Oh yes, did we mention that we do not believe in ratings and rankings? I guess the Freethinkers will never be 50, or any other specific number. Why would they? The title is meant as an implied (subtle) critique of similarly named enterprises that create scarcity where there is - and should be - none. 

On the contrary, may there be an ever growing number of connected thinkers to take everybody on a journey towards true freedom - through self-reflective, critical thinking and compassionate development in the service of life! Multiply and proliferate! "Sed fortasse liber animo!", said Seneca...

"Good" Freethinkers are meant to be, above all, role models for "Freethought" - which is an epistemological viewpoint that holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, but instead be reached by logic, reason, deliberation and empirical observation. Freethinkers, ideally, are curious, and open to encourage their integrative cognitive processing. Thus, in addition, we propose two more qualities for freethinkers in this section: connectedness and dialogue.

There is only one way to be added to the list of Freethinkers: by being recommended by another Freethinker. We believe that change in society occurs by crafting meaningful connections between people, and that people themselves are the best judges for "who is a good fit". That said, we are creating an editorial board for the Freethinkers who will revise any suggestions and recommendations and ensure a (tiny) degree of coherence in the way we are growing the list. The editorial board can also put forward names. Any recommendation is automatically approved, if not objected by at least two existing Freethinkers within 2 weeks of the proposal.

Our intention for the Freethinkers is twofold -

• Firstly, we would like to actively promote the thoughts of the Freethinkers within the community. For example, any addition of articles on our website will be actively promoted also through social media and flagged to all the subscribers of the page, as well as the community itself. 
• Secondly, we would like to enable the Freethinkers to collectively "emerge" new thinking. Therefore, we will stake regular "Freethinkers' Corner" dialogues on hot topics where we will engage any members of the Freethinkers community to share their thoughts with each other and with the interested public. The twist is that we will create a list of topics, with input from the community, and any Freethinker who feels happy to engage in any subject has a guaranteed "slot" for the discussion. This is your platform and whenever you are happy to engage, the "floor is yours". 

Beyond that, we will also seek to continuously leverage and integrate the thinking of the Freethinkers into our wider narrative - which should become the basic not only for the "living book" but also for interacting with policy makers and business leaders in our "Salons". 

Finally, we will also attempt to position the Freethinkers movement across a number of forums and media in case it becomes an engaged network that collectively enables change. Here, of course, we will also hope for the engagement of some of the members who have already have prominent positions in academy, consulting and media themselves.