A year ago, a room of strangers sat down to argue about things that don't have clean answers. We've done it every Wednesday since. In a city where most friendships arrive with a departure date already attached, a year of anything is not nothing!
We've argued about mortality, masculinity, money, forgiveness, silence, and whether any of us are who we say we are. People have shown up alone on a Wednesday and left with dinner plans. Some of you have been here almost every week since the beginning. Others came once, moved to another country, and still ask us what the topic was.
So this week we're turning the questions on ourselves because something happens when we spend a year articulating convictions out loud to people who don't always share our point of view. Positions get expressed more easily and at times more sharply. Many quietly dissolve. Some become entrenched and they stay that way. Some of us start to notice the shape of an argument before we notice whether we even agree with it. All worth noting and examining, yet so are the broader questions underneath: such as whether a mind is ever really changed by one good counter-argument in a single evening, or whether it happens the slow way, privately, over months, in a manner nobody ever announces to the room.
This Wednesday, for Questions That Matter’s one-year anniversary, we're asking: what did a year of Wednesday night discussions actually do, and what do you think another year might bring. Some additional questions and prompts we may use for the night are:
1. Has there been a discussion you walked out different than you walked in? What was it, and what changed?
2. What did you expect walking into Questions That Matter, and what did you actually find? Where is the gap?
3. How does regular participation in structured, high-friction dialogue alter the way we consume daily information, media, or casual arguments?
4. Do you feel that through steady discussion you actually get to know other participants, or do we mainly end up knowing each other's opinions?
As usual, the goal of the night isn't simply to agree, disagree, or learn. It's also to connect through genuine, lively, interactive discussion and, potentially, to go to some of the unexpected and uncharted places that deep and free conversation can take us.
Since we started Questions That Matter, between 25 and 60 people have joined us weekly. When we wrap up, we hope you’ll mingle and exchange numbers. Additionally, every week many of us go for dinner and you’re very welcome to join us. As polarized as the world is right now, one of the deepest connections still available to human beings is a shared meal.
Whether you’re in Chiang Mai for a short visit or you’re a long-term expat, we hope you can join us—not only to explore the deeper questions but to make new connections and friendships.
If possible, please support the venue, 4seas, by purchasing a beverage or a snack. They're kindly providing the space for us at no charge.
See you on Wednesday.
สวัสดีเพื่อนชาวไทย 🙏 Questions That Matter คือกลุ่มสนทนารายสัปดาห์ที่รวมคนจากหลากหลายประเทศมาแลกเปลี่ยนความคิดในหัวข้อที่น่าสนใจและท้าทาย ทั้งปรัชญา สังคม และวัฒนธรรม ไม่มีคำตอบที่ถูกหรือผิด มีแค่การสนทนาที่เปิดใจและตรงไปตรงมา มีผู้เข้าร่วมทุกสัปดาห์ 25-50 คน และเราอยากได้ยินมุมมองของคนไทยในวงสนทนา 📅 ทุกวันพุธ 18:00–20:00 น. 📍 4Seas Nimman ซอย 15 💰 เข้า
