Meet ups are great and all, but a lot of us live far away from the large masses of LW-participants. I live in the Toledo, Ohio area, and I'm also one of those people who are looking for people who I can relate to. Most people I can't relate to, intellectual conversation makes most people I know uncomfortable. Even people who are intelligent are often too timid to speak their minds (this could be because of the before mentioned people). Nothing against people who are more ordinary than I am, but I have this sense that the people I read here are people I have more in common with than most people I will ever meet by chance.
I'm not looking for a date (well, I am, but not in this case), just people who I can relate to better than people I will meet by chance. This isn't my personal ad, but I was wondering what would be the best place to put such an ad, to see if there are people in my area who are the kind of people who would read this website? I'm not a transhumanist, but I'm not religious either. I've been an atheist since I was 12. I'm not autistic, but I have ADHD which I've only recently been treated for. This is also the main reason why I never finished college, which probably would have been *the* best way to meet people. So I'm looking for second or third best.
After reading the recent post about the LW user who committed suicide, I realized that I could lose a lot by not making the effort of trying to reach out and meet people.
I agree with you that its a false dichotomy, but I'm not entirely sure that I can become friends with a girl on OKC who is not otherwise attracted to me. In my mind, she's not here looking for friends, she's looking for potential suitors, and if I'm not one, she simply doesn't respond or responds in a perfunctory manner, and never invests the time that would be required to make a new friend. If she does, our friendship is tainted by the knowledge that I am attracted to her (otherwise I wouldn't have contacted her in the first place), and then we're in the age old question from countless romcom chick flicks.
Yes, it's possible, but if the objective is to maximize close friendships made per time spent socializing, OKC is not the most efficient way to do so. meetup.com is.
Meet ups are great and all, but a lot of us live far away from the large masses of LW-participants. I live in the Toledo, Ohio area, and I'm also one of those people who are looking for people who I can relate to. Most people I can't relate to, intellectual conversation makes most people I know uncomfortable. Even people who are intelligent are often too timid to speak their minds (this could be because of the before mentioned people). Nothing against people who are more ordinary than I am, but I have this sense that the people I read here are people I have more in common with than most people I will ever meet by chance.
I'm not looking for a date (well, I am, but not in this case), just people who I can relate to better than people I will meet by chance. This isn't my personal ad, but I was wondering what would be the best place to put such an ad, to see if there are people in my area who are the kind of people who would read this website? I'm not a transhumanist, but I'm not religious either. I've been an atheist since I was 12. I'm not autistic, but I have ADHD which I've only recently been treated for. This is also the main reason why I never finished college, which probably would have been *the* best way to meet people. So I'm looking for second or third best.
After reading the recent post about the LW user who committed suicide, I realized that I could lose a lot by not making the effort of trying to reach out and meet people.