For our first meeting of 2026 we’ll be having an open discussion. Everyone is welcome to bring along something that has interested them in the last year. Is there a book you’ve read that inspired you? Or a topic that you’ve seen in the media or online that you’d like to explore with the group? Or something that we’ve discussed previously that you’d like to follow up on? Come along and discuss it in a friendly environment over lunch. All contributions welcome.
In recent years, evolutionary biologists have proposed theories that explain human culture as an essentially evolutionary adaption. This is a departure from the past that emphasises the natural and evolutionary origins of human culture.
In much of the Western world, a curious paradox has emerged: despite living in an age of extraordinary global economic progress, public sentiment is increasingly marked by pessimism. Billions have been lifted out of poverty, life expectancy has risen, and technological breakthroughs – from AI to renewable energy – promise transformative change. But many in affluent societies feel disillusioned.
When did humans develop spiritual thought? Is there an evolutionary basis for religion? What role has religion played in human social history? And in our increasingly secular world, why has it endured?
Tribalism is often blamed for creating division and conflict in society. Drawing from cultural psychologist Michael Morris’s book Tribal, we’ll explore its origins — where it comes from, what our tribal instincts truly are, and how they’ve shaped human history. In today’s fast-changing world, we’ll examine both the challenges posed by our tribal inheritance and the unique opportunities it offers to drive positive change.
How can we differentiate between truth and fiction? Between fact and misinformation? What steps can we, as individuals, take to validate the information we consume? And what measures are needed on a broader social scale to regulate this new information landscape?
To what extent is the way we in the West think about the world based on ideas developed by Christianity? Leaving aside belief in God, to what degree is Western culture Christian in origin?
Liberal Democracy became the norm in Western societies after World War II and formed the basis for the world economic and political order. What is the National Conservative challenge to that, and how can those believing in liberal democracy respond?
Research in several countries suggests that over the last decade or so a divergence has emerged between young men and women. This seems to particularly noticeable amongst those referred to as Gen Z, ie those born from 1997 onwards.
Human beings have a strong moral sense, a belief in what behaviour is right and what is wrong. We may not always agree on exactly what is right, but that there is right and wrong is an almost universal human sensibility. Throughout human history there has been continual debate about the nature of this moral sense: where it comes from and how it works.