James Mulholland

Around a dozen members is the sweet spot of social motivation: small enough to know everyone, yet large enough that the group won’t collapse if one or two members’ enthusiasm wanes; small enough that you are not daunted by competing with the whole world, yet large enough that you still need to be on your toes to keep up.

Lying somewhere between a club and a loosely defined set of friends, the SMALL GROUP is a repeated theme in the lives of the successful. Benjamin Franklin had the Junto Club, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had The Inklings, Jobs and Wozniak had Homebrew. The Bloomsbury Group was integral to the success of Virginia Woolf, Clive Bell, and John Maynard Keynes... See more

But these examples aren’t quite what I’m aiming for. I want something smaller, more intimate, more regular. Not meeting someone you like and only managing to run into them once every three months, but creating regular, meaningful connections.

Anna Gat is doing a great job at building a large, swirling, international community with The Interintellect. The recreation of the public salon is another intriguing attempt at solving this problem. I’m also a member of newly-created bookclubs, Slack groups, and Telegram chats full of people looking to get to know one other, be inspired and stay m... See more