An informal philosophy group with discussions focused on readings selected by participating members.

No philosophical background needed. We throw out topics with a philosophical bent and then we vote on which one to discuss. Some may have also heard of it as "Socrates Cafe". This is about our own philosophies of life and not necessarily what other philosophers have said or written. The first Philosophers' Café of the modern era, Café des Phares, is located in the Place de la Bastille, the historic centre of the French Revolution. Europe has a long history of café society and salons, informal g …

A context for discussing philosophical questions pertaining to the nature and workings of literary fiction, and the fictional arts generally. Examination of concepts of and issues in fiction. Philosophical discussion of relevant essays, shorter fiction, etc. Should be of interest to anyone who likes to converse about fiction. Meetings usually in San Francisco, at a cafe walkable from BART.    

Welcome - This group is for anyone interested in philosophy, whether entirely new to philosophy or more advanced. We hold philosophical topic discussions meant to be meaningful to all levels of philosophical experience. About the Organizer Paul M. Paolini studied philosophy at U.C. Davis (B.A. 1994) and at San Francisco State University (M.A. 1997) and has maintained a strong interest in philosophy.

Poetry, short stories, plays, novels, history, philosophy, science, not necessarily in that order, classics that are worthy of discussion, current and past, western and non-western, these are the works we discuss. The discussion is what is most important. We discuss these works to enlarge our understanding of the ideas that shape our culture and gain a deeper appreciation for what it means to be human.

Engage in lively discussion and debate around Nicholas Taleb's Black Swan Theory, which states that: - There is a disproportionate role of high-impact, hard to predict, rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance and technology - It is difficult to compute the probability of such rare events using scientific methods (due to the nature of small probabilities), and - There is a psychological headwind that makes people individually and collectively blin …

(This statement is borrowed from the blog on which this group is based.) Thinking and deciding are central to our daily lives. The Less Wrong community aims to gain expertise in how human brains think and decide, so that we can do so more successfully. We use the latest insights from  cognitive science, social psychology,probability theory, and decision theory to improve our understanding of how the world works and what we can do to achieve our goals. Want to know if your doctor's diagnosis is c …

… It's a bummer when you go to a book club, and it turns into a philosophy lecture led by the one random person in the group who has read the book twelve times, wrote a peer-reviewed article on how the author's perspective shaped modern society, and is (self-labeled as) better-read than 99% of the population. So please don't be that person.   This is the general schedule of reading for the year: January - Vol. 1 "Swann's Way" - Overture and Combray February - Vol. 1 "Swann's Way" - Swann in Love a …

Hey there! It's been a few years since undergrad and I'm starting to miss seminars. Reading and discussing difficult books with a small group of equally dedicated individuals is a pretty wonderful experience, and seemingly hard to come by outside of an academic setting. I'm not quite ready to quit my job and head back to school, so I thought I'd try and find other like minded folks--too cheap for grad school, but missing the experience of reading in an academic style. I have a comparative litera …

… Those interested in participating should join our google groups email list in order to participate in discussions. We are also on twitter as @opensangha and have created a meetup.com group to track events. The group is currently facilitated by Al Jigen Billings but it is hoped that the list of facilitators will expand over time. Our website is at http://bayarea.opensangha.org.

… If you're in your twenties and grappling with similar issues, or are generally interested in fun conversations about psychology and philosophy, let's grab some beers and talk about the tough questions! There are multiple directions that this group can go: we can read relevant books or articles, meet to discuss particular topics at a high level, etc. If you have any topics or issues you'd like to discuss specifically, let me know :)

over at our CulturePlaces meetup.  We'll continue our discussions via this group.

...says so... NOPE!!! What is science? Good science includes evidence that is testable, demonstrable, observable, measurable, repeatable, etc. So why do we insist on holding onto hypothesis like evolution when all we ever observe or demonstrate prove evolution is impossible. You won't find anybody saying "because the bible says so" in this discussion unless it comes from an evolutionist! lol No, here Young Earth Creationists pose hard facts already accepted by evolutionists and show …

Our basic mission: To see significant and/or interesting films playing in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and then to go somewhere close by afterwards to eat, drink, share company and discuss the films we just watched. The philosophy of the BAFS is to allow a network of wonderful Assistant Organizers to thrive and coordinate film outings at least every other week. Our goal is that this horizontal arrangement can continue, and that potential member hosts will schedule outings in the South, Eas …

Meet other intellectually oriented gay men for spirited and intelligent discussion of current events, history, philosophy, politics, social trends, pop culture, etc.

The Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry is a fraternity including men and women of every race, nationality and religion. Wishing to do away with all cause for division and strife, it continually seeks the means which to help all human beings to unite and work together for the perfection of Humanity. This discussion group meets monthly to discuss subjects important to humanity. From philosophy and religion to science, history and politics, this group ponders any subject which helps us to bett …