Our 9 February Meeting is on The Rewriting of History by Christian Apologists. Are we part of the "Judaeo-Christian" or "Graeco-Roman" traditions, or something new? Hastings Humanists Secretary George Jelliss will present some arguments from history, to be followed by a discussion.
This subject was prompted in part by the Prime Minister's recent speech in which he claimed we are a Christian Nation, and also by a letter in the New Humanist, by Canon Michael Halliwell of Romsey, in which he claimed Christian leadership in all sorts of social reforms.
A PDF poster for this meeting is now available here: http://www.mayhematics.com/r/hastings.htm.
As usual we meet at the White Rock Hotel for a 7 pm start.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Our January Meeting: A Debate
Our January meeting is an experiment in using a Debate format. The proposition to be debated is: "A disembodied mind is impossible." Joe Fearn will argue that the notion of the soul as a disembodied person, or discarnate consciousness, is unintelligible. Stephen Milton will argue the opposing case. The arguments are likely to cover such related concepts as ghosts and spirits and artificial intelligence. Others present will be able to take part in the discussion at the end of the debate phase, and perhaps vote on who they think has won the debate.
The venue is the Notley Room at the White Rock Hotel, 7 pm on Thursday 12 January 2012.
The venue is the Notley Room at the White Rock Hotel, 7 pm on Thursday 12 January 2012.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Prof Brian Cox: Physics or Metaphysics?
Much as I appreciate the work of the physicist Brian Cox in popularising scientific knowledge and countering nonsense or pseudoscientific "woo", there were a couple of occasions in his programme "Night with the Stars" on BBC2 TV last night where it seems to me he slipped from physics to metaphysics.
This was also noted by Arifa Akbar in a review in The Independent:
Similarly David Butcher in The Radio Times:
It is good to see the actual equations of quantum physics, or a version of them, in this case Feynman's path-integration method, actually being shown in a popular presentation, but the interpretation given to it is just one of many, none of which are yet entirely satisfactory. The problem is that electrons are not analogous to "particles" of sand, although that term is still used to describe them. I sometimes think that they are perhaps more like a "cloud" or "swarm". Surely his interpretation of the Pauli exclusion principle is just plain wrong.
This was also noted by Arifa Akbar in a review in The Independent:
Physics began to sound first like metaphysics ("Particles that make this diamond are in communication with every one of you and with everything in the universe") and then, like Buddhism ("When I heat this diamond up, all the atoms in the universe change their energy levels... Everything is connected to everything else"). These wondrous statements made quantum physics seem suddenly clear cut, until it got complicated again.
Similarly David Butcher in The Radio Times:
he shows how diamonds are made up of nothingness, and how one such precious gem in the heart of London is in communication with the largest diamond in the cosmos. He also reveals how things can be in two places at once
It is good to see the actual equations of quantum physics, or a version of them, in this case Feynman's path-integration method, actually being shown in a popular presentation, but the interpretation given to it is just one of many, none of which are yet entirely satisfactory. The problem is that electrons are not analogous to "particles" of sand, although that term is still used to describe them. I sometimes think that they are perhaps more like a "cloud" or "swarm". Surely his interpretation of the Pauli exclusion principle is just plain wrong.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
December Free-For-All
Our December meeting, at 7pm on 8th December in the Notley Room at the White Rock Hotel will be open for anyone present to give a five-minute talk or presentation on anything they think may be of interest to us. It doesn't have to be a rant or specifically about Humanism. The timing will be flexible.
We will also vote on the decision that was held over from our AGM, whether to change our relationship with the BHA from Affiliation to Partnership. We will also review other activities such as attendance of members at meetings of BHA Group and SACRE Representatives and at the NSS AGM, and the successful launch of our Twitter account @HastingsHumanists).
We will also vote on the decision that was held over from our AGM, whether to change our relationship with the BHA from Affiliation to Partnership. We will also review other activities such as attendance of members at meetings of BHA Group and SACRE Representatives and at the NSS AGM, and the successful launch of our Twitter account @HastingsHumanists).
Friday, 11 November 2011
Decisions at our AGM
The following are the decisions made at our Annual General Meeting. Since the minutes I took are rather illegible, and my memory is known to be fallible, please notify me if you spot any errors or omissions. There were 16 members in attendance and one apology for absence.
The annual membership fee remains at £5, and the cost of attending a meeting will be £2 (this is to cover the cost of the room which is currently £30 for two hours but may go up next year). The start-time of meetings will be 7 pm instead of 6:30 pm in future.
The Chair, Stephen Milton, and Secretary, George Jelliss, were reelected. Lesley Arnold-Hopkins stood down as Treasurer but becomes Deputy Chair. Duncan Cleverly becomes Treasurer as well as Social Secretary. Helene White remains formally Assistant Treasurer.
Lesley and Duncan will open a twitter account (@HastingsHumanists). Helen Mitcham will act as a Group Representative at GRAM. The decision whether the group should be an Affiliate or Partner of the BHA was postponed, and Felicity Harvest agreed to examine the BHA proposals in more detail and report back to the committee. We will continus to send Humanist Observers to the East Sussex SACRE, and lobby for more formal recognition.
So far only two meetings are definite for next year: January will feature a formal Debate between Joe Fearn and Stephen Milton on "Is a Disembodied Mind Possible?". June will be a talk from Barbara Burfoot about the Sea of Faith organisation. Enquiries for other outside speakers are in progress. Offers of talks from members (Joe Fearn on the Anthropic Principle, George Jelliss on Rewriting of History, and on Scepticism) are so far available to fit in the programme as needed.
The annual membership fee remains at £5, and the cost of attending a meeting will be £2 (this is to cover the cost of the room which is currently £30 for two hours but may go up next year). The start-time of meetings will be 7 pm instead of 6:30 pm in future.
The Chair, Stephen Milton, and Secretary, George Jelliss, were reelected. Lesley Arnold-Hopkins stood down as Treasurer but becomes Deputy Chair. Duncan Cleverly becomes Treasurer as well as Social Secretary. Helene White remains formally Assistant Treasurer.
Lesley and Duncan will open a twitter account (@HastingsHumanists). Helen Mitcham will act as a Group Representative at GRAM. The decision whether the group should be an Affiliate or Partner of the BHA was postponed, and Felicity Harvest agreed to examine the BHA proposals in more detail and report back to the committee. We will continus to send Humanist Observers to the East Sussex SACRE, and lobby for more formal recognition.
So far only two meetings are definite for next year: January will feature a formal Debate between Joe Fearn and Stephen Milton on "Is a Disembodied Mind Possible?". June will be a talk from Barbara Burfoot about the Sea of Faith organisation. Enquiries for other outside speakers are in progress. Offers of talks from members (Joe Fearn on the Anthropic Principle, George Jelliss on Rewriting of History, and on Scepticism) are so far available to fit in the programme as needed.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Summary of Our 2011 Meetings
I've made a new page in the Hastings Humanists section of my website, which summarises all our meetings during 2011. This includes links to the video and other sites mentioned in Stephen Milton's talk on Science and Society. I intend to add further links for the other meetings in due course.
A Rainbow at London Bridge
On Wednesday afternoon I went to London for the Conway memorial lecture, which was about Jeremy Bentham and his extensive unpublished works. It proved to be mainly about his views on sexual relationships rather than secularism. The poddelusion people were there, so it can be heard on their recording. It seems Bentham's views anticipated those of the Australian philosopher Peter Singer, such as those on infanticide, which have been in the secular news (e.g. see New Humanist) thanks to Nadine Dorries accusing all humanists of favouring the killing of children on the least excuse!
I bought a ticket to Charings Cross as usual, but my train was "terminated" at London Bridge. We were advised that our tickets could be used on the Underground, but mine wouldn't even let me out of the station! It was raining and I decided to make use of my free bus pass, and catch a bus direct to Holborn. While I was waiting at the bus stop at one end of the Bridge a beautiful full half-circle rainbow appeared, like another Bridge in the sky, framing the scene that included Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the 'Gherkin' and other buildings. For a while there was even a partial secondary rainbow above the main one. I do love rainbows! I think I may take the London Bridge route in future.
OOPS! I intended to post this on my Jeepyjay Diary pages, but seem to have pressed the wrong buttons. Anyway it's not entirely irrelevant to Hastings Humanists, so I will let it stand.
I bought a ticket to Charings Cross as usual, but my train was "terminated" at London Bridge. We were advised that our tickets could be used on the Underground, but mine wouldn't even let me out of the station! It was raining and I decided to make use of my free bus pass, and catch a bus direct to Holborn. While I was waiting at the bus stop at one end of the Bridge a beautiful full half-circle rainbow appeared, like another Bridge in the sky, framing the scene that included Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the 'Gherkin' and other buildings. For a while there was even a partial secondary rainbow above the main one. I do love rainbows! I think I may take the London Bridge route in future.
OOPS! I intended to post this on my Jeepyjay Diary pages, but seem to have pressed the wrong buttons. Anyway it's not entirely irrelevant to Hastings Humanists, so I will let it stand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)