What we’re about
You are cordially invited to join us in conversations and meet similar people using Myers Briggs Personality test as a tool. (MBTI is by far the most popular personality test--a free test that takes only 15 minutes to take, and gives you valuable insights into yourself.) Learn from others through conversations in an informal friendly setting. The format is fairly informal. We will divide into a few groups for the conversations, move between groups and enjoy interacting with the many people present. People will be wearing tags identifying their personality types to spur conversations.
We meet on Every Saturday at 3:45pm at Sony Atrium at 550 Madison Avenue at 55th street. We have already had immense success with these Meetups attracting 30+ participants from various Meetup groups for each Meetup. (I also organize The 103 Great Ideas Conversations at 2pm Every Saturday at the same venue, just before this Meetup. See: https://www.meetup.com/The-103-Great-Ideas-...)
We human beings are complex beings--this Meetup is designed to enable participants to explore their own personality through interactions with similar and (and sometimes dissimilar) types, and to thereby learn a little about the nature of personality itself. At each Meetup you will have multiple conversations in different groups, and the format allows participants to interact deeply and learn in their own way regardless of their level of familiarity with personality types.
Meet interesting personalities, Explore your own, and Learn through Meaningful Conversations with many people at each Meetup.
Join our Meetup and Join the Conversations Now!
****************************
40-60 Personality Enthusiasts attended each of the last few Meetups. When asked what is the most interesting thing they learnt during the Meetup, here are some of the answers:
"It was unusual to have so much in common with some complete strangers, and being able to relate to them so well."........ "It was eerie how my personal Type captured my various attributes."..... "The short orientation presentation in the beginning was very helpful to a beginner like me."..... "It was great meeting with people of other types, when it was just us extroverts, we were all talking but no one was listening."..... "Learnt from a fellow participant, why someone was terrible at operating in a certain role in the company, but so good in another role--based on their personality type."........ "Very impressed how knowledgeable some of the people were about personality types."........... "The Meetup completely revised my understanding about what extroverts are like."......... "It was wonderful to have exchanges so many different people.".......... "I was blown away by the breadth and range of the personalities I met.".......... "Learnt who does most of the talking and why."......... "There were so many INJs!"......... "I am scared about people making unwarranted generalizations based just on types.".......... "The core hardly changes in spite of many changes."......... "Everybody is valuable regardless of their type.".......... "Learnt to understand types better by interacting with so many examples."....... "There are so many different ways of being."....... "It was great comparing notes with others of my type."
Come join the fun, meet interesting people and learn about personality types--don't miss the next Meetup!
Upcoming events
3
•OnlineFTI: Fireside Chat: The Power of Words in the Age of Human–Machine Futures
OnlineJoin the Free Thinker Institute for a thought-provoking fireside chat exploring how language shapes our shared future at the intersection of humanity and technology. Words carry immense power: they can either accelerate division, fear, and collapse—or spark trust, creativity, and breakthroughs that uplift society.
In this dialogue, we’ll explore:
Why now is the critical moment for rethinking how we communicate with each other and with machines
How narratives, framing, and collective meaning influence the direction of AI and human collaboration
The dual possibilities ahead: technology as a catalyst for crisis—or as the foundation of a more connected, thriving world
This session invites deep reflection and open conversation on how we can use words intentionally to guide the blended future of humans and machines toward unity and prosperity.
A little about our host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur ([PlateRate.com](http://platerate.com/) is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute ([FreeThinkerInstitute.org](http://freethinkerinstitute.org/)), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zgAfter registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.
2 attendees
•OnlineFTI: Is “Mainstream Media” Misleading Us? How Do We Know Who’s Lying?
Online“Mainstream media” is generally used to refer to left or center leaning media. But is it really mainstream? Actually, most viewers watch right wing media (Fox, OAN, and newsmax). Here are some statistics on what is mainstream media: https://chatgpt.com/s/t_68d868355d908191b62c8d00b3cec21b
In this session we will teach a very easy and objective way to fact-check media (something we should *all* be doing, as there are lots of lies in the media these days: Have your favorite LLM fact check articles. You can have LLMs with various bias check each other’s fact checks and then try to find the primary sources they claim exist.
You can use this prompt to fact check: Please clarify what is accurate, misleading, or outright false in this article: \A little about our host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur (PlateRate.com is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute (FreeThinkerInstitute.org), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zgAfter registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.
1 attendee
•OnlineFTI: Can We Trust Our Government Institutions?
OnlineFrom Congress and the courts to agencies and local offices, government institutions hold immense power over our daily lives. Yet public trust in them has been declining for decades. What makes a government institution worthy of trust? What warning signs show if and when it is failing the people it serves?
This conversation invites us to look deeper into the foundations of democracy, accountability, and transparency. Together, we’ll explore whether our government institutions are living up to their promises—and what it would take to restore trust where it’s been lost.
A little about our host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur ([PlateRate.com](http://platerate.com/) is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute ([FreeThinkerInstitute.org](http://freethinkerinstitute.org/)), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.
Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.
To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zgAfter registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off.
Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.
1 attendee
Past events
377
