24 Questions You Had To Answer To Hang Out With Benjamin Franklin
A Typical Friday Night With A 21-Year-Old Franklin
At 21-years-old, Benjamin Franklin created an interesting way to spend his Friday evenings.
In 1727, he gathered together a group of people— printers, surveyors, a cabinetmaker, a clerk and a bartender among them — to meet weekly and discuss ways to make themselves and their community better.
The club, which Franklin called a “Junto,” led to innovations such as volunteer fire-fighting clubs, improved security through night watchmen, a public hospital and even the first public library.
While their discussions were designed to cover a mix of personal, intellectual, business, and community topics, they were rooted in a set of 24 questions Franklin created.
If you wanted to be a part of the group and spend time with Franklin, these are the things you’d have to talk about.
The questions, which can be found in Franklin’s papers, are listed below along with some of the general areas they covered.
Even today, they’re not a bad starting point for any discussion you might have with people interested in improving our world.
