meetup groups

A meetup group is an online creation. If you feel like doing something with a group of like minded people--be it outdoor activities, intellectual discussions, business networking, skill learning, etc., one thing you can do is go online to the website meetup.com, and you will find scores of groups under all the above categories in your geographical area for you to pick and choose and join (and if you can't find any you like, you can create one yourself and hope others will join you) for the activities you desire.

I have on record joined over 20 meetup groups in the past 4-5 years. Most of them have gone dormant either because the group organizers stop holding events, or I lose interest or can no longer attend (e.g., those I signed up when I was in Taiwan). But here are a few I still remain active:

THINK was originally founded by a Christian seeking intellectual honesty in San Jose and now has chapters in many cities. It is a place for "people who want to engage more critically with their faith and those who have no faith but are interested in Christian theology and want to know whether it, or religious thought more generally, can be reconciled with modern science and philosophy." True to its "mission statement", topics we have covered in our monthly meetups include

Let's discuss logical fallacies -- Learn how to avoid types of reasoning that are seductive but logically flawed

Let's discuss physics and theology -- From quantum mechanics to the Big Bang the 20th century changed how humans view the physical world, are we finally getting close to discovering a "theory of everything"?

Let's discuss cafeteria religion -- Many people belong to a church or other religious group without accepting all the group's teachings. Why might someone take this "cafeteria" approach to faith and religion? Is the approach intellectually defensible? 

How should I live? Three Chinese philosophers' answers -- Mozi 墨子 promoted "impartial care"; Mengzi 孟子, a follower of Confucius, taught that people are born with "sprouts" of goodness inside them and can become good by "extending" those sprouts; and Xunzi 荀子, another Confucian, asserted that humans are born selfish but can become good through practice

Why I believe what I believe -- A 7-part series presented by members who are atheist, agnostic, non-scriptural monotheist, Christian, ex-Christian, returning Christian...

Last Supper with XXX -- Similar to the "Why I believe" series, except the speakers are from the outside community whose perspectives and experiences may differ from those of most of THINK's members, and if we don't like what the guests have to say, then it's their last supper! :)

Our group organizer, Joseph, is a young community college philosophy professor, who picks the topics, provides supporting materials, and arbitrates the discussions with full knowledge, incisive views, and gentle manners. One key reason I think why this group has been successful and I enjoy attending it.

As for the group members, they run the gamut: We have Reba--an inquisitive Muslim woman--and Akbar--a composed Muslim businessman; Phil, a pharmacist and ex-Catholic who hosts a web forum for fact-belief debate; Caleb, a high school teacher whose knowledge and deep understanding of theology and philosophy amazes me; Dave, a gentle old man who often acts as a Christianity apologist even though he personally had been wronged by the church in his long journey of faith; and Rhett, an energetic, big-hearted man who became a born-again Christian in college, went to theological school, served at the church, then left and re-converted to an agnostic atheist and staunch humanist.

Forum for Humanist Association of Orange County is a chapter of American Humanist Association that focuses on the philosophy of secular humanism. It has often invited guest speakers (scholars, book authors, government officials) to address serious issues such as climate change, Mueller report, community relations development, or has its own members or those from sister organizations promote volunteer work (food bank, beach cleaning), social justice movement (poor people's campaign), etc., in addition to intellectual discussions on interesting concepts and ideas such as universal basic income, golden rule for humanism, etc.

Beginner's Practical Philosophy is a group I joined relatively recently in April, and was immediately drawn by its discussion topic ("How do scientists and artists make creative discoveries"), format (chatty discussions around tiny patio table under mid-morning sun), and the host, Richard, a retired ER surgeon doctor with whom I share very similar world views despite our very different backgrounds.

The group is now merged with another larger, older (14 years) "philosophy cafe" group led by a retired philosophy professor/minister and will focus their discussion on Existentialism starting September.

1 Million Cups has become my favorite and most regularly attended meetup group in the past 3 months even though I had joined it more than 2 years ago. It is a country wide public forum sponsored by a philanthropic foundation (Kauffman Foundation), Starbucks, who provides free coffee, and UC Irvine, who provides the venue, to help entrepreneurs and innovative businesses engage with local mentors, advisers, business people, and fellow entrepreneurs.

On every early Wednesday morning, one or two entrepreneurs from startup or early stage companies step forward to present their business or concept to the audience, who--after doing some round table discussions among themselves--give their feedback, questions, suggestions and referrals to the presenters. It then follows with a free-for-all, pick-whomever-you-like-to-talk-to hour long mixer session before the place is closed.

What I find most satisfying, besides hearing interesting startup ideas every week, is getting to know and bond with people of various backgrounds, such as

Rob, the owner of a 400-property real estate transaction and management company looking for good "PropTech" app for his business

Babak, a retired ophthalmologist screening for startup investment opportunities for his business network group

Cindy has a firm specializing in legal and intellectual property affairs for startup companies

Dan is developing a 3-D, holographic rendition software for big board advertisement while negotiating with a major web hosting company to sell the mail server business he's been holding on since the Linux days 

Josh is building gear that monitors eye movement and brain wave to predict viewer preference for independent TV series studios

Liam is a local boy and newly graduate from an east coast university developing an event scheduling, life style app with a developer partner

Wolfgang is a German industrial designer who travels between offices here and Paris

RJ is a marketing consultant fine-tuning a social media platform targeting non-profit organizations he has been developing for the past 18 months since I first talked to him

We come, we meet, we connect... May the world be better for it!

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​One day Dan brought his daughter to the meetup, who was also entrepreneurial spirited and just started selling her own doggie cookies online. I tried the cookie she showed me and became one of her doggie food's first human consumers (after her father).

book group

Though I love reading, I have never joined a book club or the sort. But then I heard there's a book group at a library in Irvine that meets once a week, one short story at a time, section by section discussion per meeting... that seemed to fit my liking, so I went, and have been going there for 8 consecutive weeks so far.

A short story is a challenging read as it is a challenging write for the writer. To tell a compelling story in the shortest stretch possible (typically between 10-20 pages), the author weaves it with tight sentences, power words, witty remarks, nuanced descriptions, twisted plots or interesting turn of events that capture your attention but require more efforts to follow than a plain-talking non-fiction book would.

And even after you have got all the words and expressions, syntax and semantics figured out, you only get half the story of what the author wants to convey... Those clues, metaphors, hidden meanings, etc., only get revealed during the section by section discussion when our discussion facilitator poses questions and we respond and ask our own questions and share our own thoughts... Then at the end of the two-hour session we suddenly realize how much more we have got out of the story than when we first read it by ourselves!

There are about 6 or 7 regular attendees to the meeting besides our discussion facilitator Doug, a thin, tall gentleman in his 70's who has been leading book groups like this and teaching English literature for years. Kathy has a well rounded reading voice and a perceptive mind; Cris is a fun loving lady who sometimes burst out laughing when reading a part of the story that seems so funny to her; Merrie is light speaking and articulate (they all are!); Marcy is a sharp Jewish lady who doesn't always read the story beforehand but can get the hang of it right as the story proceeds; Charles is analytical and inquisitive; Bob is a retired school principal with many interesting life stories to share; and for a couple weeks Frank is this neat, gentle, and relatively quiet guy who lives in a homeless shelter sitting right next to me.

The short stories we read are from the "Best American Short Stories" book series, a yearly collections of notable works from hundreds of periodicals selected by reputable editors per year. This particular one we are reading is from year 2006. ​The stories we have read so far include

Secret: An adolescent girl's coming of age story with hippie parents and some outsider kids in the 1960's

Dominion: The confusing, mythical fear of death in an old man's mind exemplified in real world as the hounding coyotes surrounding a pond and a country house, all cleared up in one fell swoop by his no-nonsense wife

So Much for Artemis: The frustrating story of a laid-off NASA engineer at the end of Space Age seen from his son's eyes

Self-Reliance: A rich reflection and surreal depiction of the life and death of a retired doctor who learned of her terminal cancer and decided to end her life her own way

Tattooizm: A dreamy, rootless young woman with an aspiring tattoo artist boy friend who she plans to dump but ends up having a "souvenir" non-tattoo done on her thigh

The Dog: Set in contemporary China, the story between a Beijing couple and their rural relatives and an outlawed fight dog exposes the conflicts the economic prosperity brings to the old communist social orders

After a Life: A touching story, also backgrounded in contemporary Beijing, on love and hope, lost and rebirthed, between couples and parents-children

How We Avenge the Blums: A somehow comical but realistic story on anti-Semitism that happened in suburban Long Island in the 1980's 

Can't wait to read the next story and for the next discussion!

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