About us
Join for fascinating bi-weekly sessions where we discuss our biggest questions in life. Bring a thought-provoking question you're looking for an answer to, preferably one of a personal, social, or philosophical nature, and vote together with the group for your favorite questions. The top question(s) are discussed in groups with a moderator chosen to help facilitate a good discussion.
As a questiongiver, you're asked to present your question, and where you are currently at in your thought process. After some individual thinking, where you are welcome to write down your first thoughts, you can put forward your thoughts to the group. Our sessions are of a socratic nature, and our goal is not to find the correct answer, but to learn about different perspectives and views people can have on a topic. We try to keep group sizes small to ensure everyone can participate.
This is not a debate club. Instead, bring forward your thoughts from your own point of view, focusing on how you see things, and why you see things a certain way, or try to understand the other person, and why they feel that way. You do not have to be an expert on the topic to share your views.
If you become a moderator, your role is to ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak, and that nobody speaks for too long. If you notice somebody starts going over, ask them to try and summarize where they are going or help them conclude their thoughts, before moving on to the next person. The goal of the session can for example be to:
- Discover interesting answers and unexpected ways to look at a question that you would not have been able to learn on your own.
- To learn how to share and express your thoughts to others, to verbalize doubts and to learn to put words to thoughts, helping you understand your own ideas better.
- To connect with other people, and to grow together as a group, building relationships and connections with others.
The Philosophy of Socratic Sessions
I believe strongly that everyone has something meaningful to contribute. Many meeting spaces make it difficult for people to share and open up about how they really think or feel about a topic. I've studied meeting psychology and have tried to come up with a format that is inclusive for everyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, regardless of if you're a experienced socialite, or more shy and new to meeting groups.
When we don't feel safe to share or express ourselves, we easily get caught on debating others views, instead of sharing how we really think. Learning and growth happens when we allow ourselves to question our own thoughts and to share our own doubts and thoughts openly with other people. The best thoughts are the thoughts we have not finished yet. Therefore, don't bring a question you already feel you know the answer too, or at least, be prepared to change your mind and be transformed.
The goal of conversations is to help expose our own blindspots and to learn to think bigger. We easily get caught up with explaining how other people think, often in poor, or negative ways. In general, most people have good reasons to believe what they do, and some evidence and facts to back up their beliefs. Most people have good intentions in sharing or expressing what they think. A democracy thrives when it allows people to have different viewpoints. While not everyone is correct, we are all a little more correct, because everyone is allowed to express their mind.
Through the process of discussions, we grow and learn more about what is right and wrong. As a species, humanity has the luxury of being able to see with 16 billion eyes. This means we can see a lot more than what any one individual would be able to see by themselves. If we try to make sure that everyone sees things the exact same way, we limit our understanding and potential range.
The world is a complex place. Most of all, humanity is a relational species, we need social interactions, storytelling, and spaces for expression and connection in order to grow and to improve our well-being. With that said, I'm not against debates, or against searching for truth or correct answers, I just want to ensure there are spaces where people can connect on a more personal and social level.
My goal is to turn these Socratic Sessions into a genuine community and so, I believe that each session is going to be greater than the one before it, as we all learn more about each others, we will gradually become more comfortable in sharing our own stories, and the best thing is going to be able to learn how our unique stories develop over time.
Example questions
These are some examples of questions you might expect at a cafe like this:
"What does it mean to live a meaningful life, and how do I figure out what truly matters to me?"
"How can I let go of fears or insecurities that are holding me back from being my authentic self?"
"What does it mean to be a good citizen in today’s world, and how can I contribute meaningfully?"
"What is the role of suffering in life, and how can I find meaning in difficult experiences?"
"When is it time to walk away from something—a job, a relationship, or a dream—and how do I know it's the right decision?"
"Can we truly ever be unbiased, and how do we deal with our own blind spots?"
"Is it better to prioritize individual happiness or the greater good when making decisions?"
"Why is it so hard to maintain meaningful friendships as adults, and how can I deepen my connections with others?"
"What does it mean to truly forgive someone, and how do I know when I’ve done it?"
About me
My name is Erik Thor, and I've hosted Socratic Cafes and discussion groups in Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain. I work as an IT Manager and have a background as an online communicator on topics like philosophy, psychology, and politics. I'm the initiator of this group, but if anyone wants to help make this group and idea come alive, you're always welcome to send me a message. I hope we can make this into an amazing space for connection and learning in Uppsala.
Message me if:
You want to host sessions
You know a good spot or venue to host sessions
You want to make a donation to the group or activities in the group
You had a bad experience at an event or have any feedback on the activities.
Thanks for reading this long description!
Upcoming events
22
Socratic Cafe @ Kafferummet Storken
Kafferummet Storken, Stora Torget 3, 75320 Uppsala, Uppsala, SEWe're hosting a Socratic cafe at Kafferummet Storken by Stora Torget! We wanted to create an open-minded space in Uppsala where you can meet regularly to discuss life philosophy. As a thank you to Kafferummet Storken for letting us use their lovely place, please order something before you arrive.
Bring a question, vote on your favorite question, and share your personal experiences.
What you can expect:
- Discuss an open-ended question that prompt you to reflect and go deeper.
- Personal conversations that relate to your life, relationships, or topics we can all relate to as human beings.
- Gain insights into your personal life, emotions, values, and bigger questions in life.
- Moderated conversations which encourage reflection and where everyone is able to share.
- To have fun - after all, life is a silly place, despite all the seriousness, there's a lot of absurdity too!
What you won't find here:
- People jumping at or interrupting what you have to say mid-sentence. We raise our hands to volunteer our thoughts, and the moderator tries to distribute the word fairly.
- Debates where people try to win an argument or "find the right answer".
- Topics that require you to be a scientist or expert. This is a space to explore our own and others personal experiences and thoughts around a topic, and to think together.
Our vision of Socrates
We encourage this to be a place of active listening and a stream of consciousness. We see this as a place to test out new thoughts and to learn new ideas, letting go of past preconceptions and prejudice, we allow ourselves to stop and really think about what is said, to ask questions. Here, we actively think about our own feelings about a topic, our personal experiences, and why we think the way that we do.
We don't try to label each others or attack other people. We try to make sure we have a fair understanding of what other people say. Our focus is not to change anyone's mind but to learn different ways to see things. We're 8 billion people on this planet - that's 16 billion eyes allowing us to see the world from a myriad of viewpoints. We don't need to label or describe an experience the same way, and we don't need to agree. The most important part is the connection that comes from understanding each other a little bit better.Who was Socrates and what does he do at our Cafe?
Socrates was an Ancient Greek philosopher who loved the pursuit of wisdom (philo-sophia), and did anything he could to reach new insights. Socrates was a fierce critic of Sophists or Wisdom teachers -- and saw them as people more concerned with sounding right, than being right. It's tempting, still today, to try to act or sound confident or sure, even when you have doubt, and a desire to impress people or win can keep us from really reflecting on a topic.
According to the stories, the ancient oracle of Delphi dubbed him the "wisest man" in the world, because he realized that he didn't know anything. It can be easy to think, when you've studied for a long time, that you're smarter or better than other people, but Socrates lifestyle only taught him intellectual humility. He believed wisdom could be found in anyone, regardless of background or education. So instead of falling victim to arrogance, he fell victim to an insatiable curiosity, and decided to devote his life to life-long learning. What an ideal!
Sadly, he was sentenced to death -- accused of teaching young people independent thinking, an important skill in any society. So let's all channel the spirit of Socrates and see what we can learn from each other!Practicals
Who we are
We're an independent study circle collaborating with ABF Uppsala, which allows us free access to their spaces.
We don't yet have an organization, no manifesto, we're just normal people, but we hope we can create a nice community together. If you'd like to help or have ideas, send us a message!
We vote for the best question and if multiple questions get the same number of votes, we do a second round to choose the favorite of the evening.,Contact information
Send a message to me on Meetup.com with your phone number included, to join our Whatsapp Group! Unfortunately, due to spam, I can't put out a public link.
How to find us
The cafe is located in the corner next to a greek store. Walk up the stairs, and you'll spot a christmas tree. We're in the small room by the tree.
3 attendees
Past events
15
