| abstract
| - The Thinkers are the oldest SL's in-world philosophy group, very loosely discussing all sorts of stuff — from religion to magic, from science to SL — in a model not unlike the Plato's Academy. Originally founded by Jinny Fonzarelli, the group has grown to about 238 members (Jan 2006) by inviting attendees to their regular events, meets for about an hour several times a week, traditionally in Euro-friendly hours (around 2-4 PM PST). They started to meet at each other's homes in the beginning and later had a "permanent" headquarters located in Tawhaki (200,200) for several months; after that, they met at each other's homes again. When Jinny actively returned to SL early in 2006, she created a new headquarters at Baker (134, 34, 32). Since 2007, the major Thinkers' moderator has been, almost to exclusivity, Extropia DaSilva. For three ears, the group has met every Tuesday at 3:30 PM SLT at the supportforhealing region, at Catherine's House, who gently offered the place for the discussion to take place. Since 2010, mostly due to the inability to control annoying griefers, as well as some "confusion" related to the purpose of the group (supportforhealing hosts mostly support groups, not generic discussions), the meetings moved to Scarp Godenot's place at Pennyroyal. Extropia tends to push the discussion towards transhumanist and extropian themes, often discussing Second Life itself, virtual reality, the Self (and the virtual self), conscience and intelligence (as well as artificial intelligence), relationships in virtual worlds, free will, and so on. There is a new topic every week. Entrance is free and meetings are almost always "discussions" (but sometimes they also host contests) using text chat. There is a regular "core group" meeting every week, including residents like Eloise Pasteur, Traxx Hathor, Gwyneth Llewelyn, Roxie Marten, Shorahmin Femto, Damien Rutherford, Extropia DaSilva, Pavig Lok, LittleToe Bartlett, Lem Skall, Scope Cleaver, Scarp Godenot, Peer Infinity, among many, many others. Lindens sometimes attend as well. They have earned the (wholly unworthy) "fame" of being "the intellectuals in SL". But they're not a lobby, a pressure group, an economic organization, or anything like that. A freely-given package includes themed T-shirts, some notecards with the few rules for the discussion and for Bible studies. The group is very heterogeneous and it's unusual to finish all discussions without ever reaching an agreement--postponing the discussion to further events!
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)