Complexity and Coffee

4.9•262 ratings

Saint Paul, MN, US

About us

Welcome to Complexity & Coffee! This meetup is for curious people who want to explore the intricacies of reality, society, and ourselves through open dialogue. Let's co-create a playful space where we can show up as learners, thinkers, skeptics, and seekers, collaboratively delving into thought-provoking topics that challenge our perspectives and generate surprising insights. So grab a cup of coffee and join the conversation!

Upcoming events

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Diverse Futures (S1E2): Expansive Kinship
Wed, Sep 16 · 7:00 PM CDT
Northern Commons, 308 E Prince St., #246, St. Paul, MN, US
Northern Commons is hosting a Diverse Futures lecture series featuring different presenters' visions of what the future might be like if we embrace diversity. The second presentation in the series will be Expansive Kinship with Jennifer Luciani:

About the Talk
Expansive kinship encompasses relational practices that push back against patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalist, and colonialist supremacy. Some of these practices include dismantling the idea of relationships as a form of ownership or requiring exclusivity; interrogating the role of the state or religion in codifying and enforcing rules in relationships, such as through marriage; questioning the utility of relational labels; supporting, creating, and maintaining intentional communities; elevating the roles of “aunties” and other alloparents; and cherishing and promoting chosen families in general.

About Jennifer
Jennifer (she/they) will give a short introduction to her work on expansive kinship and then lead a discussion on the topic. She is a relational trauma-informed coach, a facilitator of discussions on polyamory and relationship anarchy, and has been an educator/mentor for unschoolers and eclectic homeschoolers, including her child. She holds multiple long-term radical identities (queer/pansexual, polyamorous, relationship anarchist, feminist, and past co-creator and resident of intentional community).

Donation Supported
This event is pay-what-you-want. Certainly, we want you to attend even if $0 is the right amount for you. At the same time, Northern Commons is donation-funded so if you like what we're doing, want to see more of it, and can spare some funds, we would much appreciate it.

Suggested donation: $30

Finally, Here are some things you might like to know if this is your first visit to Northern Commons.
17 attendees
1 seat left
★ First Timers Only ★ Open Dialogue // Productivity & Progress
Sun, Sep 20 · 12:00 PM CDT
The Living Room, 526 Selby Ave., St. Paul, MN, US
★ This conversation is for first timers and frequently waitlisted folks only. If you've tried to join, but keep getting stuck in waitlist limbo, this session is for you! ★

We live in an age obsessed with productivity. We optimize our workflows, track our habits, measure our wellbeing, and create new technologies all to increase our efficiency and maximize our output. At the same time, we’re deeply concerned about progress, whether personal, technological, economic, or social.

It seems like the two things are linked, but how exactly? What does it actually mean to make progress? Is becoming more productive a sign that we're moving in the right direction? Is there a single right direction to move toward?

Drawing on ideas from cognitive science, political economy, and complexity science, we'll explore our relationship with productivity and progress and how it shapes the way we work, live, and relate to one another.

This conversation will be free-form, which means it might meander into adjacent topics. No need to prepare or bring anything but your curiosity and an open mind.
11 attendees
Flourishing Now // Session One // Experience & Reality
Mon, Oct 5 · 6:30 PM CDT
Northern Commons, 308 E Prince St Ste 246, St Paul, MN 55101, USA, Saint Paul, MN, US
What's Flourishing Now?
Flourishing Now is a six-session course that draws from contemplative traditions, philosophy, cognitive science, complexity science, and more.

Each two-hour gathering will be more like a jam session than a formal class, with a mix of conversation, meditation, and other contemplative practices. Sessions build on each other, so it's helpful (but not absolutely necessary) to attend them as a series.

What's it all about?
We live in a world of astonishing beauty, creativity, and possibility, as well as profound suffering, injustice, and loss. There is much worth loving just as it is and much that urgently needs to change.

But our desire for things to be different can make it difficult to fully encounter things as they are. We can become so focused on what should happen next that we lose touch with what is happening now. Yet accepting the world as it is can seem like giving up on changing it.

How can we engage with this tension? Can we flourish here, now, in a world that’s both beautiful and broken and still change things for the better?

Session One: Experience & Reality
In Session 1, we'll investigate experience itself. Rather than assuming we know what experience is (or that what we experience simply corresponds to reality) let’s investigate perception, awareness, attention, embodiment, and knowing. By becoming more curious about how our experience takes shape, we may discover new possibilities for how we relate and respond to the world around us.

Session Schedule
1. Experience & Reality: Mon, Oct 5 | 6:30–8:30 pm
2. Belonging & Boundaries: Mon, Oct 12 | 6:30–8:30 pm
3. Opening & Closure: Mon, Oct 26 | 6:30–8:30 pm
4. Attention & Insight: Mon, Nov 2 | 6:30–8:30 pm
5. Wisdom, Freedom & Play: Mon, Nov 9 | 6:30–8:30 pm
6. Flourishing Now: Mon, Nov 16 | 6:30–8:30 pm

Other Details
- We'll provide snacks and beverages
- Here's some info about parking at Northern Commons
12 attendees