What is this about?
What could we work out if people from every background thought about the same big questions together?
The basic idea
Forward Together is a place to put forward ideas, question assumptions, share evidence and build on each other’s thinking. You don’t need qualifications or a particular background. Practical experience, curiosity and an unexpected perspective can all help.
We welcome the beautiful madness that survives being tested: bold ideas, examined honestly. Challenge the idea, respect the person, and help move the discussion towards a useful answer.
Why just two questions?
We’re starting with renewable energy and how humans learn. A small community can do more with two focused discussions than with lots of scattered ones. Starting small gives people time to read, reply, test ideas and make progress together.
As more people join and the discussions develop, we’ll add more questions. When a question reaches a well-supported answer, we can review the evidence, explain what we’ve learned and make room for the next challenge.
Explore the two open questions →One question, different branches
Very different ideas don’t have to compete for space in the same thread. Anyone with an account can start a named branch, explain its purpose and give that approach its own discussion. A branch can also split into more focused branches.
Switch between list view and tree view to see how each named branch connects to the main question. Ideas, replies and votes stay with the discussion they belong to.
Your ideas shape what comes next
The suggestions box is open for future questions. Tell us what you think we should explore and why it matters. Suggestions are a pool of possibilities, so they won’t all become active discussions at once.
Suggest a future question →Could the most helpful contributor choose the next question?
One approach we’re considering is to recognise the person who helps a question move forward the most, then invite them to choose the next question from a shortlist of around 20 community suggestions.
Helpful contributions might include a strong idea, useful evidence, testing a claim or bringing different ideas together. The number of posts alone wouldn’t decide it. Community votes could help identify useful work, alongside a review of what actually moved the question forward.
This is a proposed approach, and we’ll develop it with the community. There is no automatic winner or selection process yet. Matthew will curate the shortlist and confirm when a question is ready to move on.
How to take part
Read freely. Create an account to post an idea, reply, vote on contributions or suggest a question. Explain your thinking, give sources where you can, and stay open to changing your mind.