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It takes a philosopher to bring us down to earth
Julian Baggini from David Wilcox on Vimeo.
One of our key speakers on the first day of 2gether08 will be philosopher Julian Baggini, who recently spent six months living in Rotherham to research his book Welcome to Everytown: a journey into the English Mind.
It is a fascinating exploration of Britishnessness … what we believe, what we want, and what we value, based on conversations in a neighbourhood chosen because it is a statistical microcosm of England.
Very interesting, I thought, but why has 2gether08 event curator Steve Moore asked Julian along to a digital Festival?
I soon found out when I talked to Julian about the value philosophers can add to our discussions. I even ventured that he might bring us down to earth, which he found a little amusing … but I think may be valid. Philosophers traditionally have a role in helping us address big, universal issues. They may not provide answers, but they can help us frame our questions and explorations more rigorously.
Philosophers also tend to take the long view … and reflect that things may not change as much as we think. We use different tools but to the same purpose. The person causing annoyance and embarrassment by using a video phone to capture a road accident is, perhaps, doing no more than the equivalent rubbernecking and gossiping with friends who were not here.
I asked Julian what he was looking forward to at 2gether08, and he said meeting different people, and getting fresh ideas from that. He has personally embraced our technology on that front, signed up on our networking site, and is waiting there to engage with others on matters large or small.
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© 2008 2gether08. 
I’ve been eagerly wanting a philosopher to take on the issues that social media has thrown at us over the last few years, but most of the events that seem to spring up seem to be very geeky and insulated.
Hearing that a philosopher had even been _invited_ was the main reason for me to attend this event.
I’m looking forward to it.
[...] technology is leading to massive positive change in the way we learn and teach. The interview with Julian Baggini reminded me that it isn’t necessarily so. However much the technology allows us to [...]