Harvard Club of Seattle

HCS Salon Discussion - The Examined Life

Human Connection Through Shared Inquiry

The Examined Life is a small salon for people who are curious about life, human nature, and the world around us.

For a few hours, we step into a temporary world where we can slow down, think out loud, and engage in open-ended conversations about the ideas behind our everyday decisions, the principles beneath the world’s complexity, and the questions beneath the questions.

Our conversations are intentionally free-form. We might begin with a personal experience, a philosophical question, an unconventional observation, or a current event, and gradually follow it toward the deeper forces that shape our lives -- human nature, values, psychology, evolution, history, economics, or the enduring patterns through which the world operates.

Our gatherings are grounded in a spirit that is reflective, congruent, transcendent, and light-hearted. There is no expectation that anyone has the “right” answers. The goal is not to persuade or debate, but to remain curious, open, and willing to reconsider our assumptions -- and, along the way, to deepen our understanding of the world, one another, and ourselves.

Each gathering will be intimate, ideally around 8–12 people, and hosted in a private residence.

Our conversation will begin with:

• Has modern society optimized us for communication at the expense of execution?

Who’s Invited:

• Harvard Alumni from the College and the Graduate Schools

• Guests of Harvard Alumni from the College and the Graduate Schools