The Damaged Intellectuals' Therapeutic Association (DITA) is the brainchild of Dr. Michael Merrill, who realized during COVID that he missed having group discussions on intellectual topics. Of course, few of us reach the level of a true intellectual, which is why the adjective "Damaged" is added on. The purpose is companionship, which, in the setting of the social isolation of COVID, seemed to be therapeutic.  

DITA meets every few weeks. Topics in the past have included: 

• Is civility decreasing in America? 

• Are ghosts real?

• What does it mean to live a good life? Is it possible to waste your life?  

• What is your favorite conspiracy theory? 

• What is your favorite word in another language that has no correlate in English?

The format is free-form discussion. In general, we ask that people be polite, and that they treat the contents of discussion as confidential - we have no way of enforcing that, but the principle seems to lead to more open discussion.

Criteria for attending: 

1. Self-identify as a "damaged intellectual," defined in any way you want, OR, 

2. Have suspicions that you might be a "damaged intellectual," OR, 

3. Be willing to fake it. 

We ask that you acknowledge several requests, for the good of the meeting: 

Please respect confidentiality. We hope you find some wisdom here that you can use, but don’t tell stories about what individuals say. 

Please risk something. Good conversation has an emotional valence. 

Please respect others, especially when the topic is controversial. 

Give people room to misinterpret what you say. 

Being uncomfortable is sometimes a sign that we are learning something.