Evelyn Waugh

Physics Major

After entering Portland Public Library, climbing the towering staircase, and finding the ‘Portland Room,’ one is immersed in an atmosphere of scholasticism. A large table sits at the front of the room, framed on one side by large, inviting windows, on the other by lofty shelves housing an impressive assortment of old books, fragrant with age. Rows and rows of antique vinyl spines, tidy archives of local periodicals, maps, photographs, and manuscripts scream to the student, “Reference me.”

Abraham Schechter, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, as well as a MECA, UMass, and Simmons alumnus, calls the Portland Room “the city’s best kept secret.” Here, philosophy is thriving.

Once a month, locals gather to engage in Socratic discussion. Portland Public Library’s Philosophy Forum began last August on an impromptu piazza outside a hotel in the epicenter of the Old Port. Almost a year later, the group still meets monthly, welcoming in new regulars and visitors. Together, the group engages in roundtable-style discussion, contingent on collaborative thought.

This forum is a local example of meetings happening all over the world. In philosophy gatherings, people from different backgrounds come together to exchange their perspectives on open-ended questions. At the core of the meetings are critical thought and active listening.

The forums fill a niche that attracts community members to the library. Libraries are departing from focusing just on offering materials to be borrowed, and increasing their function to that of a public venue, a community magnet. As such, the programs scheduled reflect the interests of the community. Schechter reported that one crucial desire of library patrons is to be engaged through human interaction.

Aside from fostering community interaction, the philosophy forum is a platform for analytical thought. “I think we all are analytical thinkers,” Schechter reflects, “We all have big opinions.”

He uses talk radio as an example, possibly alluding to the constant stream of overstated opinions broadcasted via AM. One need only tune in to be assaulted by hot-headed controversy; our media exhibits no shortage of extreme stances. It could be said that we, as a people, value opinion.

“But what’s the venue? Does it have to be social media? Does it have to be a chat forum? Can’t it be real face time? Can’t it be in a community?”

Schechter used his experience as a member of the Philosophy Symposium at UMass, which he described as “energy giving” to lay out the foundation for Portland’s own Philosophy Forum. Collaborative thought is pivotal to these meetings.

Each meeting focuses on one open ended question chosen by the group. As soon as the group digests the question, they gain traction, bouncing ideas around. Answers are formed, scrutinized, kept or tossed. This works because the participants are responsible for being mindful of one another; they create intellectual space, guide and respect one another. Here one finds the essence of collaborative thought, the group mind taking flight.

“This thing has a got a life of its own,” Schechter explains. “The dialogue is as strong as the participants are committed. Not just to the Socratic spirit, the spirit of inquiry, but also the civil discourse spirit. There is decorum.” Here is a sanctuary of open discussion and commitment to honoring one another’s experiences.

There is seldom a definitive answer to any philosophical question. Philosophy forums do not aim at establishing incontrovertible truths. Much the opposite, the goal is to revel in the question. Ambiguity becomes a tool for the development and progress ideas, as gray areas and moral uncertainties challenge us to evaluate the platform on which we base our beliefs. This open space in which new ideas lead where they may is the climax of collaborative thought. This is the sweet spot of Socratic dialogue.

Schechter says his role at this point in the discussion is like being a third base coach. “I can see what the ball is doing, what the players are doing around the bases, and I’m just saying ‘Run it out! Run it out! Keep going!’ I can see the outfielder is still bumbling and fumbling..’Run it out!’ I just want to keep the momentum going.”

By the end of the discussion, the ambiguity of it all may be frazzling, understandably uncomfortable to some. Most people are used to residing in a place of explicitness and of right and wrong. Certainty is comforting, whereas vagueness and doubt may be stressful.

“That’s a tough thing for people. You can watch first timers wrestle with that. Because it gets away from ‘No, this is not how it should be,’ and ‘Yes this is how it should be.’ When you make exploration your goal, it means that everyone has got something to say, and not everyone is going to do that, but everyone is going to benefit from having a discussion.”

Learning is something that should be done throughout one’s lifetime. The alternative, as Schechter puts it, is “stagnation, digging in your heels.” When we are too attached to old methods of thinking, we sabotage our own progress.

College could be considered the best time to think about thinking, to investigate the scope of our own knowledge, and this could be why many are drawn to philosophy at this point in life. Examining our environments is what makes us human, and looking within is what moves us forward. So find a center of uncertainty in your life. Reject stagnation, embrace new ways of thinking, and continue to humble yourself whenever possible.

Above all else, ask questions. One need not be confined strictly to the shores of the absolute. Reject dogma. Wade out a bit, dip in your toes, and become comfortable with the phrase: “I don’t know.” Through practices as psychologically penetrating as these, one may make waves, liquefying thought patterns once assumed to be rock hard, and reaching new crests of understanding.

The meeting concludes at 8, and the group processes out of the library together. They go separate ways, out to see the world through separate eyes, and live their very separate lives. However, they share the kinship of seeing through a renewed lens, a slightly refreshed worldview achieved through examining reality together. Hopefully, examination will permeate all of their routine. Could Socrates comment, chances are he would say this makes their lives worth living.

Join the Philosophy Forum, held on the third Wednesday of each month from 6:30pm – 8pm in the Portland Special Collections room at the Portland Public Library. The next meeting is Wednesday, May 11.