I reread the thread to try to understand your point of view a bit better Kathy. I think that the goals of LW are to increase the reasoning abilities of members, offer intellectually stimulating ideas, and to spread those ideas to more people to help them to improve the way that they think and by extension the quality of their lives. I think a person who is EXCELLENT at this is Patrick. At my very first event, I had not been to the LW site, I had not heard about many of the things that are commonly topics among the group. Patrick engaged me patiently, listened to my ideas, told me his, and was happy to explain more deeply if something was completely unfamiliar to me. He also took time to listen to me tell him about things that I was passionate about. We had a great conversation, and I felt excited to learn more on my own. Patrick is very knowledgable, and what is more important in my book, he has the ability to explain complex concepts in plain language, which is far more impressive to me than rambling off jargon, as it shows fluency and mastery of the subject matter. If it wasn't for Patrick's intelligence, kindness and patience, I would have never decided to socialise with the group afterward to get to know everyone more - which ultimately changed the course of my life, but that is a different story altogether. I said all of this to share a positive experience, and emphasise how being approachable and patient with new attendees is in our best interests, and how doing so can build our understanding and skills even more. There is no better way to solidify your knowledge of a subject than learning to teach it to others, and being friendly doesn't hurt either.