It pulls you in, and nothing useful comes out. Help us fix that.
Konversate lets you talk through hard questions with history's great thinkers, out loud, and come away understanding the other side.
Try it freeWorks in your browser. No download.
Want it on your phone? Get told when it launches.
The problem
Your feed figured out what you already believe, and it keeps handing it back to you. School taught debate as a sport: pick a side, score points, win. Hardly anyone gets to sit with a really good argument against what they think.
That's a shame, because the other side is usually where the interesting stuff is.
Do we have free will?
How it works
Step 1
Is it ever okay to lie? Should you forgive someone who isn't sorry? Say what you actually think, not what sounds good.
Step 2
We match you with the thinker who'd disagree with you most, but we don't tell you who. They'll press you on it. You'll probably get stuck once or twice. Good.
Step 3
End the debate whenever you're ready. You'll find out who you were arguing with, which thinker you sounded like, and where the two of you still differ.
Your map, a few debates in. Closer means you sound like them.
Meet the thinkers
Every thinker argues in good faith. Make a good point and they'll admit it. Here's who you'll meet first.
He'll ask what you mean by “fair” or “good,” and he won't settle for your first answer. Or your second.
Practical to the core. He wants real examples, and he'll usually find the middle ground you skipped over.
He'll ask where your values came from, and whether you'd still pick them if you'd grown up somewhere else.
When something gets called “just the way it is,” he wants to know who it's working for.
He'll test your rule by asking what happens if everyone follows it. Most rules don't survive that.
She'll question the things everyone treats as natural, and ask who decided they were.
Talk or type
Konversate works best out loud. Saying an argument forces you to actually finish the thought. But if you're on the bus, just type. You can switch halfway through and pick up right where you left off.
At home, on a walk
On the train, in a café
Why it's different
01
No dunking, no gotchas, no scoreboard. You and the thinker are both just trying to get it right.
02
The questions get harder and new thinkers show up as you get better at holding more than one view.
03
A good session isn't one where you beat someone. It's one where you understand the question better than when you started.
Konversate is coming to iPhone and Android. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment it's ready. That's the only email you'll get from us. Can't wait? Try it in your browser now.
Early access is free.
We'll only use your email to tell you when Konversate launches.