Paul George

One Nation Under Surveillance

Paul George

November 3, 2013

Paul George
Paul George

When NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden released a trove of documents detailing the extensive and intrusive nature of the covert surveillance of US citizens, politicians and pundits of all stripes called for a national “debate” about the illegal surveillance. President Obama launched an internal investigation into the National Security Agency’s methods and procedures (the investigation has been suspended due to the government shutdown).

The “national debate” has since subsided, but the urgency has not. In this talk, we’ll explore the history of US government surveillance (it goes back a long way), what information is being collected on US citizens and what the government can do with that information. Most importantly, we’ll examine ways ordinary people can and should be involved in the continuing efforts to rein in the NSA.

Our speaker’s main thesis is that out-of-control surveillance has historically been driven by two forces: a national war mentality (as in the current “war on terror”) and advances in technology.

Paul George, is Director of Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, the leading progressive grassroots activist organization on the Peninsula. Paul has been a human rights activist and grassroots organizer for over 45 years. During those years his work has taken on many forms: electoral campaigns (Gene McCarthy for President in 1968 and the single payer healthcare ballot measure in California in 1996); Central American solidarity work, which included several trips to El Salvador in the midst of that country’s civil war; political organizer for a large labor union; and 20+ years at the helm of PPJC.

Paul is frequently invited to speak on a wide range of issues and his public lectures are always well received. For the past 17 years, Paul has hosted a monthly television program called Other Voices and for 15 years he was the host of a radio talk show called Freedom Highway.

Humanist Community Forum (2013-11-03): One Nation Under Surveillance (Paul George) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

 

Laura Mappin

Taboos for Totalitarianism

Laura Mappin

October 27, 2013

Laura Mappin   The less we can discuss a topic honestly, the more we leave ourselves open to manipulation and control by others, including governments.

For example, if we cannot stomach the idea of just imagining that someone we know and trust could have molested our child, we might not believe her when she tries to tell us this is so. If we as a society force others to lead closeted lives that would otherwise hurt no one, we are responsible for emotionally torturing others, which can lead the closeted to behave or lash out in insidious ways. As a society or nation, if we cannot admit all of the truths about war, we can end up making choices that are sorely not in our interest.

In this presentation, Laura Mappin will discuss her taboo taxonomy and how she sees taboo subjects relating to each other. She will also discuss how she believes our increased ease with discussing these subjects and permitting some of them helps create healthier societies.

The argument to be presented is a work in progress. Your questions and thoughts are welcome.

Laura Mappin has been puzzled most of her life about what motivates people’s behavior and how those actions overlay with fairness. She has BS degrees in Computer Science and Math from the University of Pittsburgh, which probably impacted her ways of perceiving and graphing this squishy data. This presentation is the culmination of personal conundrums and ideas that have been percolating in her mind for decades.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2013-10-27): Taboos for Totalitarianism (Laura Mappin) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

For more information on this talk or to contact Laura, go to:
http://ourtaboomuseum.com/hcsv2

 

Martin Squibbs

Reality and our Memories of it
A theory of Memory and Mind, and its Implications

Martin Squibbs

October 20, 2013

Martin Squibbs
Martin Squibbs

I have introduced my theory regarding the form and nature of our minds and ourselves in previous talks. In this talk I want to focus on it and clarify it.

At its core, I propose that our brains not only hold our memories of our past, our knowledge, and our future; they actually form these memories in the first place. In fact, I propose the brain is the only place in reality where such memories are formed, exist and can be found. And we, ourselves, exist and live within our brain surrounded by this “world” of memories. I wish to consider the processes by which we form these and other different types of memory, along with distinguishing between our emotional and objective worlds. I wish to recognize the language and measurement systems we have abstracted from our memories in order to compare, consider, store, share and better understand them, and what methods we employ for storing and sharing them. Finally, I wish to consider some of the scientific and ethical implications of my theory, if it’s true.  That is, beyond Philosophical curiosity, what difference does this theory make; to ourselves, to our human worlds, to life, and to reality as a whole? How does it help us to live more ethically, more truthfully, more joyfully, and with greater integrity?

Slides from Martin’s presentation are available here.

 

           Dealing with Life
We remember them, wonderful, true,
Who gave us life, would see us through
We remember their love, kind and warm,
That’s cherished our worlds since we were born

And others too, of civilized means
Who created each country from fields of dreams
Who took the bitter anger of hate
And transformed it into a civilized state

And yet still more, with science in mind
Their dream, mysterious reality to find
They fill up time, with a Universe to know
Their job, true knowledge, to gently grow

Then those with a vision to improve our lives
With creative tools, and so they strive
To shape our science into technology new
And so, with computer, I write to you

And so many others, that live for our sake,
With the grain they grow, and the bread they bake
From constructing our houses, to packaging our tea
They’re shaping the dreams of the few into reality

And let’s not forget, the warrior soul
In honor and bravery, lies their role
From visions cruel, disturbed in offense
For their children above, they fight in defense

Yes, let us remember this human mind
Filled with this history of human kind,
And its dreams and its futures yet to come
Of so much work yet to be done

But my point, my friends, goes beyond these tales.
To nature, real, within which they are held.

So let us not forget where these minds persist
Within this body of life, is where they exist
Within this brain, with its billions of cells
Within this body, which poops and smells

Breathing in life, beating with heart
Walking on Earth, from the start
Relying on tree, and river, and vale
To know of now, and tell its tale

So for all the heroes remembered above
And joy and sadness, and fear and love
For all the stories we each proudly hold
Of dreams anew and pasts untold

They all depend on this living creation
Family, friends, company and nation
We must protect living nature real
To keep alive these worlds in which we deal

Martin Squibbs

 

 

Manuel Manga

Relational Intelligence: designing satisfying relationships

Manuel Manga

October 13, 2013

Manuel Manga
Manuel Manga

  Relational Intelligence: Human beings are social animals, we live in systems of relationships, with nature, other people, objects, etc.

In this talk we will focus on 5 key relationships for human beings. We will also focus on the role of language and conversations in creating and maintaining effective relationships. Conversations for creating relationships, conversations for exploring possibilities, and conversations for effective coordination of actions.  We will also look into the systemic relationship between emotions and conversations, and the emotion of love as the foundation to human relations.

Manga is the director of the Center for Evolutionary Leadership, which develops leaders for building a just, flourishing, and sustainable world. He is also a leadership coach and organizational consultant.

You can view the slides for this important presentation here.

Center for Evolutionary Leadership:   www.evolutionleader.com.   “Homo sapiens-ethicus evolutivo: being ethical & choosing to bring forth relational systems that are loving, just, flourishing, & sustainable.”

 

Humanist Community Forum (2013-10-13) – Relational Intelligence: Designing Satisfying Relationships (Manuel Manga) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

 

Martin Carcieri

John Rawls and Humanism

Martin Carcieri

 October 6, 2013

Martin Carcieri
Martin Carcieri

John Rawls is the most influential Anglo-American political theorist of the past three centuries. In bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rawls in 1999, Bill Clinton noted that he had put our liberties on a brilliant new foundation. That foundation is a refined version of the social contract as developed by early modern thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. It is of particular interest for Humanists since it provides an objective but workable basis for politics and ethics. It is neither objective, that is, in the sense of some transcendental foundation like God or Nature, nor purely subjective, with the nihilist dead end to which that leads. It is a contract, the basic terms of which, Rawls argues, we would (and do) accept as the basis of our politics and ethics. Besides presenting the basic method and principles for which Rawls argues, Carcieri will also present Rawls’ famous theory of civil disobedience, which builds upon the work of Thoreau, Gandhi, King, and others.

Martin Carcieri is an Associate Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University, where he teaches courses and seminars on Constitutional Law and Political Theory. He holds a J.D. and Ph.D. from the University of California, and has published twenty-five journal articles and book chapters.

Click here to view the Handout for this fascinating and informative talk.