HSL Critical Discourse
- Create Trust
- Create an In-Group Dynamic
- Possible Sunday Service thing.
- Upside: Avoiding the antichristians.
- Downside: Losing the religious counterpoint.
- HSL Email Thread Subject: "Just an idea"
Topics
Concept
Ever since "Hot Talk" became big on talk radio in the 1980s (and perhaps before), media has pushed ever further into radicalizing discourse. From traditional media to social media, the landscape of conversation is strewn with landmines.
I am creating a space where people can talk without rancor on opposite sides of volatile topics: guns, abortion, capitalism, socialism, poverty, and religion, to name a few.
And to be open and honest, part of it is about intellectual elitism. I miss working at Amazon and being surrounded by people who think deeply and work hard at challenging their own beliefs.
That doesn't mean you have to have some particular history or credentials to participate. The goal is to move the discourse forward on complex topics. Having a solid study statistics from Johns Hopkins is important, but being an attentive listener and representing the curious neophyte is equally valuable.
But at the same time, I want to avoid the discourse being dragged down by repeatedly showing the evidence that Earth is an oblate spheroid. Or, at least, I want to folks to be able to develop "Answer 324." Create a QR code that has all the evidence that refutes Flat Earth.
So, maybe, another way to put it is: I want people to feel free to discuss any topic, but I also want large amounts of readily available evidence to outweigh heartfelt opinion.