# Reviving Office Hours **URL:** \ **Category:** Side Conversation\ **Tags:** Communication, Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020 "2019-07-25T14:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1

**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/1 "2019-07-25T14:13:21Z")

I want to open discussion about reviving office hours, this time with others helping out. First, read this link: [What are Office Hours?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/what-are-office-hours/563). Second take a look at some past office hours we have run. I’ve hosted all of them in the past, but want to look into sharing the responsibilities going forward. Now, who among the [@moderators](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/groups/moderators) and [@trust\_level\_3](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/groups/trust_level_3) would be interested in hosting office hours with guests? What parts of the process seem easy or difficult to do? What can we do to facilitate the process? Anyone, also, can suggest people to be guests. Ideally, I’d like to have office hours happening once a month if not once a week. ---

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**Author:** ![Jordan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/jordan/32/756_2.png) [@Jordan](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Jordan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/3 "2019-07-25T14:35:55Z")

I think my biggest issue is that I don’t have the network/pull to get “leading scholars in science, theology, philosophy, and exegesis”. I’m happy to host, but I’m afraid I’m likely to be just a “random guy on the internet” to most leading scholars. ---

**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/4 "2019-07-25T15:25:40Z")

@jordan that is fixable. I can help with the initial invitation, especially if you write the email and do the explaining of what it is. ---

**Author:** ![cwhenderson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/cwhenderson/32/72_2.png) [@cwhenderson](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/cwhenderson)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/5 "2019-07-25T15:27:28Z")

It has occurred to me that we have several “leading scholars in science, theology, philosophy, and exegesis” here already. I think it could be useful to have scholars like @jongarvey, @TedDavis, @Philosurfer, @Joel_Duff, @NLENTS, @Art, @Mercer, @evograd, @davecarlson, @glipsnort (I’m sure there are others, please accept my apology if I have left you off the list!) host office hours. Perhaps they could start with some “assigned reading” for the rest of us, and we could discuss their work and its importance to our general themes here. ---

**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/6 "2019-07-25T15:29:16Z")

We do! It usually works best if there are focused questions or scope arising from us. Think of being a good interviewer on the radio. It helps if there is some agenda or scope. With that in place, any of our current scholars would be excellent foci for an office hours. ---

**Author:** ![NLENTS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/nlents/32/1158_2.png) [@NLENTS](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/NLENTS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/7 "2019-07-25T16:03:09Z")

I’m game to participate either way, either as the featured person, or as someone who can pull others into conversation. ---

**Author:** ![John\_Harshman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/john_harshman/32/1121_2.png) [@John\_Harshman](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/John_Harshman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/8 "2019-07-25T16:20:46Z")

I would be happy to do it if someone else had a question within my particular competence; I have nothing special to bring up on my own. Would anyone care to discuss crocodile phylogeny? Probably not. ---

**Author:** ![T.j\_Runyon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/t.j_runyon/32/9662_2.png) [@T.j\_Runyon](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/T.j_Runyon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/9 "2019-07-25T16:30:24Z")

> [@John\_Harshman](#): > > Would anyone care to discuss crocodile phylogeny? Shoot. I would. ---

**Author:** ![TedDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TedDavis](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/TedDavis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/10 "2019-07-25T16:55:42Z")

Curtis, I appreciate the compliment, but the bottom line is that I would be happy to host “office hours” focused on John Polkinghorne. For example, we might perhaps start with comments and questions on this: [ https://biologos.org/articles/searching-for-motivated-belief-introducing-john-polkinghorne](https://biologos.org/articles/searching-for-motivated-belief-introducing-john-polkinghorne) and then move on to consider this: [ https://biologos.org/articles/belief-in-god-in-an-age-of-science-john-polkinghorne](https://biologos.org/articles/belief-in-god-in-an-age-of-science-john-polkinghorne) and perhaps also this: [https://biologos.org/articles/john-polkinghorne-on-the-resurrection](https://biologos.org/articles/john-polkinghorne-on-the-resurrection) I don’t know how “votes” are tallied for this notion, but I will wait to hear from Joshua whether this is an attractive option. Ted ---

**Author:** ![cwhenderson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/cwhenderson/32/72_2.png) [@cwhenderson](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/cwhenderson)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/11 "2019-07-25T16:59:36Z")

> [@TedDavis](#): > > I would be happy to host “office hours” focused on John Polkinghorne. That’s another good idea - office hours based on the work of another prominent figure. I like it! ---

**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/12 "2019-07-25T17:18:02Z")

> [@TedDavis](#): > > I don’t know how “votes” are tallied for this notion, but I will wait to hear from Joshua whether this is an attractive option. Very attractive. I’d also like to host office hours on Arthur Compton, a WUSTL figure and Nobel Laureate you’ve written at least three articles about. Any chance we can do him first? When would work for you @TedDavis? ---

**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/13 "2019-07-25T17:20:00Z")

> [@NLENTS](#): > > as someone who can pull others into conversation. @NLENTS, who would you pull in first? ---

**Author:** ![NLENTS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/nlents/32/1158_2.png) [@NLENTS](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/NLENTS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/14 "2019-07-25T17:26:53Z")

> [@T.j\_Runyon](#): > > > anyone care to discuss crocodile phylogeny? > > Shoot. I would. Seconded. ---

**Author:** ![NLENTS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/nlents/32/1158_2.png) [@NLENTS](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/NLENTS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/15 "2019-07-25T17:27:40Z")

I’d have to think about it. I know a philosopher who does work on personhood in the age of AI. That sounds cool, no? ---

**Author:** ![Chris\_Falter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/chris_falter/32/3811_2.png) [@Chris\_Falter](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Chris_Falter)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/16 "2019-07-25T17:49:29Z")

@T.j_Runyon @NLENTS - Crocodile phylogeny would be a very good context for discussing the mathematical basis for building trees/nested hierarchies. Not going into all the details of the math (which I know to be highly technical), but more in the sense of its use of an algorithm to select the most probable tree, the null hypothesis (no tree) is excluded by statistical significance testing, etc. A lot of folks think that it’s all an exercise in choosing to “see” a tree based on nothing more than a pre-existing bias in the realm of biology. Seeing how it really works with crocodiles would be quite instructive. I’m sure there are many other aspects of evolutionary biology that could be illuminated by the study of crocodile phylogeny. So I would be on-board for such an office hour. ---

**Author:** ![Michael\_Callen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/michael_callen/32/897_2.png) [@Michael\_Callen](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Michael_Callen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/17 "2019-07-25T19:00:54Z")

Operational question here… must it be done in real-time? Some of these things are nice if they go slowly over a long period such that people can read, digest, etc. ---

**Author:** ![Michael\_Callen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/michael_callen/32/897_2.png) [@Michael\_Callen](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Michael_Callen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/18 "2019-07-25T19:03:04Z")

> [@NLENTS](#): > > > > anyone care to discuss crocodile phylogeny? > > > > Shoot. I would. > > Seconded. [African or European](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uio1J2PKzLI)?? 🙂 ---

**Author:** ![davecarlson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/davecarlson/32/2139_2.png) [@davecarlson](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/davecarlson)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/19 "2019-07-25T19:04:46Z")

If we get tired of croc phylogeny (which I would also be interested in hearing about), I would love to get somebody here to talk about the [ongoing controversy regarding whether ctenophores or sponges are the sister group to all other animals](https://www.shapeoflife.org/blog/what-came-first-sponges-or-ctenophores). I haven’t followed the debate much recently, but near as I can tell there are various research groups that are all generating high-quality data and using the latest phylogenomic techniques, but they get very different answers to which lineage is the sister to all other metazoans. Unfortunately, I don’t know any of the researchers involved in this debate personally (other than Casey Dunn, who I’ve met but he certainly wouldn’t remember me). Anybody have some connections they could reach out to on this? ---

**Author:** ![T.j\_Runyon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/t.j_runyon/32/9662_2.png) [@T.j\_Runyon](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/T.j_Runyon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020/20 "2019-07-25T19:22:54Z")

Right off the bat I’m interested to know who is the earliest known member of Eusuchia. So I think you hosting one of phylogenetics using crocs as an example would be very beneficial. [Next page](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/reviving-office-hours/7020.md?page=2)