Philosophers Doing “Ask Me Anythings” on Reddit
The folks at Wi-Phi are interested in doing more to bring together philosophers and the public, and one avenue they’re tentatively pursuing is having philosophers take part in “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions on Reddit (you may recall the AMA that Peter Singer did a few months back).
The first one is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11am Eastern time and will be with Chris Surprenant (University of New Orleans). He has done a few Wi-Phi videos on different philosophers’ views of the good life. You’ll be able to find the session tomorrow at the AMA page at Reddit or the Philosophy Subreddit. Philosophers and non-philosophers alike are encouraged to take part.
Gaurav Vazirani of Wi-Phi, who arranged this event, is interested in learning what philosophers think of the idea, as well as soliciting suggestions and volunteers for future sessions (you needn’t have an association with Wi-Phi). Please share your thoughts in the comments, and if you’d like to do an AMA, write to Gaurav at Wi-Phi.
Professor Rayo and Professor Rinard also did one a few months back: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/39b7e1/we_are_philosophy_professors_agustin_rayo_mit_and/
It’s a very different situation, obviously, but I do an AMA session several times a semester in my Intro to Philosophy classes. Such a terrific way to break down the barrier between myself and the students (I gather that I am mostly terrifying).
PSA: The AMA is currently on: https://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/comments/3lxw4b/im_chris_surprenant_philosophy_university_of_new/
It’s pretty interesting to see the kind of questions being asked. Please feel free to jump in and ask/answer questions! It’s a pretty low cost way of engaging with the general public.
And if anybody wishes, they can post more regularly on /r/philosophy or answer questions as part of /r/askphilosophy. On askphil, they can be panelists and have flair that indicates their level of experience (undergrad, grad student, or professional philosopher), for those who want to feel official/get an ego boost.
Then there’s /r/badphilosophy, about which the less said, the better.