Dr. Peter Schattner

April 12, 2015

Dr. Peter Schattner (an award-winning scientist, educator and writer with over 30 years of research experience in molecular biology, genetics, medical instrumentation and physics) will discuss and answer questions about his recent book “Sex, Love and DNA”. The idea of his book is to show how 21st-century molecular biology is beginning to answer age-old questions about the human experience, such as how we make our choices in sex and love, how we communicate, where our emotions come from, and why we age and die. (See www.peterschattner.com)

Humanist Community Forum (2015-04-12): What Molecular Biology Teaches Us About Being Human (Dr. Peter Schattner) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Marc Perkel

April 5, 2015

Humanist Community member and Board member Marc Perkel is a self-educated exceptional person who comes from a below average family and was raised in a below average community with poor schools. Yet he has accomplished many things in his life and is generally considered by people who know him as special.  Now Marc uses his extraordinary mental power to figure what makes him different.  Was he born that way or was it learned? And if it was learned – can anyone learn it?

Marc thinks the answer is that learning is the biggest factor and he now shares what he thinks are the most important aspects of what it takes to be smarter. In this program Marc will make the argument that if you like the changes Elon Musk has accomplished then imagine the world with 100 Elons. Can we create 100 Elons?  Let’s all become smarter and fix the world. And being smarter benefits your personal life. Do you want love, power, money, status, and success? Being smarter will help you get there.

Marc will share his thoughts about mental changes and mental techniques to put anyone on the path to learning how to become a genius.

Humanist Community Forum (2015-04-05): Thoughts on Genius (Marc Perkel) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Elsa Schafer

March 29, 2015

ALEC was initially founded in the 1970’s as a secret entity based in Washington, D.C. with legislators and corporate members who wrote legislative bills on behalf of corporate interests in exchange for election campaign funding. Over 2,000 companies have joined, writing legislation to:­ privatize public schools and prisons, ­ weaken voting rights, ­ eviscerate clean air, clean water and other environmental laws, ­ cripple public worker unions and endanger public safety.­In 2011, Common Cause helped shine a spotlight on ALEC and its activities, and Common Cause and a coalition of organizations have pressured companies to drop their memberships in ALEC. Elsa Schafer is a progressive activist (Democracy for America and Common Cause) who has long fought for publicly funded elections, while maintaining her day job working on healthcare reform.

Humanist Community Forum (2015-03-29): ALEC–Buying Our State Legislative System on Behalf of Corporate Interests (Elsa Schafer from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

March 22, 2015

The basic evolutionary principle is elegant and even simple, but its application in human evolution is controversial to say the least. However, viewing bird behavior in video sequences allows us to more objectively analyze evolution and adaptation in a fellow creature, and then to hypothesize its applicability to human evolutionary drivers. Barry Boulton combines a passion for bird behavior and practical evolution using high definition video as the primary medium.

 
 

Humanist Community Forum (2015-03-22): Evolution, Adaptation and Bird Behavior – a Video Presentation (Barry Boulton) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Tom Bergstrom

March 15, 2015

Humanist Community member and Board member Tom Bergstrom will present an overview of how conservatives and liberals think. This information is based on Professor George Lakoff’s writings (e.g., The Political Mind) and videos. Learning how people frame their beliefs helps others learn how to speak to and work with those different world views. Political framing unfortunately can allow selfish political groups to train voters to vote against their best interests. Thus, the goal of this Forum is to help liberals work with conservatives, and to learn how to successfully frame liberal views.

 
 

Humanist Community Forum (2015-03-15): Psychology and Political Framing (Tom Bergstrom) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.