An American Debate. The Art of Forgiveness. Storytelling in San Francisco.

Updates from founder Anna Gát

When I was a kid in the 1990s, I always fantasised about what it would be like to live in the 2000s. As — to borrow from Tony Kushner — the Millennium approached, there seemed to be a definite and immutable order to the world, and things looked promising. From the new era, I mostly expected material comforts and an stress-free, contented life. Some cracks were appearing; I recall when during the last months of the decade the far-right Jörg Haider got elected in Vienna, just across the border from where I lived in Budapest, people looked worried. (They asked one another and no one in particular: “So, if Austria can elect a Nazi, what else can just be… done?”)

No one knew that soon everything would turn upside down, that “material” and “comfort” would lose their adjectival connection, or that entire new species of stress would evolve to entertain us and keep us on our toes. I didn’t know that when history kicked in, my personal values would suddenly surface and overwrite everything about how I had imagined living my life or what mattered to me. I didn’t know what I would give up, what I would leave behind, or what I would start building. (Before you know who you are, you also can’t know what is bigger or more important than you are.)

None of us knew, either collectively or intimately, that how we live together and relate to each other as people in societies would once again be up for an all-knives-out, all-stakes debate. In late 1999, I was an indefinite optimist: I figured we’d figure it out.

Now, with the first quarter of this century behind us, it’s worth asking:

Did we?

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As I curate the lineup on Interintellect — the conversation platform I’ve built to enable anyone to gather, discuss, and reflect on what’s happening in the world and within themselves in a reputationally safe and intellectually stimulating environment — I encourage hosts and guests to list events focusing on coexistence. How to communicate, how to discern, how to forgive. How to judge what part of the discourse is real, and what parts are just teenage fantasies. Every individual has the capacity to understand these matters and find solutions. Every individual has the capacity to ask questions and listen better. We all hold one part of the puzzle no one else has. It is immensely valuable to share it.

In this spirit, every day new discussions are listed on Interintellect to give you the time and community needed for careful, personal discussion. Below are some of our newest events which I am presenting to you proudly.

Enjoy. Contribute.

Love,

Anna

Is there a more important topic as we’re dealing with our crisis of trust in our community than forgiveness? We have two incredible conversations coming up to find out. Both via our friends at Yale University Press — special credit to dear Jennifer Banks, herself a frequent guest on Interintellect and author of the excellent philosophy book Nativity).

What Does Forgiveness Really Mean? A Conversation With Matthew Ichihashi Potts About "Forgiveness: An Alternative Account"

Forgiveness in America: A Conversation with Reginald Dwayne Betts

Yesterday, tickets for our very first debate went on sale. Since politics has been so greatly transformed by online language, I invited two internet commentators — one from the Left and one from the Right — to investigate how this language works, how audiences can make sense of it, and how new participants can join in constructively.

Viral Vocabulary: Crafting an Online Language for Modern Politics — Internet politics and commentary with Richard Hanania and Armand Domalewski

Cities are the laboratories of coexistence. Led by Victoria Wilson, a new Jane Jacobs reading group is starting, giving you space and a theoretical framework for understanding the mechanisms of coexistence more deeply:

The Death and Life of Great American Cities - Part I

And, just so it is not always so serious, we’re also inviting you to play…!

Launching soon is an in-person storyteller club in San Francisco, hosted monthly by technologist and writer Geffen Avraham.

The first gathering is scheduled for three weeks from now — stay tuned here, our community Discord, and our social media for news!

If you want to start hosting your own Interintellect events, head to our Hosting Page to find out more!