This group replaced the Philosophy Group,
which was suspended at the beginning of December, 2019
Round Table sessions encourage input from all who attend the meeting. Each person will be allowed five minutes to make his or her point. Following that, the next phase allows two minutes for rebuttal.
The world's major economies focus on growing their economies with the ultimate aim of perpetually increasing production, trade, exports, employment, wealth, etc. for the betterment of its citizens.
However, these economies fail to factor in the mathematical reality that endless, compounding economic growth is impossible in a closed system which in this case is planet earth.
Fifty years ago a courageous team of scientists, economists, environmentalists and programmers challenged conventional economic wisdom and produced evidence of the limits to growth. Jack Davis will summarize the current call for "Degrowth" and his views on why degrowth is unlikely to happen.
A RoundTable discussion with attendees will follow.
Synopsis: Our presenters discussed one of Climate Change's greatest threats: The populations that will be forced to migrate due to sea-level rise.
Synopsis: Jack Davis will discuss the President's Daily Briefing from his perspective of having worked for a couple of years on the staff that produces it. He will touch on the sources and types of intelligence information that it includes, its depth of detail and the process by which it reflects the current positions of other members of the US Intelligence Community.
Time and interest permitting, he will present a couple of specific examples of high priority events and how they were handled that resulted in quick and effective action that benefited the US and its key allies.
Synopsis: A paraphrase of key points made by Dave Pollard
“The great enemy of communication is the illusion of it” William Whyte famously said.
The functioning (and dysfunction) of our whole society rests on the myth that what the speaker is saying and what the listener is perceiving is more often than not quite different. The disconnect is thought to result from our conditioning, beliefs, expectations and hopes and significantly molds our worldviews.
In general, we are incapable of learning anything we don’t care about.
What doesn’t fit the listener’s worldview and ways of thinking will simply not be heard, much less understood accurately. This is our nature.
Presenters: Dave Helgager and Jack Davis
Synopsis: This Roundtable will be soliciting the views of members as to whether evolution has played a major role in the development of racism. An argument worth considering is that our species has, over the past couple of thousand years, increasingly and effectively stopped evolving in the Darwinian sense. We no longer allow the sick, the weak, the hungry, the least clever or resourceful to perish without a fuss. Others claim that we humans have evolved sufficiently as social creatures to value the rich diversity of races and ethnicities available to us.
Sun Tsu who wisely said: “Know your enemy”. If there is scientific evidence that racism is indeed embedded in our genes then that reality needs to be recognized, thought about, and reckoned with.
Presenters: Dave Helgager and Jack Davis
Synopsis:
Presenters: Dave Helgager and Jack Davis
Synopsis: This Roundtable discussion happens to fall on January 20th, Inauguration Day, and the beginning of a new Presidency and Vice Presidency, and for what many of us believe, hopefully, is the beginning of rational, scientific, and sane thinking after the previous four years. The focus of the "Table" will be on this new leadership, the events of Wednesday the 6th, and what you think all of this means and doesn't mean for us as a country and as Humanists.
Presenters: Dave Helgager and Jack Davis
Synopsis: HUSBAY might want to consider an initiative to provide more active and available guidance to others, particularly non members who have been the victims of some of the intolerable practices of mainstream religions ranging from the inquisition to shunning, shaming, banishing, discrimination, peer pressure and "brainwashing" to name a few.
Presenter: Dave Helgager
Synopsis: What initiatives need to be President Biden's priorities as he takes over the reins of our government? According to experts it's considered that he faces the greatest challenges since FDR as assumes the Presidency. For this SIG Round Table we will ask those present to offer up to a five minute presentation a list of up to three Secular Humanist/atheist initiatives for the new President to consider, followed by discussion.
Subject: Cancel Culture (Definition)
Presenter: Jack Davis and Dave Helgager
Synopsis: Will Darwin be subjected to "cancel culture"? Jack Davis and Dave Helgager will lead this session, which will focus on the effects of "cancel culture" on our society.
Given scientific and political leaders who have fallen, it's possible Darwin could come under a "reevaluation" for missteps that cancel you for keeps. Jack Davis will read a number of quotes from diverse sources defining "cancel culture" and then use the round table approach (See the 'How It Works' paragraph above)
Subject: The 'Prepper' and 'Survivalist' Movements of the 70's and 80's
Presenter: Jack Davis
Synopsis: Jack's presentation focueds on his negative and positive impressions and observations about American survivalists and preppers spanning the last 45 years.
He declares two biases, having grown up in a culture with a history of floods and hurricanes and having spent 20+ years ferreting out the details of the strategic weapons systems of America's arch enemies:the USSR and the People's Republic of China (PRC).
These exposures led to his researching ways to cope with a variety of natural as well as military, technological and political emergencies.
At the height of the cold war, the most expert opinions leaned to odds of about 1:100 that the world would experience an exchange of some weapon of mass destruction whether as an accident or a premeditated act of war leading him to prepare for such an unfortunate event.
Facilitators: David Helgager
Subject: What Drives Fake News?Who exactly shares it, and why?
Description: There is news that is purposefully false and spread to mislead others for a particular agenda. More prevalent in recent years many people are labeling journalism from long-respected sources as untrustworthy or downright false.
There are obvious ideological drivers for this phenomenon intended to undermine political opponents by any means necessary. But there might be another reason people are drawn to declaring, or rejecting long-respected journalism as “fake news!”; a need for order.
The paper on this subject is available as a PDF that can be downloaded from our website.
Facilitators: David Helgager and Jack Stuart
Description: Why some believe Climate Change is not the end of the world.
Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that it's real and poses a major threat to all mankind, there are many in our country that have dismissed Climate Change as a hoax.
Below you'll find a link to piece on climate denial.
It's Title:Why I Believe Climate Change Is Not the End of the World, which was the inspiration for this session.
Facilitator: Dave Helgager
Description: My Life In Shelter: "Oh, the times they are a changing" (line in a Bob Dylan song)
Wednesday's Round Table gave those attending a chance to expound on their experiences sheltering in place. What have you learned? What humorous experiences have you had? Is it time to begin opening up?
In the first round, each particpant got up to five minutes to share his or her thoughts. Time permitting, in a second round we will give everyone an opportunity to pose a brief question or summary comment.
Fascilitators: David Helgager and Dan Dana
Description: The topic of discussion is - “What would be appropriate and productive for Humanists sharing their thoughts?” Are we missing the opportunity to articulate the secular humanist philosophy to some people who might never otherwise experience a more intellectually free and honest way of thinking about religion. (If organized religion requires of its adherents that they "witness" their beliefs, in a nation where religious and intellectual freedom is prized and guaranteed, secular humanists have every right to do the same, not to upset and disturb others, but to help them free themselves from dogmatic, rigid and often crushing religious practices.)
Fascilitators: David Helgager and Jack Davis
Description: On the recent anniversary of Martin Luther's excommunication from the Catholic Church in 1521, for questioning the church's selling of indulgences, a couple of us shared a few cathartic personal stories about the religious indoctrination we were exposed to (endured) in our formative years. This led to some thinking about when and what made us start thinking for ourselves about religion, and how that changed the direction of our lives.
Thinking we could use a break from the current political discord, we suggested that this as the topic for a "Roundtable" discussion. Each member had up to five minutes to share their experiences, followed by another round of comments or questions arose. We then had a final "wrapup" round of comments regarding what was learned from the discussion.
Date: Jan. 8
Fascilitators: David Helgager and Jack Davis
Description: Politics in 2020 (A very sucessful turnout, with nearly every attendee participating.) We don't think we have heard the last on this subject.
A very enthusiastic crowd met,
and broadly participated in the discussion.
While there were differences in opinion,
all speakers were treated with respect.
If only Congress could behave similarly.
If you have ideas for the future meetingas,
or would like to lead this group
please let the the website editor know.