Join the Socrates Café every First and Third Wednesday of the month, September through May at 10:30 AM on Zoom. Newbies are welcome!
PROTOCOL
At each meetup, we consider a question of the day. Attendees are welcome to submit a question in advance to kratzk@allentownpl.org. Submitted questions are read by the moderator and everyone gets to vote on the day’s submitted questions. The most popular one becomes the topic of that meet up.
Sample questions we’ve covered in the past include:
- What is art?
- Are secrets always ultimately destructive?
- How do you reconcile faith with uncertainty?
- Is some censorship necessary?
When you have something to contribute, you may click “Raise Hand” or raise your hand in front of your camera to be called upon to speak. This lets the moderator know who has something to say.
Adults are encouraged to listen to each other’s ideas and respond with their own thoughts on the topic when called upon. When considering others’ comments, we ask you to respond to the comment rather than to the person.
You’ll quickly learn that one question often leads to many others, so you never know where it might lead. Don’t worry, if you get too far off topic, we’ll eventually reel it back in.
This program has grown since its inception at Allentown Public Library on October 6, 2018. We’ve had participants from all walks of life, ages 22-85, about evenly split between genders, representing a variety of religions, nationalities, race and ideology.
Even as we shifted to a virtual format during the pandemic, there have never been less than five participants on a single day and as many as thirteen. If everyone who has ever attended returns on a single day, we’ll have over 85 people!