We are a group of curious and playful thinkers eager to learn and have productive conversations.
We are currently based in Sydney, Australia where we engage in physical face-to-face conversations on a myriad of topics spanning culture, politics, philsophy, science and spirituality. Everyone is welcome regardless of political persuasion or educational background.
We also engage in weekly discussions over Zoom, these are open to everyone irrespective of geography. We welcome anyone from around the world interested in having these conversations to join us.
At our events, we talk about a wide range of topics: science, religion, philosophy, culture, and politics.
A consistent theme of our events is our emphasis on curiosity, openness, civility, and honesty.
This emphasis isn't arbitrary. We want to have productive conversations, and we view this as an art form that requires practice.
We want to get better at conversation, and we think this starts with the admission that we may be wrong.
Being wrong, confused, ignorant, or even bigoted, is not evil. It is simply unfortunate.
No matter how significant the question is, when it comes to disagreements, we are all in the same position. We think we are right, but we may be wrong.
In light of this, it should be clear that vilifying people for holding disagreeable views is not compassionate.
But neither is it a good strategy. In the end, it serves only to sequester people into ideological communities that do not understand each other.
We live in a time of ever-increasing connectedness, but we are growing more divided. This era calls for an emphasis on unity and shared humanity, not division and dogmatism.
“We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence.”
Sam Harris
Conversation is the only mechanism that stands between disagreement and violence. It is how we reconcile our conflicts peacefully.
With this in mind, Conversation Culture is a group which aims to champion dialogue, and the norms of curiosity, openness, civility, and honesty, that allow it to be successful.
The Conversation must go on!
