About us
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The BIG IDEAS book club is a monthly meetup for members wanting to discuss important or intriguing ideas and issues in society and our lives. Originally called the 'Phil-Psyc' book club, the discussions include not only big ideas in philosophy and psychology but also from economics, politics, sociology, and science.
Each month a big idea or key thinker will be selected for discussion. For example, a topic could be something like ’free will’, ‘identity’, ’meritocracy’, ‘the simulation hypothesis’, ’post-capitalism’, etc. Similarly, the key thinker could be someone like ‘Carl Jung’, ‘Michel Foucault’, ‘Daniel Kahneman’, etc.
For each topic, a key book and video material will be suggested. The attendees are not required to have read/watched these in order to attend and are welcome to engage in their own reading/viewing material. However, I do strongly encourage reading the set book as it helps in creating focal points for the discussion.
This monthly Meetup will be hosted by Paul T. Many thanks to Dr Steve Mayers who started this book club (and who also started Café Psychologique Sydney) but who unfortunately has moved on from Sydney. Hopefully, the meetup organizer pool will expand so as not to rely on one person.
During the post-Covid restart of this book club (late 2023), it may take some time to find a favourite meeting venue, and hopefully members will have some promising ideas on venues. Being relatively quiet, having food and drink, being approximately central to Sydney and close to public transport are at least four criteria that make sense to me. As a starting place, we can test the 2nd floor (one below the rooftop) of the Keg & Brew Hotel, 26 Foveaux St, Surry Hills. It’s close to Central Station and the light rail. But make sure to check the actual event location.
Come along and join in the conversation!
Keywords: Book club, philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, science, critical thinking, intellectual discussions, conversation.
Upcoming events
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The Trolley Problem: Would you kill the fat man?
Keg & Brew Hotel, 26 Foveaux St, Surry Hills, NS, AUChances are you've heard some version of this before, but it's worth revisiting. A runaway trolley is hurtling down the tracks toward five unsuspecting workers. You're standing on a footbridge above, and beside you is a large man. If you push him onto the tracks, his body will stop the trolley. He will die—but the five will live. Would you do it? What if pushing him saved a hundred people? This is no idle riddle. Our responses to this famous thought experiment (and many variants of it) reveal how we weigh consequences, rights, and intentions, and how our moral intuitions can clash with our moral reasoning. Moreover, these choices matter in the real world. From foreseeable risks to civilian lives in military action, to public‑health decisions about allocating scarce vaccines, to autonomous vehicles deciding who to save in a crash, trolley problems offer an accessible way to confront the hard edges of moral decision‑making in the modern age. Let's dive in.
Primary Reading: An Introduction to the Trolley Problem (document prepared for this discussion)
(Optional) Book: Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us About Right and Wrong (2014) by David Edmonds
For this meetup, we’ve prepared a 40-page guide that introduces the Trolley Problem, its philosophical significance, and what neuroscience has learned from using it to study moral decision-making. The guide includes sixteen scenarios, each probing different aspects of moral thinking: How do we weigh consequences against rights? Does intention matter more than outcomes? Do personal relationships override impartial calculation? When is it acceptable to use one person to save many? These scenarios reveal the complexity of our moral intuitions and will form the heart of our discussion.
Hopefully the prepared guide will leave you wanting more. If so, David Edmonds' Would You Kill the Fat Man? is a wonderful next step. Edmonds traces the fascinating history of the Trolley Problem, interviews philosophers who've wrestled with it, and explains the competing moral frameworks with clarity and wit. It's highly readable and brings real depth to these abstract dilemmas—but it's entirely optional. The guide has everything you need for our discussion.
As always, we strongly encourage you to do the reading before attending. This will enrich both your experience and our collective discussion. We’ve also put links below on further resources on the topic.
So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm on Monday, 1st June, on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surrey Hills (i.e. up two flights of stairs). The venue is conveniently located near Central Station and the Light Rail.
We look forward to seeing you there!
P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to other people if there is a waitlist.
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These are just optional links to consider. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.Videos
- A TED-Ed explainer on basic trolley problems:
Would you sacrifice one person to save five? (5 mins) - Michael Sandel starts his famous Harvard justice lecture course with some trolley problems:
Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? - Podcast with David Edmonds, author of our book, on trolley problems:
Philosophy Bytes - Trolley Problems - Podcast with Prof Joshua Greene, a pioneer on applying neuroscience to the trolley problem:
Trolleyology with Dr Joshua Greene (1.22 hr) - TED-Ed on self-driving car scenarios
The ethical dilemma of self-driving cars (4 mins) - A real-life version of the trolley problem staged with unsuspecting participants!:
The trolley problem in real life (35 mins) - For fans of The Good Place, you’ll remember the ever-indecisive philosophy professor Chidi facing a real life trolley problem:
The Good Place – The Trolley Problem (3 mins) - If you want to brush up on your utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical imperative, see these two Crash Course Philosophy videos:
Utilitarianism: Crash Course Philosophy (10 mins)
Kant & Categorical Imperatives: Crash Course Philosophy (10 mins)
Written
- A nice easter egg for anyone who has read down the page this far (from the Utilitarianism.com website):
Would You Kill the Fat Man? - Encyclopedia Entries:
Wikipedia - The Trolley Problem
Wikipedia - Dual Process Theory
Britannica - The Trolley Problem - A Conversation piece on AI systems and trolley problems
The self‑driving trolley problem - If you want to play with some moral dilemmas in autonomous vehicle crash scenarios and see how your choices compare globally:
Moral Machine - Moral Decisions and Machine Intelligence
42 attendees- A TED-Ed explainer on basic trolley problems:
Enshittification and the Power of Platforms: Is There a Way Out?
Keg & Brew Hotel, 26 Foveaux St, Surry Hills, NS, AUEver wonder why so many digital services you rely on seem to be getting simultaneously worse and more expensive? More ads. Sponsored search results. Subscription creep. Auto‑renew traps. Dubious 'surge' charges. Sneaky fees. Forced sign-ins. Cancel buttons hidden. There's a term for this phenomenon: enshittification — the gradual degradation of platforms that once seemed like technological miracles offering us convenience, connection, and democratisation.
But enshittification is just the surface symptom of something far more corrosive. Beneath the declining user experience lies a fundamental reshaping of our economy where a handful of tech platforms have positioned themselves as inescapable gatekeepers, extracting unprecedented wealth from workers, businesses, and consumers while accumulating dangerous concentrations of power — what some are now calling technofeudalism. What happened to the internet's promise of widespread prosperity and a stronger democracy? How did we end up locked into systems that seem designed to serve everyone except us? And most importantly: what can we do about it? Come join us for a vital conversation about reclaiming our digital future and building an economy that works for everyone, not just the platform owners.
Book: Enshittification – Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (2025) by Cory Doctorow
Book (Alternative): The Age of Extraction – How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity (2025) by Tim Wu
Pdf Resource: Infographics and Summary Tables
(A prepared document of selected ideas from the two books)This month you have two options to read depending on your preference towards the level of analysis, style of writing, and your ease in accessing the book.
Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow is a punchy, provocative, and highly readable take on why so many digital platforms seem to decline over time. Doctorow, who coined the term ‘enshittification’, argues that platforms follow a predictable lifecycle—starting out user-focused, then shifting to business customers, and finally extracting for themselves—in each stage squeezing the group it previously courted. The book is fast-paced, example-rich, and written in an accessible, almost conversational style, making it ideal if you enjoy sharp arguments, memorable concepts, and contemporary tech critique. It’s particularly appealing for readers who like books that spark immediate reactions and connect directly to everyday experiences online.
The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu takes a broader, more analytical approach. Wu situates the problems of digital platforms within a larger historical and economic pattern, arguing that we are living in an “age of extraction” where powerful actors systematically draw value from users, workers, and society. The tone is more measured and reflective, with a focus on big-picture thinking and long-term trends. This book will appeal to readers who enjoy connecting ideas across economics, history, and politics, and who prefer a more structured, conceptual framework over a punchy polemic.
Please read one (or both), depending on your interests. The Age of Extraction is 226 pages (or 6 hours) and Enshittification is 340 pages (or 10 hours, not available on Audible but is available on other platforms).
Join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm on Monday, 6th July, on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surrey Hills (i.e. up two flights of stairs). The venue is conveniently located near Central Station and the Light Rail.
Bring along an example of an app or digital service you used to really like that has since become enshittified—something you can have a quick rant about to kick off the conversation! 😊
Hope to see you there!
P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to other people if there is a waitlist.
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These are just optional links to consider to supplement the reading of the books. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.Videos & Podcasts
- Two-for-one: Cory Doctorow and Tim Wu together! (Curiously, as kids they were classmates in the same small primary school in Toronto!):
The Ezra Klein Show – We Didn't Ask for This Internet (1.5hrs)
The Oxford Internet Institute - Enshittification and Extraction (1.5hrs) - Cory Doctorow Interviews:
Prospect Magazine (28mins)
Doctorow on The Daily Show (15 mins)
The Guardian (24 mins) - Tim Wu Interviews:
The Majority Report (40 mins)
The Commonwealth Club (1 hour) - Explainer Video:
Why Every App is Getting Worse on Purpose (10 mins)
Written
- Pdf Resource: Infographics and Summary Tables
(A prepared document of selected ideas from the two books) - Enshittification Summaries and Reviews:
Wikipedia summary of Enshittification
Transcript of Doctorow Lecture on Enshittification
CounterFire Book Review - The Age of Extraction Reviews
Prospect Book Review
HowAustraliaReallyWorks Book Review
Washington Monthly Book Review
20 attendees- Two-for-one: Cory Doctorow and Tim Wu together! (Curiously, as kids they were classmates in the same small primary school in Toronto!):
Past events
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Group links
Members
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