• Questions posed:

- Are we better served collectively to operate under the belief that “everyone is special” or “no one is special?”
- Are there both positive and negative consequences to every action?
- What makes an action unforgiveable?
- What is family?
- If you HAD to choose between verbal and physical communication which would you choose, and do you think it would benefit or hurt relationships?

• The first question selected was “If you HAD to choose between verbal and physical communication which would you choose, and do you think it would benefit or hurt relationships?”  We struggled a bit to put it in collectively understood terms, but the following questions arose:

- How would non-emotion be conveyed without verbalization?
- When is touch better as a mode of communication?
- Is touch best used in a romantic relationship as a mode of communication?
- Is touch the best means to communicate when looking to ground the participants in the ‘now?’
- How does touch differ between the mother and child versus the father and child?
- Does the amount of touch shared between an infant and mother create a stronger bond than that created afterwards with a father?
- How does the fact that young children have only physical communication (pre-language) to communicate impact their relationships?
- Is emotion always better communicated physically?
- DO actions speak louder than words?
- Does one mode of communication pick up where another fails, and a mix is necessary?
- Do we need both modes of communication to be present for love?

• Following a brief break, we picked up with the next randomly selected question, “What is family?”  Conversation:

- How do we define the word family?  Is blood relation part of how we define the word?
- Is the primary characteristic of family the support structure?
- Is the primary characteristic of family unconditional love?
- What about blood-relation families in which love is shared conditionally?
- Is one a member of your “family” when they have your best interest at heart?
- Is the comfort and dependability that comes with family its defining characteristic?
- If family is evidenced by certain characteristics, do those characteristics naturally make anyone who meets them “family?”
- Is family defined by a combination of characteristics?  What’s the recipe?
- Are all humans family?
- Is there a time requirement for one to “become family?”
- Is being family forever?
- Does an orphan feel family?  Who becomes that person’s family?
- Would the family that adopts an orphan always choose their natural children over the adoptee?
- Do we choose some family members over others in blood-relation families as well as non?
- Is it a myth that family means more than other relationships, or should?
- When did the prioritization of blood relationships decline?  Did the change accompany the dilution of the nuclear family (divorce, remarriage, adoption, etc.)?  Is this bad?
- Is it denying or under-valuing the blood relations one was “dealt” to assume we can just “choose” family?
- Didn’t every nuclear family begin as a “chosen” family (husband/wife)?
- Is there something sacred about having been born into certain relationships and responsibilities to blood relatives that does make these relationships more important?
- Do we have some/any responsibility to blood relatives?
- How does biology play into the value proposition of blood family relationships vs non-blood relationships?

• Questions posed:

- If all our needs (housing, food, etc.) are being met independently, do humans still need companionship, or is it just a want?
- Are there things that should not be joked about?
- What is/should be the difference between a romantic relationship & other close relationships?

• Question selected by participants was “Are there things that should not be joked about?”  Conversation proceeded as follows:

- Why do we joke?
- Are jokes simply a means to deal with things that are hurtful, upsetting, and tough to deal with?
- Is joking about anything fine, as long as the context is right?
- Is joking about anything fine, as long as the relationship with the recipient is right?
- Are there not subjects that are just so serious, or potentially injurious to people (whether present or not) that they are wrong to joke about?
- Is it alright for members within a group to joke about it, but less okay for non-members of that group?  (Examples: race, handicap, life situation, tragedy survivors)
- Is it wrong to steal if nobody ever knows?  If yes, why is it not wrong to say potentially injurious words if nobody ever knows?
- Is there a correlation between right/wrong and nice/mean?
- What makes things funny?
- Does humor require two people (one to deliver and one to receive or witness it?)
- Does humor come in part from there being an element of truth?
- Does humor come in part from a relating of someone else’s pain to your own?  Is it a happiness or relief that this understandably bad situation is not yours?
- What explains bathroom humor?
- What do kids find funny (is what kids find funny a clue into what is innately funny)?
- Does humor come in part from an element of something seeming out of place, or not fitting?
- What is the nice/mean implication of an involuntary immediate reaction of laughter or amusement vs a premeditated “making fun?”
- Is one person’s laughter potentially injurious to another, regardless of intent?
- Does humor come in part from a feeling of relief from fear, as with a haunted house or jack in the box?
- Is laughter just a release of energy (letting off steam)
- How and why does laughter induce laughter?
- Why, if all criteria for humor are met, can we not laugh at jokes about ourselves without exception?
- Where is the line for taking offense when a joke is about oneself?
- Is our sensitivity to humor about ourselves (inevitable at a certain point for anyone) a survival instinct, in that it is a sensitivity to our social status within a group or community?
- Why and when do we “stick up for” others (whether present or not) even if it reduces our immediate social standing?  Does this indicate a trumping of the social standing reflex for loyalty?  Chivalry?
- Is such a great percentage of humor technically made about a group that one is not a member of that making jokes publicly is nearly certainly offensive to someone who might hear?
- Are we culturally oversensitive?
- Can one be judged negatively for being too sensitive (i.e. trying to watch out for the feelings of others)?
- Would a negative judgment of an “overly politically correct person” arise from an exasperation of the judger that too many social rules exist (a minefield) to feel secure in their own social standing?

• The group continued after a short break with a discussion relating to the other 2 questions, “If all our needs (housing, food, etc.) are being met independently, do humans still need companionship, or is it just a want?” and “What is/should be the difference between a romantic relationship & other close relationships?”  Conversation proceeded as follows:

- Do we need romantic companionship?
- What defines a romantic relationship vs a close relationship?
- Is “intimacy” the difference between a romantic and close platonic relationship?  What is included in the definition of intimacy, or what are the types?
- Is intimacy possible in a non-romantic relationship?
- Is physical contact a vital part of intimacy?
- Are companionship including intimacy possible with the gender a person is not attracted to sexually?
- Why is it easier for women to include intimacy with the gender to which they are not sexually attracted?
- How is the need for romantic companionship affected by the presence of children?
- Is it a myth that we need romantic companionship?
- Does the need for romantic companionship vary in level from person to person?
- Are those who say they don’t need romantic companionship “fooling themselves?”
- If on a continuum of heterosexual to homosexual, there is a point of asexuality, is it not conceivable that there is such a non-needing point on a continuum of the spectrum of need for romantic love?
- Does our need for (or ability to live without) romantic companionship come from our “pain/pleasure” programming?
- Can a pet provide a sufficient surrogate for companionship?
- Does the presence of human touch in one’s profession (e.g. massage therapy) reduce a need for non-professional physical touch or intimacy in one’s life?