What we’re about
The Greater Philadelphia Thinking Society is a Meetup group that brings together thoughtful people for stimulating and civically minded conversations.
We meet in a relaxed setting on almost every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 AM and occasionally in the evening. Most of our events aim for a small group ambiance with about 10-12 participants. Sometimes we use larger spaces with different group dynamics and formats.
Almost all our events engage participants in a group conversation to explore a wide range of topics including society & culture, philosophy & religion, design, science & technology, psychology, politics, economics, and current events.
We organize a safe, facilitated forum of inquiry and exploration.
Our interactive format engages participants to speak up and be heard, to explore our assumptions, to listen and hear others, and to find and build meanings.
We value topics that matter, diverse points of view and ways of knowing, sensitive listening, and your contributions to our explorations.
In addition to ideas and resources posed by the event host(s), our conversations are informed by participants exchanging experiences, interpretations, understandings, beliefs, feelings, values, thoughts, and ways of thinking.
Through discourse and consideration these ideas can reveal a web of relationships which participants can form into meaningful insights and new possibilities.
We start the conversation so come participate and accept your own genius.
We are always looking for new discussion leaders and other volunteers to bring new and interesting topics and perspectives to our group. Please see https://www.meetup.com/thinkingsociety/pages/14433542/Discussion_Leader_Guidelines/ if you are interested.
For more information about our group including our list of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit About the Greater Philadelphia Thinking Society.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Does Social Media Contribute to Political Extremism? (UPPER DUBLIN LIBRARY)Upper Dublin Public Library, Fort Washington, PA
Social media, beginning with Facebook and Twitter (now X), not only provided a vehicle for sharing extremist rhetoric, but according to social psychologist Johnathan Haidt and historian Yuval Noah Harari, social media platforms have actively promoted the most extreme anti-social and anti-democratic points of view. The innovations of the "Like" and the "Share" buttons led to algorithms for public distribution of postings based not on their accuracy, truthfulness, or relevance; but on their ability to stir up strong emotions. The more provocative and outrageous the content, the longer users stay "engaged." The longer users are engaged, the more ads can be served.
Jonathan Haidt at NYU does research on how social media affect the mental health of Americans (especially young people) and how the cumulative effect of a decade of extremist social media promotion have weakened American democracy. Read about how right-wing and left-wing extremist rhetoric are encouraged and promoted by social media platforms. The article in the Atlantic is titled "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid." You can read it without an Atlantic subscription at this free gift link.
If you prefer, you can watch a video interview of Haidt on PBS Amanpour & Co. The video includes key issues raised in the Atlantic article. See it at on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKRuvKtFvqo. (It runs 18 minutes.)
Yuval Noah Harari writes in his new book Nexus about how Facebook contributed to the massacre and expulsion of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar (Burma) between 2016-2017. Read a 4-page excerpt from the book here: https://www.delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=5160.
Some questions to consider:
- Should media companies (like Facebook) be held accountable for the harm their AI algorithms cause by optimizing engagement?
- How has democracy in America been weakened by the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories?
- Should governments or companies regulate social media content? Is fact checking even possible?
- Should children be barred from social media platforms? What age?
