Thought Experiment: A What-if Event

Details

Ever wondered how humanity would respond to an asteroid heading for Earth?
Or how the world might react to first contact with aliens?

Welcome to The Thought Experiment — a small-group meetup where storytelling, science fiction, horror, philosophy, and imagination come together.

This is not a lecture. It is not a debate club. It is not about finding the “right” answer.

It is about asking the questions you normally would not ask, having the conversations you normally would not have, and exploring the uncomfortable “What if…?” scenarios we usually avoid.

Each session, we step into a fictional scenario — from global disasters and alien contact to artificial intelligence, cosmic horror, memory, identity, consciousness, and the future of humanity. Through story and discussion, we explore how people, societies, and individuals might respond when the rules of normal life fall apart.

Some scenarios are fun. Some are strange. Some are unsettling. Many sit somewhere between sci-fi and horror.

The goal is simple:
to use imagination as a way to ask the questions we do not always want to answer.

This event is for curious minds of all kinds — students, professionals, creatives, sci-fi fans, horror fans, philosophy lovers, or anyone who enjoys thinking differently. Some people bring research. Others just bring imagination. Either way, we build the discussion together and see where it takes us.

• This is a small group event, usually between 6 to 15 people.
• We ask everyone to buy a drink at the venue.
• This event requires at least conversational English to get the best out of it.
• Find the table with the hourglass.
• Please check which venue we are at that week. Some weeks we are at The Melbourne Central Lion Hotel, and some weeks we are at The Oxford Scholar.

Format

Quick intro to the scenario
Small-group discussion
Share back with the group
Wrap up + optional post-discussion drinks

For your first meetup, we’ll introduce the format, get to know each other, and jump into a scenario together.

Scenarios we have done

Apocalypse Series
Incoming Asteroid
First Contact
Rise of the Machines
Zombie Apocalypse
Nuclear Missile Incoming
Dead Hand

Future Series
The Last Machine
The Spaceship Odyssey
Latent Image

Cosmic Dread
Dark Forest
Fermi Paradox

Horrors of Consciousness
The Dark Descent
Remember Me
Closure

This is run by the Linguas & Intermingle Events Team.

www.intermingle.au

Check out what we have done on Instagram: @Thought.Au