Damaged Intellectuals'
Therapeutic Association
INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT BIG SUBJECTS
Mondays (except state holidays), 7 pm to 8:30 pm, at the Harlem Road Community Center, 4255 Harlem Rd, Amherst, NY 14226.
Embedded Files
Upcoming topics:
April 6: "Is it our duty as citizens to consume the news?"
Possible future topics:
"How would you define poverty in the USA and the world in general? How to measure it?"
Bullshitting - [no distinct question yet}
Questions?
MICHAEL.MERRILL.MD@GMAIL.COM
The Damaged Intellectuals' Therapeutic Association (DITA) is the brainchild of Dr. Mike 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, hence the adjective "damaged".
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. We ask that people be polite.
Criteria for attending:
Self-identify as a "damaged intellectual," defined in any way you want, OR,
Have suspicions that you might be a "damaged intellectual," OR,
Be willing to fake it.
We ask that you acknowledge several requests, for the good of the meetings:
Please respect confidentiality. We hope you find some wisdom 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.
Past topics and insights
November 24, 2025: “Does science discover objective truths, or does it construct useful models?” Science is a way to tell stories.
December 1, 2025: "Why does America delight in damaging intellectuals?" An intellectual doesn’t have to have a disagreement with the authorities to be despised. People who are not intellectuals look at them as outsiders. Unwritten law of the universe: if I can’t have what you have, I’ll destroy it.
December 8, 2025: "What should be the purpose of putting someone in jail or prison?"
December 15, 2025: "What are some microseasons, in Buffalo and far away?" The first snowfall that makes the whole world quiet. You need to keep your grass clippings on the ground so the fireflies have somewhere to live. Leave the dandelions so the bees have something to eat in the early spring.
Jan. 12, 2026: "Does it require just as much work to become wise as to become rich?" Some people never develop wisdom and some people never get rich. Some people don’t see their way.
Jan. 26, 2026: "What is our duty, as human beings here and now?" There are duties that are feasible and practical, and a separate categories of duties that are ideal.
Feb. 2, 2026: "What have you learned from your dreams?" Many of us are not sure that the dream world is less real than the daytime world.
Feb. 9, 2026: "What is virtue, and does it make any difference?" Comporting onself with a mind to the common good.
Feb 23, 2026: "If we only teach certain kinds of thinking and reflection in universities, what kinds of knowledge then become privileged?" It was clear to those attending that certain kinds of knowledge need to be transmitted face-to-face. Diagnosis is an example. Communication is 80% nonverbal.
March 2, 2026: "Are you worried about the state of your attention span?"
March 9, 2026: "What do you consider your greatest achievement?"
March 23, 2026: "What's an aphorism that, if everyone used it, would increase social harmony?": Respect your elders. Call people “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Listen as if you might be wrong. Don’t judge a book by its cover. You don’t know people. First do no harm. Walk a mile in my shoes. Treat people the way they want to be treated. Try to make people feel safe. Is it possible to have social harmony in a country that behaves like this, with the history it has?
March 30, 2026: "Some people say that death is natural and earthy and familiar. If this is so, what are we protecting ourselves from by pretending it's foreign?" Why don’t people want to think about death? FOMO is one reason - love, experiences, connections. Fearing death is cultural. It’s not universal. Caucasian people have more difficulty with the process of dying than Indigenous people. It’s the living who suffer from deaths, not the people who died. Death is infuriating becuase it contradicts our general belief that we always have choices. Christianity gives and takes: you have an immortal soul, which is comforting, but you also could spend eternity in hell, which his horrifying. An Irish-American guy says that obituaries are the “Irish sports pages.” It would good to feel tired and worn out at the hour of death, and to welcome it.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse