Ciera Morris

Sharing curiosity across generations.

Ciera with Bob Goldberg

Ciera needed help with chemistry.

She was applying to a medical professional program and had started calling around, looking for a tutor. She got connected to Bob Goldberg. And they began meeting to work through chemistry.

Bob is in his sixties. Ciera’s in her twenties. Over a few months of tutoring, their conversations began to drift past chemistry. Bob asked her what she thought about current events, how things looked different to her generation, and what she cared about.

At one point, Bob said, “I want to know what you think about the world. It’s so different from when I was your age.”

She wasn’t used to older people being curious about her ideas or really, ideas generally.

Bob suspected Ciera would enjoy Philosofarian discussions. Eventually, he mentioned the Wednesday night Scoundrels group. Seth and Gad ran it. People gathered to talk about philosophical questions and wonder together. He thought she would like it.

Ciera talks about Bob inviting her to Philosofarian.

Ciera showed up alone, not sure what to expect.

“Astoria has been this sweet surprise — seeing people across different generations actually talking with each other about really profound things.” She says, “Growing up in my hometown, those types of things aren’t occurring on a regular basis,”

The Wednesday Night Table

Ciera at a Scoundrels discussion

She was pleasantly surprised to find so many people from so many walks of life sitting at the table. Retired teachers, construction workers, artists. small business owners, software developers, and nurses. People in their twenties and people in their seventies, all sitting at the same table, working through questions together.

“What’s refreshing is being in a place where people want to learn from each other’s lived experiences,” she says. “Even when we come from different ages or backgrounds, everyone is open and receptive.”

So she returned.

“Getting to understand others in my community while also delving deeper into my own thinking about consciousness, meaning, interdependence — it’s been really impactful.”

Starting From the Top

Ciera’s professional life has always been rooted in lab work. She began at the NIH, working in virology and cell cultures. She slowly came to see that the academic pipeline wasn’t for her. The rhythm felt relentless and insistently removed from the present. Publish or perish. Always what’s next, rarely a pause to acknowledge work well done. Today’s work was always aimed at what might be possible in the future. She could see the road ahead clearly enough to know she wasn’t sure she wanted that path. She had years of study left to get a PhD, and that seemed like a long time to dedicate towards a job she wasn’t sure she’d enjoy.

After that, she moved into brewery labs. The work was hands-on and grounded, but unstable. The craft brewing industry is maturing and the market is rapidly changing.

Her move toward medical laboratory work is both practical (stability and security) and a desire for work that fulfills an urge to care for the world. In a medical lab, the work connects directly to people’s lives. Blood tests, urine analysis, and other diagnostics, provide information that immediately shapes the care of people. The chain between her hands and someone else’s well-being is short.

Her desire for work that has an immediate impact on lives can be filled by working in the lab.

But she also wanted access to questions that work in a different domain - metaphysical questions that feed something else in us, something that isn't about solving problems or producing outcomes and take a lifetime to nourish.

After Scoundrels one night, lingering in conversation at Bridge & Tunnel, she mentioned to Seth that she’d been interested in his course on South Asian philosophy but had missed the beginning.

He told her she could jump in anywhere. The courses were designed that way. But that is not how Ciera rolls. She wanted the whole enchilada, with the sauce made from scratch.

“I’m the kind of person who wants to know all the facts,” she says.

So they began meeting one-on-one and working through foundational texts in Indian philosophy. The schedule flexed around finals, work, and uncertainty, but the meetings continued.

A Different Kind of Break

Ciera with Seth Studying South Asian thought.

Studying philosophy with Seth gives her something else.

“It lets me think about more metaphysical, more abstract thought,” she says. “I think it’s really easy to get caught up in the routines and the progress and what it means to get ahead in modern times — and kind of detract away from more contemplative concepts.”

She and Seth once talked about whether it’s possible to live entirely within a scientific worldview or entirely within a theological one.

“From his interpretation, one cannot exist without the other,” she says. “I don’t think we can live in a completely scientific or logical world, because there are aspects of our existence, aspects of our consciousness, that cannot be explained through logic. And I think having the space, either through spiritual contemplation or philosophical contemplation, where you can delve into those gray areas, that’s important.”

When Seth offered to pause their sessions during her finals, she declined.

“This is something I like to make a priority,” she says. “It allows me to step out of that space for a minute and give my brain a break.”

She describes it simply as “such an extreme gift, being able to work with him that closely over a consistent period of time.”

When Someone New Walks In

Ciera knows it can take courage to walk into Scoundrels for the first time.

“I think it can be really difficult for people to kind of put themselves out there and walk into a room with people they don’t know and engage in a conversation topic that might be new for them.”

She wants newcomers to know they are welcomed.

“There’s no judgment. There’s no override in the conversation. And even knowing that you don’t have to contribute, you can just be there to listen and learn.”

Reasons to Return

Ciera describes why she keeps coming back to Scoundrels.

For Ciera, Philosofarian is working slowly through texts that have outlived centuries with Seth. And it’s also thinking alongside people whose lives look nothing like hers, but who are circling similar questions.

“In gatherings like these, curiosity feels shared,” she says.

“I love to contemplate experiences outside of my own and how that can shape somebody’s perspective. There’s so much you can learn from others around you.”

That’s why she returns.

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