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RobinZ comments on Do you have High-Functioning Asperger's Syndrome? - Less Wrong
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Tell me, where do I meet "ordinary" people?
I am only being partially sarcastic - I'm a college student studying mechanical engineering professionally and a massive geek recreationally, and I already know those people have academic interests.
I have found that playing sports in some sort of team framework has introduced me to at least a somewhat different group of people than I would more typically meet through school or work.
An easy way is to join a popular chur...ver mind.
I was in a choir for a bit - I don't believe I got to know the people in the way Roko might suggest, but they were interesting.
You need to go to an "organization" that breaks into groups that have meetings, which gives you time to socialize in general (both before and after, and probably during). Preferably groups that plan group activities on top of that.
...Boy Scouts of America?
No, I mean an "organization" of the type that starts with "chur" but leads me to pause in the middle and try to act as if I were saying "never mind" when I mistakenly suggest it here.
Ah yes - churrigueresque architecture groups.
Yes, of course, but it appears that the Boy Scouts of America may also fit the relevant parts of your description (meetings, groups, planned activities), and I was involved with a Scout troop for years. It's certainly not a group of ordinary people, but it is also not selected for academics in the way that the populations of tabletop gaming geeks, Internet nerds, college students, and college instructors are.
The official policy of the Boy Scouts of America is to deny membership to atheists and to homosexuals.
The national organization is dominated by shitheads, agreed. That does make it difficult for me or anyone else who believes that "good citizen" does not logically imply "reverent theist" (edit: sorry, "non-LGBT reverent theist") to work for the organization in any formal capacity. It does not, however, affect the experience I have gained from my acquaintance with this group of people.
Okay, but I figured you'd want a group of young adults (which the subgroup covers) and a more general age/sex diverse group (main congregation).
Anyway, did you want an actual answer for how to meet ordinary people, or did you just want to split hairs about the terms I use when I try to give an answer? :-[
To be completely honest, I wanted to express my disapproval for Roko's sneering at the mundanes. I appreciate the info, though, and I apologize for not explicitly saying so earlier.
I suspect that most people would read
as sneering at nerds.
If I may ask, why do you disapprove? (Especially given that you don't seem to spend very much time among such people.)
I can second that description of the scouts - although my own troop was peculiarly into Magic and Warhammer for reasons I never figured out (I certainly wasn't), and almost by definition scouts can't be college students or college instructors, since they would have aged out.
I hear things that are totally outside my life experience from hearing strangers' cell phone conversations on public transportation. It's certainly not a random sample (selects for urbanness, not having a car, and the part of town you're in) but it's broader than my friends, classmates, or coworkers. Example: yesterday heard a totally fascinating discussion between two teenaged boys about girl problems.
I suppose working in a bar might work, but I don't think you can really get to know someone from their weekly shopping trips. Even I rarely break out the philosophical discussions in line at the CVS. I don't know if your experience is different.
Point!