(nods) Me too. The impression I’ve gotten from conversations with my non-theist friends who belong to religious communities is that they provide a more close-knit and mutually committed community than their secular equivalents. This is especially relevant for those with children.
Yes, I’ve found that most (but not all) hobby-based communities tend to be fairly loosely constructed. People are expected to hang around for a few years, perhaps, but not really to contribute more than just some passing time.
Exceptions I’ve found to this rule are: ethnic/expat groups, parenting support groups, and (strangely) some geeky groups: SF/F (in certain cities), and the SCA.
The latter was my biggest surprise, when I joined. There a third-generation SCAdians… some of whom have a fourth generation on the way.
AKA an excuse to have fun dressing up and feasting the night away after a day of hand-to-hand fighting (if that’s your wont)… along with a zillion other interesting things to learn and do, with the only caveat being a well-meaning attempt at remaining within the time period of “fall of the roman empire up to and including the early renaissance” (oh, and don’t take “renn faire” as a good example… in the SCA everybody is a participant, not a spectator).
Yep—it brings in most of the (male) converts… whereas the feasting/dancing/singing/cooking is what usually tempts in us womenfolk… this means that it’s not only appealing to the geeky types… but actually has an amazingly good gender balance. It also means that you can bring your SO and they will actually have something to do. This is a benefit of community-building not to be overlooked. :)
Yup, no argument here. I would be curious to know what it was.
(nods) Me too. The impression I’ve gotten from conversations with my non-theist friends who belong to religious communities is that they provide a more close-knit and mutually committed community than their secular equivalents. This is especially relevant for those with children.
Yes, I’ve found that most (but not all) hobby-based communities tend to be fairly loosely constructed. People are expected to hang around for a few years, perhaps, but not really to contribute more than just some passing time.
Exceptions I’ve found to this rule are: ethnic/expat groups, parenting support groups, and (strangely) some geeky groups: SF/F (in certain cities), and the SCA.
The latter was my biggest surprise, when I joined. There a third-generation SCAdians… some of whom have a fourth generation on the way.
SCA?
The Society for Creative Anachronism
AKA an excuse to have fun dressing up and feasting the night away after a day of hand-to-hand fighting (if that’s your wont)… along with a zillion other interesting things to learn and do, with the only caveat being a well-meaning attempt at remaining within the time period of “fall of the roman empire up to and including the early renaissance” (oh, and don’t take “renn faire” as a good example… in the SCA everybody is a participant, not a spectator).
The hand to hand combat is tempting.
Yep—it brings in most of the (male) converts… whereas the feasting/dancing/singing/cooking is what usually tempts in us womenfolk… this means that it’s not only appealing to the geeky types… but actually has an amazingly good gender balance. It also means that you can bring your SO and they will actually have something to do. This is a benefit of community-building not to be overlooked. :)
So, it’s kind of like anime conventions and cosplay then.
Obviously we need to work out how to integrate costumes or cooking into LessWrong meetups...
Nutrition?
:)
Obviously the costumes need integrated paperclips…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Creative_Anachronism