Do you feel like Fluther satisfies a craving for thoughtful or intelligent conversation that is difficult to find in real life?

Sometimes, but not always.

I occasionally do find the time – and the right people – to have the kind of conversations we often have here in Fluther, whether they’re about sports, politics, economics, whimsy, art, literature or machines or dreams. But it’s not frequent, the conversations never seem to last for long, and it’s hard to recall after a few hours what was said sometimes.

And no matter how much we want them to occur, they never happen “nearly every day”. Well, even Fluther has down days, of course.

But those kinds of conversations seem to happen with heartening regularity here, don’t they? Some of them seem to disintegrate into “oh yeah?” and “says me” with disheartening regularity, too, don’t they? Hey, at least it proves we’re human; I’ll bet robots won’t be programmed to say, “Oh yeah?” and “Says me,” ... but they’ll probably learn that on their own before long, I suppose.

I go to a tiny liberal arts college.

I hardly get to go anywhere where there isn’t some kind of intelligent conversation going on.

Pull my finger.

is that what you’re talking about?

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I don’t even know that “intelligent” is the right word. I find intelligent conversation to be relatively easy to find. However, I find that there is a certain depth or thoughtfulness in Fluther conversations, regardless of topic, that I feel is difficult to find most of the time.
I’m not sure how to explain it. Maybe it’s just me, in that aspect. But, I imagine you get your fill outside of Fluther, given your environment. Whatever the adjective is.

I find that in person conversations are more satisfying.I am lucky to know some very intelligent people in my personal life that have interesting views on just about everything.
Besides,there is nothing like seeing facial expressions,hearing voice inflections when you speak to someone in person.They cannot hide behind a computer and their body language,tone of voice ,expression often says far more than their words. I prefer to look someone in the eye when I speak to them.I get more satisfaction out of it.
Less BS XD

Yes. That is what appeals to me about Fluther, and over time I also have come to care about our jellies and like to know what is going on with them. I love when there is a bit of humor also, a really lighthearted Q. Sometimes the fights even make me laugh. When a couple people go at it, practically a shouting match, but you know they are not being insulted by each other, just a real old fashioned fight between friends. Also, I feel like I have really helped some people, which is nice. Oh, and I have learned a lot here. Lastly, I feel my opinion is appreciated. But, primarily it is the intelligent conversation.

There used to be a group of us that would stop at a neighborhood pub after work. These were business men to bobcat drivers. There was always conversation about the news of the day. We gave each other support and laughs. I look for that kind of conversation everywhere I go and I enjoy it here very much. And with that, what is Michelle Bachman?

Yes! I think Fluther offers a great opportunity for involved intelligent discussion, as well as for educating and helping others with various problems they may have. It is also entertaining, interesting, and at times, off the wall. Such mental stimulation is invaluable for people who are otherwise bored and fed up with t.v., movies, puzzles, etc.

Sometimes. I hang out with some really great people, but in the past year it’s been harder and harder to find time to hang out with them. It doesn’t help that I work weekends.

Of course, Fluther isn’t always exactly the paragon of intellectualism.

Fluther is great because you can ask literally anything you want and you will most likely get at least some people to respond, no matter what the question. You can also ask things you’d be too embarassed to bring up with your friends or family. You also have the benefit of “tapping the collective,” and I don’t know how you could really have an intelligent and in-depth conversation with so many people like that in real life except in a classroom or college setting.

Definitely. I only have 1 or 2 friends I can actually talk to. It’s sad, but it’s hard to just go find smart friends lol. I’ve been on forums for quite awhile because I always felt a need to discuss all my opinions.

@Blackberry well, I already told you that your statement on another thread inspired this question, but I feel the same way. It isn’t even about being smart, to me, I just don’t know many people that like to sit down and really talk about anything other than work and school and the kids, etc. Not that I don’t appreciate that conversation, but sometimes I need more.
For example, my sister and I just had a two hour conversation about Kepler-16b and about the universe, in general, and it was fun. And it got me to thinking about how hard it is to do that with any regularity. If it weren’t for Fluther, I would be seriously deprived of this kind of mental stimulation.

Conversations are so much more thoughtful when you can reread and think about what the other person said before you react.

Nah, I married my husband because we had the kind of thoughtful, intelligent conversation that is hard to find here sometimes. :D

And we still have it. Every day.

@Anef That’s what it’s about for me, as well as other things. I need to be stimulated mentally or I go insane. I get happy like a little kid when the rare opportunity comes where someone brings something up.

Me too. Then I talk waaaay too much. There might be more to it than just the type of conversation. I think when I don’t get my talk quota in, I get all built up and then I can’t shut up. :)

Fluther satisfies a craving for conversation but IMHO it’s not always thoughtful or intelligent. It’s just conversation. In today’s busy world it’s not easy to engage in this much banter on a daily basis in real life.

@AmWiser maybe it is as simple as that.

And all of the deep conversations never get very far, either. Imagine all the deep questions on fluther stopping at 20 answers lol.

There are many people out there, lots of intelligent ones to have conversations with. Many of these same people use computers to chat online.
However, it’s way easier and faster to meet a significantly large amount of people online than offline, so your chances are greatly increased. (same goes for the opposite though, as far as material from people goes)
There are other factors I think. Communication is different on both ends, and perhaps the Internet is good for intelligent discussion because people can take the time to type out answers, look stuff up and what have you, which you can’t do offline.
It might also be easier because offline, it’s a hectic world, where everyone is in a hurry, or messing with their laptops or I pads/pods wtv…which always restricts one to people they know and are acquainted with.
Or at least, spreading out the pool takes way longer.

@Symbeline so true.

@Blackberry I say deep questions 9; debates 89; parties 109; games 1,099; and the list goes on. LOL!

For me, yes. I mostly work with people I am comfortable to share only a limited amount of information with. Same goes for my family. My friends are so scattered that our primary mode of communication is via email and sometimes here in fluther. New people are always coming in and out of fluther, there’s always something with a new twist to think about. I couldn’t think up all these topics on my own, I’m lazy these days.

Yes.

On Fluther you can have conversations about the many topics you are interested in. For instance, I like poltics, religion, medicine, science, a little cooking thrown in. Plus it is nice to get help when I have a question about my computer or how to fix something in my house. The people I know in real life might be able to help or be interested in one thing or the other, but Fluther is an instance response of all the things I am interested in. And, I find topics here I didn’t even know I was interested in.

Where else could you discuss topics such as this in public?

I think with a larger pool of people to talk to, it is easier to find someone who may have certain interest that you may not find with people you converse with every day. Or at least that more people will be honest with you on line verses in person because they know you are looking for an honest reply.

Disregard the fact that I work here, for a minute… I didn’t always. When I first found Fluther, I was a just an anonymous new member, like everyone else. Also, I know I’ve said this before, so please forgive the repeat.

When I first happened upon Fluther, I immediately felt like I’d finally found “my people”. I’d been starved for deep conversation for so long! One of my very favorite feelings is getting in to a deep, passionate discussion with multiple people at once. Especially if I learn something new along the way. It really fires up my brain, and it’s almost like a high. I can probably count the times it happened pre-Fluther on one hand. Finding people who enjoy such discussions is pretty difficult in my ‘real life’. It definitely filled that void.

I’m lucky that I can have those kinds of conversations with my husband and children at this point in my life, but at the time, my kids were still pretty young. It’s definitely what first attracted me to the site, and one of the major reasons I originally became a mod. Fostering that kind of discussion is something I believe in, you know? I still love it.

@augustlan yes, and I completely agree that it is ” almost like a high.”

Marry me.

I guess I come back daily to Fluther because everyone is equal in their ability to make them selves unequal or mediocre.

Yes’m. :D

I f*cking love Fluther!

@erichw1504 Before I clicked the link, I totally thought it was the coloring book boy but yours is awesome, too. :D

Thankfully, no (now that I’m in my program, I am constantly on, brain-wise, and am involved in such conversations all the time). Fluther provides me with a slice of society. It helps me learn how to discuss topics.

I find I’m surrounded with interesting, engaging people of late. Fluther has most definitely challenged my views as well as help to solidify some. I feel it has definitely broadened my perspective and I feel I’ve become more articulate when debating. It’s nice to have both.

Yes I do. Face to face conversation doesn’t lend itself well to discussing the sorts of occasionally serious things we talk about here. I’m glad I have this kind of discussion in my life. :)

Fluther provides a vehicle to converse on topics that interest you (whether those topics are “intelligent” or not is debatable), which isn’t always possible with friends, family, colleagues, strangers on the subway, etc..

Often, yes. I’m not trying to sound pretentious, but often I can’t find more intellectual conversation in real life. I do have it sometimes, sure, but other times I find my friends would rather talk about marijuana or sex and I get tired of it after a while…Fluther isn’t always more “thoughtful”, but sometimes it is and that’s interesting. And let’s face it, most people I talk to in real life are similar to me: same age, come from the same part of the country, etc. whereas on here I can talk to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Not really. I believe people have their own intelligence here but most of their view points are coming from the same fraction, and not diverse, thus contributing to sedentary-monotonous knowledge.

It seems that people are more likely to be challenged than be helped to clarify an issue here. I have a feeling that people adopt the same ideology and tend to voice the same perspective here. I don’t take conversation as the media to comprehend knowledge, I tend to do it myself with personal sufficient foundation, clarification is the only thing I seek to fulfill my comprehension.

Yes, it’s quite easy, for me. Not to discredit fluther, but there are also another QandA sites and forums that filled with intelligent, helpful members.