Human Nature: Genetic Propensities and Symbolic Language
Arthur Jackson
December 22, 2013
Arthur Jackson
Drawing from his 2011 book, How to Live the Good Life: A User’s Guide for Modern Humans, author Arthur Jackson will discuss “human nature.” His work is considered seminal to understanding why people do what they do.
Jackson, a long-time Humanist activist, served as Assistant Director of the American Humanist Association (1965-69). Coordinated activities for Humanist Celebrants who serve as alternatives to Ministers, Priests, and Rabbis as well as AHA’s chapter program; was Editorial Associate The Humanistmagazine (1965-69); chaired the International Humanist & Ethical Union’s Working Party on Humanist Counseling (1968-78); developed a model AHA Humanist chapter and served as full time Executive Director of the Humanist Community of San Jose (HCSJ) (1969-76); and sponsored a humanist group at Soledad State Prison (1970-73).
The Challenge For Humanism In The Post-Post-Modern Era
Jon Figdor
November 24, 2013
Jon Figdor
While we are more connected through e-mail, text messages, Facebook, and Twitter, Americans feel increasingly socially atomized. As young people travel across the United States and around the world to attend faraway colleges and graduate schools, and families find themselves moving for jobs, we increasingly find ourselves in foreign places with few connections or roots. Jon Figdor will discuss why religious institutions, which have historically served this purpose are no longer able to provide meaning for an increasingly non-religious America. In a talk ranging from Robert Putnam’s American Grace and Bowling Alone, to Stephen Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, as well as original research from the Humanist Community Project at Harvard, John will explain why he thinks Humanist communities are the answer to the problem of social atomization.
Jon Figdor is the Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University where he organizes events and programs for both students and community members from the San Francisco Bay Area. Jon and his work have been discussed in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has spoken at the Secular Student Alliance Annual Conference, the American Humanist Association Annual Conference, the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley, the Humanist Community at Harvard, and many local humanist groups across the United States. He received his B.A. with honors in Philosophy from Vassar College and holds a master’s degree (MDiv) in Humanism and Interfaith Dialogue from Harvard Divinity School. Jon was an Organizing Fellow of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard and former Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard.
Who are you? What do you care about enough to join an organization to work on it?
Probably each of us is connected with a number of other organizations doing interesting work in the world. What are those organizations? Who is connected to them? And what are they (you!) doing there?
Come and share your secrets with us!
Anyone present who would like to share a minute about an organization and how they’re involved with it will be invited to do so. We’ll work in a little Q&A throughout the program.
Feel free to bring flyers, business cards, links to websites, etc. to offer to those who might be interested.
Martin Squibbs <msquibbs@ix.netcom.com> has provided below the list of organizations discussed at the Forum.
Details of Organizations Promoted by those Attending November 10th HCSV Sunday Forum
(Revision B – Nov 16th 2013)
I list below the details of the organizations which were mentioned and promoted during the November 10th Forum. If anyone wishes to add further information, or add an additional organization, please email me at the email address below and provide the details and I will update this document and provide to the webmaster for uploading. msquibbs@ix.netcom.com
Our mission is dedicated to “Inspiring hope and improving the quality of life for heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support”.
Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual’s income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence.
3) Carlos Feder
Beit R’fuah (House of Healing), offering support relating to Mental Health issues
For patients suffering from a mental disease, and their relatives, The meetings take place on the second Wednesday of each month, see above link. In addition to the support and free education that the group provides, its goals are to dispel the stigma of mentally ill patients.
We’re part of a world-wide grassroots movement to build local resilience and connections close to home. Since 2010, we’ve been mounting creative and thoughtful responses to the challenges of resource depletion, climate change, and economic instability.
The ACLU is our nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
The League of Women Voters is a citizens’ organization that has fought since 1920 to improve our government and engage all citizens in the decisions that impact their lives. Formed from the movement that secured the right to vote for women, the centerpiece of the League’s efforts remain to expand participation and give a voice to all Americans.
Our values: Ethical Culture affirms the equal worth and right to dignity of every person. We cherish individual differences, cultural diversity, and the democratic process. We seek to bring out the potential of each of us to make our homes, workplaces, and communities kinder, fairer, and more joyful.
At 350.org, we’re building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis and push for policies that will put the world on track to get to 350 ppm.
We, the people of the USA, reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United ruling and other related cases, and move to amend our constitution to firmly establish the money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
EAA Silicon Valley is a chapter of the Electric Auto Association, a nonprofit organization formed in 1967 to promote the use of electric vehicles as a viable transportation alternative.
The Sunday Assembly is a godless congregation that celebrate life. Our motto: live better, help often, wonder more. Our mission: to help everyone find and fulfill their full potential. Our vision: a godless congregation in every town, city and village that wants one. See also
Less Wrong is a community blog devoted to refining the art of human rationality.
A handful of “aspiring rationalists” in the area meet in Mountain View most Tuesday nights to play games, discuss rationality-related topics and listen to speakers (both guest experts and group members) talk about a variety of fascinating and educational topics. Those interested in learning more can visit the main website about or can find out about past and future local events on our (informal) Bay Area Google Group at the URL below
Vision: People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.
The nation’s leading organization bringing together people across communities and backgrounds to understand and prevent suicide, and to help heal the pain it causes.
Bay Area Humanists – San Francisco
http://sfhumanists.org/ Meets a couple times a month with different flavors. Has dynamic small group discussions with great facilitation around topics such as humanists and tolerance, assisted suicide, male privilege, and other topics.
Related to San Francisco Bay Area Atheist, Agnostics, Humanists, Freethinkers, and Skeptics groups on Meetup. Find out who else is around here.
Our Taboo Museum http://ourtaboomuseum.com
Transforming hard to discuss subjects – with humor if possible – using art, conversation, and products
We value freedom, compassion, fairness and scientific knowledge. We seek ethical and personally fulfilling lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
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.
Bridging the God Gap:
How to Find Common Ground with Theistic Friends and Family Members
Dr. Chris Schriner
September 29, 2013
Dr. Chris Schriner
Did you know that atheists are the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry? According to a recent study, they are “seen as a threat to the American way of life.” The authors of a study of North American atheists were “astonished” that so many had paid a heavy price for disbelief. “Even in the San Francisco area – arguably the most tolerant part of the United States – [about half] reported that being a nonbeliever had produced difficulty with relatives and friends” (Hunsberger and Altemeyer, Atheists: A Groundbreaking Study of America’s Nonbelievers, p. 55). As one atheist commented, “. . . I keep quiet about it. People assume you are heartless, shallow, amoral, and it calls their own beliefs into question. Atheism greatly disturbs people” (p. 47).
No wonder it’s such a challenge for believers and non-believers to talk about religion!
Dr. Chris Schriner is Minister Emeritus of Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Fremont and a retired psychotherapist. Unitarian Universalism includes both theists and atheists, and Chris has emphasized positive communication between theistic and atheistic members of his congregations. He is the author of five books, including Bridging the God Gap: Finding Common Ground Among Believers, Atheists and Agnostics.
Bridging the God Gap strongly affirms the legitimacy of secular humanism, and Chris will suggest ways of helping people see atheism as a valid and potentially positive life stance. He will also describe techniques for discussing theology without coming to blows, and ways of finding conceptual common ground with some liberal theists.
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Dr. Schriner’s handout at the Forum:
Practicing Positive Communication
Here are seven strategies that help disarm difficult conversations about theology, based upon Bridging the God Gap: Finding Common Ground Among Believers, Atheists and Agnostics, by Roger Christan Schriner, available at Amazon.com. For more information contact Chris at cschriner@uuma.org, or access his blogs:
Theists & Atheists: Communication & Common Ground, http://theistsandatheists.wordpress.com
Did God Really Say THAT!? A Blog about the Bible, http://didgodreallysaythat.wordpress.com
1. Pre-communicate. Talk about what you’re going to talk about. Say what you hope to accomplish. “There’s a distance between us because of our religious beliefs. I would like to take a little step toward bridging that gap.” You may want to frankly acknowledge that one discussion won’t fix everything.
2. Once you begin, keep your main goals in mind. Concentrate on the most important items instead of getting lost in a dust-storm of details. State one or two central points, and repeat them so that they stand out. Resist the temptation to veer off onto trivial tangents to make an impressive point.
3. Throughout the conversation, try to stay connected, heart to heart. Without knowing it we may approach a dialogue about religion as if we’ve entered a physical fight. When we smite someone on the forehead with a particularly weighty argument, we may expect this poor benighted soul to bow down in surrender, grateful for having been shown the light. How disappointing when people just resent us for making them look stupid.
Attitude is crucial. If you are sincerely interested in connecting with another human being, he or she will probably feel safe enough to open up. Even if you stumble and stammer, your good intentions will come across. But if your goal is to attack, debate, or dominate, it’s hard to conceal this agenda with handy-dandy communication techniques.
When you start to lose personal connection, you might say, “I can feel myself starting to treat this like a battle. But I care about you and I want to treat you right.” Be especially careful if you find yourself getting flustered. Do not blurt things out while you are upset. Take a breath, and remember that your goal is to reach out, not put down.
To help stay connected, be big-hearted about criticism. Refrain from firing back impulsively, shooting from the hip. When attacked, listen and reflect before responding. After pausing to regain clarity – and charity – show your critic that you can see how it looks from his or her viewpoint, even if you don’t agree. Then say what you believe.
4. Listen well, and ask to be heard in return. Think of talk radio as an example of how not to speak and listen respectfully. Be honest with yourself about your own conversational faults. Do you resort to sarcasm? Personal attacks? Name-calling? A condescending tone of voice or facial expression? If you catch yourself being hostile or demeaning you can admit it and apologize. People appreciate such candor and humility.
5. Treat this talk as an opportunity to practice clear awareness. Raise your antennae, and tune in to more than the obvious. Communication isn’t just kicking words around like a soccer ball. We also send messages with our tone of voice, how fast or loud we are talking, and what we do not say. Be aware also of posture, body position, facial expressions, movements, gestures, and eye contact (or the lack of it).
Talking about religion is an exercise in empathetic imagination. We communicate best when we notice what the other person is feeling and thinking, and what we will sometimes sense is pain. People are distressed when their religious views are questioned. When we become distressed we need to talk it out, to diminish the pressure we feel inside. Then we are able to think more clearly.
6. Practice meta-communication, communication about communication. Comment occasionally about how this chat is progressing. Express appreciation for what’s working well. Mention ways that you are trying to be constructive and ways your friend seems to be doing the same. Be gracious about admitting glitches and commit yourself to doing better.
7. Practice post-communication. After you say something important, check to see if your message was received. It has been said that the main problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished. Don’t just make noises in the direction of your friend and assume that your message is getting through. Find out what he or she is hearing. “The main thing I’m trying to say is ______ Do you see what I’m driving at?” And make sure you are hearing clearly: “Basically, you are saying ______. Is that right?” “Are you saying ____ or are you saying ____?”
Before parting, thank your friend for sharing something personal and significant.
Few rules are absolute, and any set of guidelines can backfire under certain circumstances. Let each situation guide your actions. But these seven time-tested principles usually work just fine.
Theism and Atheism: A Matter of Degree
Both theists and atheists may think of reality in personal terms. Theists usually apply personal descriptions more literally, but there is no clear dividing line between literal and metaphorical language. Poetry and factual description shade off into each other:
God is a person who looks like us . . .
God is a person but does not have a human body . . .
Calling God a person is a human way of speaking
about something far beyond our understanding . . .
Ultimate Reality is trans-personal, but
we can metaphorically think of it as a Thou . . .
The universe is physical but it has personal qualities . . .
The universe does not actually have such qualities,
but we can speak poetically as if it does . . .
The universe, and whatever caused or created
the universe, should never be thought of as personal.
People often slide up or down this continuum with changing moods and social contexts.
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For more on Dr. Schriner’s views see his two blogs:
The less we can discuss a topic honestly, the more we leave ourselves open to manipulation and control by others, including governments.