Video+discussion

Humanists at UUCPA Humanist Conference Watch Party

8 a.m.-5 p.m., September 14, 2024

The American Humanist Association is holding its 83rd Annual Conference this weekend.

The Humanists at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, UUCPA, invite you to a watch party, so we can participate in the conference together.

The conference is virtual, but the Humanists at UUCPA have reserved a room with a TV at the church. Unlike the monthly Humanists at UUCPA meeting, coincidentally falling on the evening of the same day and which is online-only, this watch party will be in-person only.

Topic: Humanist Conference Watch Party
Format: In-person
Host: Humanists at UUCPA
When: Saturday, September 14th, 2024
8:00 am-5:00 pm
Where: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
Room 10 (the meeting room closest to the parking lot, by the grassy area)
505 East Charleston Road
Palo Alto, CA 94306

Sessions
https://conference.americanhumanist.org/index.php/sessions2024

8:00am-8:30am
Welcome and State of Humanism

8:40am-9:40pm
Humanism and AI
Panel discussion with Greg Epstein, John Hooper, Krystal Jackson, and David Tamayo

9:50pm-10:20pm
The Visibility of “Invisible” Disabilities
Rebecca Finch Vitsmun, Author and Activist

10:30pm-11:30pm
Reimagining Relationships and Destigmatizing Non-Monogamy
Panel discussion with Mim Chapman, Michelle Hy, Alan MacRobert, Kevin Patterson, and Valerie White

12:10pm-1:10pm
America at the Crossroads: Social Justice Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Tabia Lee, EdD, Director, Dr. T. Lee Educational Consultancy

1:20pm-2:20pm
Conservative Threats to Public Education: Safeguarding the Future of Our Schools
Kevin Bolling, Executive Director, Secular Student Alliance

2:30pm-4:00pm
Saturday Awards Presentation

4:30pm
Meet the New Executive Director
Join us for an opportunity to meet Fish Stark, the new Executive Director of the American Humanist Association. In this interactive session, attendees will hear directly from Fish about his vision for the future of humanism and the organization. This is your chance to ask questions, share your thoughts, and engage in an open dialogue.

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
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Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-08-24/

See event on Meetup, but do not RSVP there:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/302890918/

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1833733435569086942

Humanists at UUCPA Humanist Conference Watch Party https://t.co/sJpzPcif8I #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/FEiV3KXPiS

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) September 11, 2024

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Teens, Screens, and Social Media

11 a.m., September 8, 2024

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a video from the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford Law School of an interview with Dr. Lisa Damour, Teens, Screens, and Social Media with Lisa Damour & Professor Nate Persily. Young boys and girls today face a variety of unique challenges and stresses that threaten their mental health. Dr Damour describes he world they live in and how we should interact to promote their well-being.

Dr. Damour is an American clinical psychologist, author & vodcaster specializing in the development of teenage girls and young women. She is the author of three New York Times best sellers: Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, which have been translated into twenty-three languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Damour is also a regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News.

You can preview this video at:
https://youtu.be/chSSidMgJG8

Attend in Person:
This Sunday, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists in the Orchard Room at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022. (On the first and third Sunday of the month, you can continue to attend our forum at the Mountain View Senior Center.)

If you would like, join us afterwards for lunch at Pompeii Ristorante, 100 State St, Los Altos, CA 94022, a five-minute walk from the library.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. COVID protocols will be followed. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

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Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

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Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
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Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-08-25/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/303291524/

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1832291919986114587

Teens, Screens, and Social Media https://t.co/tmZUpxLWnI #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/0oi33fwe2K

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) September 7, 2024

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry

11 a.m., September 1, 2024

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we discuss a video from the Center for Inquiry about pseudoscience in the mental health industry.

The world of mental healthcare is very much caveat emptor: buyer beware. Today, people looking to care for their mental health face a market with at least 600 “brands” of psychotherapy—and counting. Most are ineffective, and many could be harmful. The $5.6-trillion-dollar wellness industry includes countless unregulated providers of mental health services looking to exploit people’s financial and emotional vulnerabilities.

Jonathan N. Stea is a full-time practicing clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. He specializes in the assessment and treatment of concurrent addiction and mental disorders and regularly deals with some of society’s most vulnerable people. Having seen so many of his patients hurt by pseudoscience, Stea is on a mission to expose its harm and protect the public from mental health misinformation. He’ll discuss and debunk the predatory pseudoscience and grift of the multi-trillion-dollar wellness industry and point us toward a better way to take care of our mental health.

You can preview this one-hour video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbWgXAe2ea8&t=336s.

Attend in Person:
On the first and third Sunday of the month, such as this Sunday, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation for lunch.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-09-01/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/303132318/

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1829373761726161342

Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry https://t.co/0ohbt5MMBi #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/xAb1EwhEYC

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) August 30, 2024

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Now for Something Completely Different – Poetry

11 a.m., August 18, 2024

Join the Humanist Community this Sunday, either in person or online, as we listen to the poetry of Felix Dennis.

In the 17-minute video, Ode to Vice and Consequences (https://www.ted.com/talks/felix_dennis_odes_to_vice_and_consequences?subtitle=en),
Felix recites 6 of his poems: Who Was the Better Man?, Never Go Back, To a Beautiful Lady of a Certain Age, Hail to the Gods of America, Love Came to Visit Me, and Our Lady in White. His style is flamboyant and intense, and a pleasure to watch and listen to.

I have also selected three more one- to one-and-a-half-minute videos with one poem each. How to Get Rich (https://youtu.be/xf-WSeFb_bU) is actually a poetic pitch for his book of the same name. There is also I Love the French (https://youtu.be/0cGdMeHYPG4) and When (https://youtu.be/YnyucUgRKQo).

Felix Dennis (27 May 1947 – 22 June 2014) was an English publisher, poet, spoken-word performer, and philanthropist. His company, Dennis Publishing, pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. In more recent times, the company added lifestyle titles such as its flagship brand The Week, which is published in the UK and the United States.

He became co-editor of the counterculture magazine, Oz, one issue of which led to charges of conspiring to corrupt public morals. Three members of the editorial staff were found guilty and received jail terms although the judge thought Dennis was much less intelligent and gave him a lighter sentence.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. COVID protocols will be followed. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-08-18/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/302588626/

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1824312751159906464

Now for Something Completely Different – Poetry https://t.co/iBDUk6VhAD #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/JsWQYxXwhk

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) August 16, 2024

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

What We See

Join the Humanist Community online this Sunday to watch and discuss three seemingly unrelated videos on things that make it difficult to see what’s real.

The Origin of Countless Conspiracy Theories (4:20 min.) presents the Ramsey theory, which tells us that however random a collection of elements is some non-random patterns will always exist in it, looking like secret messages.

In What the Irish Wake Teaches Us about Living and Dying (17 min.), Kevin Toolis talks about how we have a cultural inability to look at death that has actually increased our fear of death.

In 1984 by George Orwell, Crash Course Literature 401 (14:27 min.), John Green introduces us to the fictional totalitarian government that tries to control what people can think by modifying the language and remove words for unacceptable ideas.

You can watch The Origin of Countless Conspiracy Theories at
https://www.ted.com/talks/patrickjmt_the_origin_of_countless_conspiracy_theories.

You can watch What the Irish Wake Teaches Us about Living and Dying, at
https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_toolis_what_the_irish_wake_teaches_us_about_living_and_dying.

You can watch 1984 by George Orwell, Crash Course Literature 401 at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ipRaLa4Jw.

Attend in Person:

We have not been able to arrange a room to meet this week. We hope to see you in person next Sunday, because on the first and third Sunday of each month, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040.

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