discord and at the next meetup - Join today!
Upcoming events
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ORLANDO STOICS - MEDITATIONS - MARCUS AURELLIUS
·OnlineOnlineMarcus Aurelius' "Meditations" is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest works of Practical Philosophy ever produced.
"Meditations" tops best seller lists internationally,
despite being written over 1800 years ago.
Join us as we engage in an open, free ranging exploration of this classic work.
No previous Knowledge of Stoicism necessary.
Pre read NOT required
We will be starting at Book 1 of The Haines translation,
"The Communings with Himself of Marcus Aurelius Antonius"
C.R Haines - 1916, available, along with excellent introductions, below.
(3rd from bottom in listed translations)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Meditations2 attendees
DYL: The Power of Vulnerability
·OnlineOnlinePlease go to 52 LIVING IDEAS meetup page to RSVP
https://www.meetup.com/52livingideas/
In this month's Design Your Life meetup, we will explore what it means to be vulnerable and whether openness is a strength we can deliberately practice. We will look at why it is difficult, what it offers, and what it takes to be genuinely open with others.
Vulnerability is an act of courage: being authentic and willing to take risks despite uncertainty. Brené Brown's work frames it not as weakness but as the foundation of trust, courage, and meaningful connection. The benefits are practical as well as personal. Openness strengthens credibility, makes communication more honest, invites feedback, and builds the empathy that good collaboration depends on.
A practical question sits underneath all of this: what holds us back? The Berkeley Greater Good practice on questioning our assumptions suggests that much of our guardedness is the result of untested beliefs about how others will react. The Centre for Clinical Interventions offers a complementary angle, since being vulnerable means tolerating discomfort rather than avoiding it, and distress tolerance can be learned.
Design Your Life focuses on moving from philosophy to practice, and vulnerability fits naturally into that approach. What makes openness hard for you at work and in your personal life? When has opening up led to a stronger connection or a better outcome? And how do we tell the difference between healthy vulnerability and oversharing?
Sources- The Power of Vulnerability, Brené Brown: https://youtu.be/iCvmsMzlF7o
- Question Your Assumptions, Greater Good in Action (UC Berkeley): https://ggia.berkeley.edu/bridging/practices/question-your-assumptions/
- Tolerating Distress, Centre for Clinical Interventions: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Tolerating-Distress
2 attendees
Harari's Humanist Horror Story: Why History Matters.
·OnlineOnlineATHEIST SOCIETY - Melbourne, Australia.
Some of us are participating in their online event.
Leslie Allan (Rational Realm) will present the topic and lead the discussion.
"HARARI'S HUMANIST HORROR STORY:
- WHY HISTORY MATTERS."Wikipedia on Yuval Harari
ZOOM Link will appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 863 7677 0369 - - Passcode: 262493
Don't be deterred if you are late -
Join the event at any time.The Atheist Society welcomes ALL viewpoints, including criticism of Atheism.
Enquiries: atheist7agnostic@gmail.comFacebook and Website and Meetups for past and future Atheist Society activities.
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Existentialist Society:
Website - - YouTube - - Weekly Zoom Meetups2 attendees
Street Philosophy - Life the Universe and Everything
·OnlineOnline## What we’re about
Another enjoyable free flowing discussion after the regular
Saturday Melbourne Existentialist Society Meeting. Please feel free to join the Melbourne Existentialst Society meeting from 2 pm AEST
https://www.meetup.com/existentialist-society/?eventOrigin=event_home_page
Life the Universe Street Philosophy commences at cessation of
The Melbourne Existentialist Society meeting.
Some of the many topics we have discussed previously,
some of which I could almost follow, are-
The Id, Super Ego and Ego
Where did the laws of physics come from?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
Does Truth exist independent of consciousness?
Hard problem of consciousness.
Conspiracy theories - is there a psychological profile of a habitual conspiracy Theorist.
Is it possible to have ojective Morality without a concept of God?
Definition of "Information"
How do we know how a particle behaves in an unobserved state if "unobserved" by definition means we don't blinking well see it?
Meaning of meaning in "what is the meaning of life?"
Definition of Language
Ship of Thesis - is the "thing" just a construct?
Tranendentalism
Determinism
Observer effect in quantum physics
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Is there a why to human existence?
Definition of experience.
Method of applying reason.
What does it mean to be "your authentic self?"
Idealism v Realism - ABSOLUTE TRUTH - What does that mean ? does it exist ? Ontology, how equipped are we to fathom the nature of things? HARD PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: WHERE DOES CONSCIOUSNESS ARISE?: DOES DNA TRANSLATE TO BEHAVIOUR?, IF SO HOW - definition of rationality - origins of "value" - precision of mathematics - concept of infinity.
Definition of Information
- where is the information in an un opened book, does it exist when unobserved?
Reason
- what is the definition of reason
does it exist in physical laws, i.e. if we can we say "the reason the rock fell is because of gravity"?, how is this different to "what is the reason she chose Pepsi max instead of Coke Zero?"
Validity of evolutionary psychology:
- what evidence is there for evolutionarily selected behaviour, given that we cannot observe the history of the emergence of neurological structures as we can observe evolutionarily selected anatomical changes?046 attendees
Past events
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