Ask HN: How do I expand my worldview and meet smart people online?

you could use a third-party client like fritter[0] for android or cawbird[1] for linux, then you'll just get a traditional feed much like a rss feed with no ads. If you happen to use an old machine it will run much faster too

There should be some for macos and windows but I haven't looked it up yet

[0]https://fritter.cc/ [1]https://flathub.org/apps/details/uk.co.ibboard.cawbird

Something like that. Where would one find intelligent people exchanging their reading lists/bibliographies?

Authors. In books.

Sometimes as bibliographies, sometimes as footnotes, sometimes mentioned in acknowledgements.

One form I find particularly useful though it's seldom used is a bibliographic note. The one by William Ophuls in Plato's Revenge was sufficiently useful that I typed it out (and added links to sources or names where possible) here:

https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/6fgq8g/william...>

If you'd like to expose yourself to more diversity: Take an art class or join a makerspace or hackerspace, the creativity and different value systems of the people there will blow your mind. Study the values of another religion. Learn another language. Volunteer at a homeless shelter, food bank, or other community service organization. People who engage in these activities are often a self-selecting group of people who might be optimizing for objectives different than what you usually do.

Take classes at a community college, and find people involved in the extracurricular activities (eg: engineering clubs, math clubs, philosophy clubs). Unlike 4-year colleges, people in community colleges come from all different walks of life and backgrounds. There are a lot of flaky people, but also some really motivated high-schoolers or seniors.

If you'd like more intellectual rigor: Take a philosophy class or join a philosophy club. You might find people who are really interested in questioning everything and debating in ways that will shatter your assumptions and change your worldview. Start following people who are involved in scientific research, maybe do some research yourself.

In addition, some people started a Hacker News Learns discourse group which you might be interested in joining: https://discord.gg/WyRBDGgeCG

It covers all types of interesting topics ranging from economics and history to soft skills, mathematics, philosophy, and personal knowledge management (Zettelkasten and related systems) and I've met some really interesting people from around the world there.

Also, +1 to special interest forums as others have mentioned here, although those tend to go very deep into a particular topic.

Also, course syllabii, as mentioned in my first comment here.

Generally, I keep an eye (or ear) out for references which I think might prove interesting.

William Ophuls, mentioned previously, was mentioned in an aside during a seminar I was listening to (posted to YouTube from a university institute of interest). I think I spent a few hours replaying the clip and trying various search variations before I got the author's name right. As you might guess by my retyping his bibliographic note, I found his work to be fascinating in its own right, as well as an invaluable guide to other useful sources.

Books without bibliographies, footnotes, or endnotes lose a tremendous amount of value compared to those with. Unless a text is itself a significant primary source or original account this is largely inexcusable. You'll occasionally find reading lists compiled by others --- I've added, for example Gabriella Lim's bibliography to my own media and disinformation list. Hers is here: https://citizenlab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Disinformat...> (PDF)

Interest and advocacy groups or institutes will sometimes list references or recommended readings. Those can be worth exploring.

But in general, listen for mentions of authors, books, etc., in different contexts and follow up on those. If the same appear repeatedly, see if they're substantive or worth exploration (some are, some aren't). It doesn't hurt to note who's good at recommending worthwhile sources. And beware of biases --- I'll often do oppositional reading, looking for critics and refutations of various works. Sometimes those are valid, sometimes not. You'll often recognise with time what objections are common, which unusual, and whether or not they're substantive or specious.

Author's names or book titles themselves become useful search terms. If you're looking for a group discussing a specific author ... search that author's name. (Many such discussions ... are of poor quality. There are some exceptions.)

Ezra Klein closes his podcast interviews by asking for three book recommendations from the guest. That's an ... interesting and eclectic list. It's been compiled here: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.ht...>