Mostly due to the aforementioned hard drive crash, I've been quite tardy in organizing coffee brains for this week. Nonetheless, it's still on.

Courtesy of its denizens, we'll be running at Chez Homer. I've temporarily given up on commercial venues.

This week's topic will be evolutionary and psychological explanations of morality, particularly focusing on the five part theory of Jonathan_Haidt. Here's two papers that outline the theory:

• Moral Psychology and the misunderstanding of Religion (Haidt)
• The Moral Instinct (Pinker)

You don't need to have read either of these to participate - all you need is a brain, preferably yours, and an interest in morality and its explanations.

One last thing - I'd like to try the idea of each person bringing along something they've seen in the news recently that's ethically challenging or interesting in some way. So, have a think if you get the chance..

Starting from 7:30pm tonight, going until the flatmates kick us out (probably 10 or 11 at the latest - aleph_naught has work in the morning, as may jwm.)

So, the first iteration of coffee and brains was a partial failure. Other than me, only one person showed up on time; anagathic. His ambulance background was particularly relevant given the organ transplantation topic, and we had a very interesting hour-long discussion about organ harvesting, types of transplantation, ambulance procedures, and various ways of organizing organ exchanges that allow for some form of compensation.

At about 7:30, we gave up waiting, txted jwm telling him not to bother showing up later on as there was no-one else around, and departed. An hour later though, I got a text from _summer_sun_, saying that he and persephane were at the Dux, wondering if anyone else was still around. I ended up heading back in to have coffee with them.

So, worth trying again? I think so..

• The idea definitely has merit - with one or two more people, we could have been there for hours, probably. I'm still quite optimistic about the idea.
• I should probably have asked for RSVPs - several people expressed interest, but never showed up
• We should start later, and have a set time period, so everyone can show up at about the same time.
• The Dux would probably be great in summer, but it's not so practical for winter unless we want to order a meal.
• That said, a food place might be a good idea.. There's lots of quite good but comparatively quiet small eateries around that we could have gone to.
• Otherwise, someones lounge might be OK, provided everyone (including flatmates) is OK with the idea that this is a semi-focused discussion group rather than a general chat session.
• (added later) Weekends might be a good idea - a number of people have said they've got trouble with weekends, and others have said that it would be nice to have something civilized to do on a Sunday. 9pm's not too late for people to go home and sleep, is it? Let's try it out..

I don't have a lounge that we can use, so I'm going to stick with a commercial venue. The other big suggestion we've had is Coffee Culture in Riccarton - I don't know how busy they are at night, but they have plenty of spaces that that would be suitable, and the noise inside is low enough not to be a problem. So:

• Time: Sunday 25th, 7:30-9pm
• Place: Coffee Culture Riccarton
• Topic: I think it would be interesting to building on the questions raised in my post a couple of days ago, as well as some of the responses. In addition, there's a significant piece of related legislation passing through the British Parliament at the moment. It concerns the production of stem cells using a process called 'animal admixture', in which animal eggs are used, but with human DNA. In theory, this leads to the growth of cells functionally equivalent to human embryonic stem cells that don't raise quite the same objections (it removes the critical step of killing human embryos that brings up many religious objections).

Please RSVP by leaving a comment. If you're interested in this sort of thing in general, but can't make it, leave a comment, too, so I've got some idea of whether I should keep trying..

So, I keep thinking it would be neat to have a regular brains and coffee night.

The idea is that a bunch of relatively learned, not too egotistic, but still opinionated people get together and discuss some topic to a depth a little beyond that reached in normal social discourse. I've read, mostly in blogs, about this sort of thing in all sorts of forms, but outside of technical interest groups and other more specialized forms, I haven't come across anything much like this in Christchurch.

Here's my motivation: I frequently encounter ideas, articles or books that I'd love to talk over and think about in a bit more detail, but very rarely do I get that opportunity, except, perhaps, when they're coincidentally relevant to something else I end up talking about. It's not to say that I don't get this sort of opportunity sometimes, so much as that I have little control over when it happens, and I'd like more of it in my life. I can read and think alone to my heart's content, but one's thoughts are not truly tempered until they are tested in argument.

I have ulterior motives, of course - one thing I'd love to experiment with is brainstorming ideas about the future; for example, ethics, current affairs, social evolution, and, yes, even technology.

Who'd be interested in this sort of thing? There's not a lot in the way of pre-requisites other than a desire for coffee and good conversation. Topics are hardly difficult to come by - at minimum I end each week with a long list of things I want to have a yarn about.

Assuming I get at least a couple of interested folk, I'll arrange something for next week, probably on Tuesday or Thursday night. If you're keen, let me know which is preferable. Finally, if you've got any suggestions of a good cafe in Riccarton, let me know that, too - the key criteria is that they not have loud background music.

misplaced_ice and I are planning on going to see a production of Chicago, the musical, during its run in Christchurch over the next few weeks.

We're planning on going along on Friday 25th April (7:30pm), and will be sitting Gallery A, as the tickets there are $39.50 (rather than $60), and the view is still pretty good. If others are interested in coming along, please contact me by midnight Friday, and I'll buy tickets*. It's on every night from the 18th through the 26th..

• Website - if you're curious
• Ticketek - if you want to buy your own ticket

* Tickets will cost about $42-44 each, depending on how many I order, as there's a delivery surcharge. If you ask for a ticket, you're agreeing to pay regardless of whether you show up. It's also your responsibility to get the ticket from me in advance. If I'm left with tickets in hand on the day, I'll be waiting at the theatre doors 15 minutes before the show starts until 5 minutes before with them. If you're late, I'll try to leave them at the desk, but there's no guarantee they'll let me. Don't be late!! It's probably a good idea to make sure you get them from me beforehand..

First dinner trip for '08.

Copper Chime, a delightful little Indian restaurant in town; well reviewed by Cuisine. I've been there twice so far, and they've got the best lassis I've had thus far.

I've given them a call to book, but I've only been able to leave a message on their machine. I'm booking for 8 people, first in first served - of those, I'm reserving a few for certain regulars..

This Friday (25th), 7pm.
588 Colombo St

If the booking falls through (they're not very big), I was thinking of perhaps re-visiting somewhere like Ebisu, because, well, there's always room for Japanese food, they're both cheap and they often have space.

Other suggestions welcome, of course..

• Bejarong Thai, total 1
• Ironside Thai, total 2
• Simos: 4 votes, -1 total 3</l1>
• Bayou Sumner 3 votes, -2, total 1

Based on people's preferences, I've got seraphs_folly, cataragon, leidan, the_piedpiper, aleph_naught, leatherdoll, saucy_chef, and becky1 down for Simos, and I'll add slothphil if I end up booking at Ironside.

The booking will be for Friday 28th, and I'll aim for about 7pm. There's a slight chance that I won't make it myself, because I've screwed up and double booked myself.

If you find you can't come, let me know as soon as possible..

It's taken me a while, but here are the suggestions I've received for the dinner trip:

• Bayou Sumner - on DineOut
• Ironside Thai
• Simos - Moroccan
• Benjarong Thai

Lots of people were keen. Given the diversity of opinion, let's try doing the democratically.

So, here's how it works:

• Post a comment with restaurants you want to go to, restaurants you'd go to but don't want to vote for, and restaurants you're unwilling to go to.
• The one that gets the highest vote on Friday this week wins, and I'll book a table for as many people as have cast votes and have not excluded that restaurant in their comment. Unless there's a screaming uproar, I'll be book for Friday 28th at 7pm, as that's usually the best time for most people (sorry saucy_chef).
• If I can't get a booking for the chosen restaurant, I'll take the next one down, and so forth.
• Each positive mention counts as one vote for a particular restaurant. If there's two of you, mention that clearly in the comment, and I'll count you as two votes (and make bookings for two people). Similarly, each negative mention counts as a single negative vote. Neutral mentions aren't counted.

Remember to make a note if you're unwilling to go to a particular restaurant; otherwise it's a tacit acceptance of the group decision.