Questions of values, truth and the very nature of all things were on the agenda Thursday during the first-ever meeting of the Wisdom Seekers Club.

A full house of interested seekers packed Fleur-de-Lis Bakery, a crowd anxious to learn more about the new group, started by local astronomer Steve Kilston.

“We are not here to talk, we’re here to interact,” Kilston said. “We are here to share information and ideas about our local and the wider worlds around us.”

Kilston, who many Grovers recently met during the Cottage Grove Library’s Visions of the Universe exhibit, told the gathered crowd that wisdom is the art of knowing what to do through examining the world. Science and philosophy, he said, identify patterns intrinsic to beauty and meaning in the world.

After outlining etiquette and procedure rules for the group (including stating that discussions should not be a way to attempt to change others’ beliefs and that asking clear questions is the best way to get useful answers) Kilston talked about philosophy and the role that cafes have played in its formation.

“Philosophy has happened mostly in cafes for centuries,” Kilston said, mentioning the early Greeks and, later, French thinkers, who frequented cafes in Paris. “These thinkers have long been concerned with what’s really important. Great philosophers study lessons in values and origin, types of truths, mind and consciousness.”

Kilston offered the new club, about 30 members strong initially, a chance to direct the conversation themselves. The question “What is truth?” came up, and truth was described as both a subjective reality and a feeling that one is doing the right thing.

The crowd wrestled with keeping the conversation relevant and understandable for all, though valid points surfaced and all were treated with respect despite the apparent absence of a well-defined subject of discussion.

Next Kilston shared his own background—astronomy at a very early age, degrees at prestigious institutions, studying under famous astronomer Carl Sagan, 10 years in radio and, later, developing positioning satellites for Lockheed. Kilston also shared some of his own informed observations.

“Thinking of yourself as the universe is just as valid as your brain thinking of you as your entire body and consciousness,” Kilston said. He went on to explain that everything in the universe is connected through its formation deep inside stars.

“I’d like to get information out to a public that is not being well-served currently,” Kilston said after the meeting. “It’s an attempt to explore knowledge and wisdom that can be achieved by thinking and communicating with each other.”

Many attendees expressed positive views of the club, which will continue to meet, though now on the third Wednesday of each month.

For the complete article see the 01-27-2010 issue.

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