What is this thing called “Meetup” that everyone keeps talking about? Does it have some meaning beyond the obvious that I’m unaware of? Because the way its used around here makes it seem like it refers to something more specific than the literal definition.
I’m assuming given your sunlight issue that you can’t really drive very far on sunny days?
I have a very good pair of sunglasses, which combined with a modern car windshield are enough that I can drive without being too limited by that(though I still prefer to make long trips at night when I can), plus cars have roofs which means there are a lot of relative positions the sun can be in which does not put the driver in direct sunlight. The bigger limitation is paying for gas. Occasional long trips are no problem. ~weekly long trips would break the bank. (Long > 25 miles )
There is also a website, meetup.com, that is used to organize many such events in a variety of areas. It’s difficult to say how well any particular one will yield people you click with since the site merely facilitates someone creating a specific group with a specific place-and-time scheduled meet, but it’s a good way to keep track of what’s going on in your area that might be relevant to your interests.
I was completely unaware of meetup.com existing. (Took one look and am already registered) It seems like kind of a Big Thing; I am somewhat baffled that I’d never heard of it before.
Useful answers will probably be along the lines of either ‘try meeetup.com/okcupid/your local LW meetup/etc’, or ‘here’s how you find out about things like meetup.com/okcupid/LW meetups/etc’.
This isn’t a piece of advice so much as a friendly invitation: The Berkeley Less Wrong meetup meets Wednesdays at 7pm and also monthly on Saturday evenings. It looks like it would take you 90 minutes and two train/bus tickets to get there, and the same going back. You’re welcome to join us.
Does your town have Greyhound bus service? This could be a cheaper alternative, possibly, if you find bus trips bearable. Also you can sleep on the bus, which would help if the time you needed to make the trip correlated with a ‘sleeping’ phase of your schedule.
By a “meetup” I mean a regular, or semi-regular, event whereby a group of people with common interests meet in order to discuss things, including [but not limited to] the common interest.
These meetups come in many forms; some occur in pubs, some in meeting halls, some in coffee shops. Some feature speeches, which tend to be on the issue of the common interest, but most do not.
By attending a meetup two events running, or three events out of six, you’ll tend to get to know many of the regulars, and become part of their social network.
One type of meetup that would obviously be relevant to your interests is a lesswrong one, but meetups of skeptic societies, societies associated with your particular sexual kinks/relationship preferences (poly meets, munches, rope meets, furmeets etc.), humanist meetups, etc. would all likely be useful to you.
What is this thing called “Meetup” that everyone keeps talking about? Does it have some meaning beyond the obvious that I’m unaware of?
It’s mostly what it sounds like, once you take into account that it’s short for “LessWrong meetup” (‘meetup for LessWrong users’). The possibly non-obvious bit is that meetups are often recurring things with people who consistently come to most instances of them in a particular area, so they’re more about ongoing socialization/skillbuilding/etc than literally meeting people.
I’d say that your statement:
Is inaccurate. It rules out regularly scheduled activities where you have to attend every single one.
The majority of meetups are perfectly happy with someone who attends 1⁄2 or 1⁄3 of the meetings; which non-24 shouldn’t prevent.
Meetups also have a more structured feel than the social gatherings you mention, and tend to be more useful for networking.
A deeper problem is your location. I’m assuming given your sunlight issue that you can’t really drive very far on sunny days?
What is this thing called “Meetup” that everyone keeps talking about? Does it have some meaning beyond the obvious that I’m unaware of? Because the way its used around here makes it seem like it refers to something more specific than the literal definition.
I have a very good pair of sunglasses, which combined with a modern car windshield are enough that I can drive without being too limited by that(though I still prefer to make long trips at night when I can), plus cars have roofs which means there are a lot of relative positions the sun can be in which does not put the driver in direct sunlight. The bigger limitation is paying for gas. Occasional long trips are no problem. ~weekly long trips would break the bank. (Long > 25 miles )
There is also a website, meetup.com, that is used to organize many such events in a variety of areas. It’s difficult to say how well any particular one will yield people you click with since the site merely facilitates someone creating a specific group with a specific place-and-time scheduled meet, but it’s a good way to keep track of what’s going on in your area that might be relevant to your interests.
Ah.
I was completely unaware of meetup.com existing. (Took one look and am already registered) It seems like kind of a Big Thing; I am somewhat baffled that I’d never heard of it before.
Um.
From earlier in this conversation.
This isn’t a piece of advice so much as a friendly invitation: The Berkeley Less Wrong meetup meets Wednesdays at 7pm and also monthly on Saturday evenings. It looks like it would take you 90 minutes and two train/bus tickets to get there, and the same going back. You’re welcome to join us.
(Mailing list.)
Does your town have Greyhound bus service? This could be a cheaper alternative, possibly, if you find bus trips bearable. Also you can sleep on the bus, which would help if the time you needed to make the trip correlated with a ‘sleeping’ phase of your schedule.
By a “meetup” I mean a regular, or semi-regular, event whereby a group of people with common interests meet in order to discuss things, including [but not limited to] the common interest.
These meetups come in many forms; some occur in pubs, some in meeting halls, some in coffee shops. Some feature speeches, which tend to be on the issue of the common interest, but most do not.
By attending a meetup two events running, or three events out of six, you’ll tend to get to know many of the regulars, and become part of their social network.
One type of meetup that would obviously be relevant to your interests is a lesswrong one, but meetups of skeptic societies, societies associated with your particular sexual kinks/relationship preferences (poly meets, munches, rope meets, furmeets etc.), humanist meetups, etc. would all likely be useful to you.
It’s mostly what it sounds like, once you take into account that it’s short for “LessWrong meetup” (‘meetup for LessWrong users’). The possibly non-obvious bit is that meetups are often recurring things with people who consistently come to most instances of them in a particular area, so they’re more about ongoing socialization/skillbuilding/etc than literally meeting people.