4 ms·

Very timely topic. Please excuse me for hijacking this to gather some input on the following: I'm curious to hear if anyone has stories, success or otherwise,

Very timely topic. Please excuse me for hijacking this to gather some input on the following: I'm curious to hear if anyone has stories, success or otherwise, and methods on organizing a non-fiction study group. (Assume: small groups, serious and experienced participants.) Bonus marks for any "bear in minds" and "gotchas" when a plague forces you to resort to online group readings and discussions.

xapata 6y ago
I and 2 friends had a political science reading/discussion group that lasted a while. The most important things were keeping the reading short and polemic, and asking a question that we'd all respond to in writing via a short essay before gathering to discuss. Oh, and drinking heavily. The writing was necessary to keep us on track while drunk.
- twic 6y ago
  nomen usoris reprehendo sicco
  - xapata 6y ago
    Really? Xapata like the bread.
    - twic 6y ago
      Oh! I confused a bread with an anarchist militant group.
      - xapata 6y ago
        They're both named after shoes.
- kashyapc 6y ago
  I see, keeping the reading short and focused plus an essay sounds effective. (I'm not good with alcohol, so I'll skip that part ;-) I can stay on track reasonably well without any external stimuli.) This evening I'll be out at a nearby nature reserve with a fellow serious participant to talk about organizing an advanced study/discussion group on Greek & Roman philosophy -- mostly Hellenistic. Thanks for the input, xapata, much appreciated.
  - xapata 6y ago
    We were heavily inspired by learning about the Metaphysical Club. You could say it was a sort of book club. Some of the United States' most famous philosophers were members. They named the club ironically, because they hated the idea of metaphysics. One of my favorite anecdotes was when they considered changing their name to the "Whiskey Punch Club." The Metaphysical Club https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI1AF2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI1AF2
yesenadam 6y ago
I went to a political philosophy discussion group for a couple of years, held in university rooms, but open to the public, usually 4 to 8 people attending. Advertised on the philosophy department mailing list and maybe elsewhere. Mostly students, but whoever was in the area and interested in that week's piece would show up. I think it was for 2 hours, in the afternoon, once every 2 weeks. There was a small core of regulars and a nominal leader who had final say over what would be chosen for next time, mostly choosing from the suggestions of others at the end of the meeting, and announcing the selection online a few days later. Everyone in it seemed to be postgraduate, except me! Almost every time someone opened their mouth it was impressive. Usually the reading was a classic essay or couple of chapters from a book, not always strictly political philosophy, just somehow connected - once it was Melville's Bartleby! That was the only fiction though. Essays/bits of book by Oakeshott, Dewey, Schmitt etc. Essays by well-known philosophers I'd heard of but usually not read. Recent stuff too, by people I'd not heard of. Always an interesting choice, a very wide variety. Something you could read in a couple of hours. There was no off-topic chatting during the meeting once it got started, by choice – there was never nearly enough time to talk about what we'd read. Before and after I had some nice chats though, as I got to know the regulars a bit. It was friendly, but getting to know the writers and their writing was the main thing. I loved it so much. I even made a discussion blog for the group at the time, I wanted more discussion about each piece in the comments, but it didn't take off. I did consider organizing something like it myself. Getting exclusively such high-quality attendees seems unlikely in a non-university setting. Discussion quality would seem the tricky thing, anyway. Maybe I'm spoiled, because I've seen how good it can get. Good luck!
- kashyapc 6y ago
  Thanks for taking time to write this down; sounds very interesting. The discussion leading into relevant rabbit holes, like other essays and books, that make the reading experience that much richer is something I look forward to. Luckily, I live in the vicinity of a 200-year old university. So I might first inquire at the Arts & Philosophy department. Thanks, again. :-)
tedyoung 6y ago
Joshua Kerievsky wrote a Pattern Language for study groups that came out of the Design Patterns Study Groups that we were a part of in the 1990s in NYC and Silicon Valley. Worth a skim: https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/pools-of-insight-study-groups/ https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/pools-of-insight-study-...

xapata 6y ago

I and 2 friends had a political science reading/discussion group that lasted a while. The most important things were keeping the reading short and polemic, and asking a question that we'd all respond to in writing via a short essay before gathering to discuss. Oh, and drinking heavily. The writing was necessary to keep us on track while drunk.

twic 6y ago
nomen usoris reprehendo sicco
- xapata 6y ago
  Really? Xapata like the bread.
  - twic 6y ago
    Oh! I confused a bread with an anarchist militant group.
    - xapata 6y ago
      They're both named after shoes.
kashyapc 6y ago
I see, keeping the reading short and focused plus an essay sounds effective. (I'm not good with alcohol, so I'll skip that part ;-) I can stay on track reasonably well without any external stimuli.) This evening I'll be out at a nearby nature reserve with a fellow serious participant to talk about organizing an advanced study/discussion group on Greek & Roman philosophy -- mostly Hellenistic. Thanks for the input, xapata, much appreciated.
- xapata 6y ago
  We were heavily inspired by learning about the Metaphysical Club. You could say it was a sort of book club. Some of the United States' most famous philosophers were members. They named the club ironically, because they hated the idea of metaphysics. One of my favorite anecdotes was when they considered changing their name to the "Whiskey Punch Club." The Metaphysical Club https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI1AF2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OI1AF2

yesenadam 6y ago

I went to a political philosophy discussion group for a couple of years, held in university rooms, but open to the public, usually 4 to 8 people attending. Advertised on the philosophy department mailing list and maybe elsewhere. Mostly students, but whoever was in the area and interested in that week's piece would show up. I think it was for 2 hours, in the afternoon, once every 2 weeks. There was a small core of regulars and a nominal leader who had final say over what would be chosen for next time, mostly choosing from the suggestions of others at the end of the meeting, and announcing the selection online a few days later. Everyone in it seemed to be postgraduate, except me! Almost every time someone opened their mouth it was impressive. Usually the reading was a classic essay or couple of chapters from a book, not always strictly political philosophy, just somehow connected - once it was Melville's Bartleby! That was the only fiction though. Essays/bits of book by Oakeshott, Dewey, Schmitt etc. Essays by well-known philosophers I'd heard of but usually not read. Recent stuff too, by people I'd not heard of. Always an interesting choice, a very wide variety. Something you could read in a couple of hours. There was no off-topic chatting during the meeting once it got started, by choice – there was never nearly enough time to talk about what we'd read. Before and after I had some nice chats though, as I got to know the regulars a bit. It was friendly, but getting to know the writers and their writing was the main thing. I loved it so much. I even made a discussion blog for the group at the time, I wanted more discussion about each piece in the comments, but it didn't take off. I did consider organizing something like it myself. Getting exclusively such high-quality attendees seems unlikely in a non-university setting. Discussion quality would seem the tricky thing, anyway. Maybe I'm spoiled, because I've seen how good it can get. Good luck!

kashyapc 6y ago
Thanks for taking time to write this down; sounds very interesting. The discussion leading into relevant rabbit holes, like other essays and books, that make the reading experience that much richer is something I look forward to. Luckily, I live in the vicinity of a 200-year old university. So I might first inquire at the Arts & Philosophy department. Thanks, again. :-)

tedyoung 6y ago

Joshua Kerievsky wrote a Pattern Language for study groups that came out of the Design Patterns Study Groups that we were a part of in the 1990s in NYC and Silicon Valley. Worth a skim: https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/pools-of-insight-study-groups/ https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/pools-of-insight-study-...