Socrates Cafe @ ABF Uppsala

We're hosting a Socratic cafe at ABF Huset Uppsala! We wanted to create an open-minded space in Uppsala where you can meet on a regular basis to discuss life philosophy.

Bring a question or 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!

How to choose a question

The best questions are typically open-ended 'What makes a life good?" instead of closed 'Is the sky blue?' and specific 'Does having children make you happy?' instead of 'What is the difference between up and down?' and easy to answer and relate to 'What does it mean to be a good person?' NOT scientific 'How much is the earth warming in the next 50 years?'

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.,

How to find us

St: Persgatan 22 is close to Ica Kvarnen and Trattorian. There's currently construction works on the rails, but you can reach us by walking via Uppsala Konsert and Kongress or from the other side.

We'll put a sign and a map out so you can find us easily.

Contact information

Send a message to me at hello@erikthor.com with your phone number included, to join our Whatsapp Group! Unfortunately, due to spam, I can't put out a public link.