The Morality of Money

Our next meeting on the 11th April at the normal time of 7.00pm at the White Rock Hotel

The subject is: The Morality of Money

Is money the root of all evil or simply a medium of exchange? - What authority underpins the value of money? - With only 3% of all money being ‘real’ coinage or notes, how can we exercise social control over its digital creation (including debt)? - And what is/ should be the role of the Banks in this process? - We are all encouraged to save for an extended old age, but how safe are our savings (Pension funds / Cyprus etc)? - Is a competitive devaluation of the £ really the salvation of our national interest?

These are just some of the questions that arise when we start to think about Money.

We will start the debate with a review of some of the facts and then open the discussion. Money has been a vital element in the evolution of society ever since it was invented about 2,700 years ago (pre-dating the invention of ice cream by about 300 years). Could it be that it has now grown into a monster that is beyond the control of national governments as well as their citizens!

Please bring along your thoughts, questions and strange facts about money.

In the meantime have a look at this video of just how awesome we human beings really are:

http://www.flixxy.com/people-are-awesome-2013.htm#.UVLVxRfQBLo

I look forward to seeing you there.

Best regards Stephen Milton

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This review of a book by our former member Elaine Short may also amuse:

http://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/arts-culture/poetry-arts-culture/utter-nonsense-in-hastings

Eastbourne Skeptics

We are pleased to see that Eastbourne Skeptics in the Pub is now up and running:

http://eastbourne.skepticsinthepub.org/

The first meeting on Wednesday 27 March at 'Bibendum' is now about the Christian 'Alpha' course, and the second on Thursday 18 April is James Williams (who has spoken to us on a couple of occasions) on 'Insidious Creationism'.

There has been a similar Skeptics in the Pub group active in Lewes for a year or two.

A Discussion on Dignity in Death

Our next meeting on the 14^th March at the normal time of 7.00pm at the White Rock

The subject is : Dignity in Death

Death is the one common experience that we cannot avoid and which perhaps defines our humanity. It can be hard to give up the instinct that comes from a lifetime of struggle to survive and accept the inevitable when it arrives.

My personal position is that while death holds absolutely no fear, the process of dying is one that fills me with dread. I therefore advocate that

“Where possible it should be our inalienable right to choose a death that is dignified, at a time of our choosing, and is both certain and painless”

This is a subject in which many of our members have strong views.

I will introduce it, but will then ask members of the audience to share their experiences of death and dying with the rest of the group. We want to hear both the good and bad experiences.

The debate that follows will, I am sure, be as intense as always – but duly mindful of the sensitivity of the issues being discussed.

Best Regards

 

Stephen Milton

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As promised at the meeting, here are a couple of websites of relevant organisations.

http://www.dyingmatters.org/

(the govt body aimed at getting people planning their end of life arrangements)

http://www.friends-at-the-end.org.uk/

A pro assisted dying group with a fair amount of info on their site.

Humans without Humanity

Our next meeting is at 7pm on Thursday the 14^th Feb.

The evening will be introduced by Leonard Sterling and be followed by our normal discussions.

If you have any thoughts on what drives people to become monsters and how we as a society can prevent them from exercising their malevolent influence on the rest of us; this will be the place to talk about it.

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A Freudian look at Nazism and the Suicide Bomber

The talk attempts to gain some insight into the mental forces of the situations which enable human beings, who are not insane, to behave with such barbarity, overcoming natural emotions of empathy or pity.

Where do these factions differ? What do they have in common?

By Leonard Sterling

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We look forward to seeing you at the White Rock Hotel.

 

Do We Need Religious Leaders?

Andrew Copson on 4thoughtTV is worth listening to:

http://www.4thought.tv/themes/do-we-still-need-religious-leaders/andrew-copson

On twitter he says "they make you talk for an hour and then edit it down".
Also, respondng to Jim Al-Khalili: "they goad you for an hour in a totally white room
until you snap and that is the 80 seconds they use. It's a bit like torture."

Optimism or Pessimism in the New Year?

Our next meeting is at 7pm on Thursday the 10^th Jan. This will be the first debate of the year and I look forward to it being a good one so bring a friend.

Happy New Year to one and all. -- from Stephen Milton

“This House believes that we will be better off in 50 years time”

 

In these times of enormous uncertainty should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future our children will face?

Will the future see us enjoying an ongoing march of progress, delivering unimaginable benefits that will transform our world in the same way that we have seen it transformed in the period since the beginning of the industrial revolution? Or will we succumb to the disasters that threaten us, global warming, raw materials shortages, economic decline?

The very future of the world is the issue. Everybody is welcome to come and listen or participate in the debate which promises to be extremely lively, whatever you point of view.

Making the case for the proposition will be Steve Milton.

Making the case against, will be Duncan Cleverley

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Result of the Debate:
The initial vote was 8 for, 12 against, 3 abstentions
The final vote was 8 for, 16 against, 3 abstentions
There were 24 present at the start and 28 at the end, and 1 didn't vote.
So the motion was defeated, but the attendance was excellent,
and the presenters put forward good contrasting arguments,
and there were excellent exchanges from the floor.
Thanks to everyone who participated. 

Is the 'Geek Movement' bad for Science?

There's a big debate on the blog linked to below that's well worth a read:

http://sci2pol.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/why-the-geek-movement-is-bad-for-science/

There are responses in the comments from a number of big hitters!
There has also been quite a lot of exchanges on twitter.
For those who may not know, Steve Fuller, the first of the commentators, is a sociologist who has postmodern views on science, and gave a somewhat comic turn at the famous Dover Creationist (or Intelligent Design) trial. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District

David Colquhoun is a Professor at UCL who campaigns against homeopathy and has a blog here:

http://www.dcscience.net/

He tweeted: "If Fuller approves, it must be wrong!" to which I responded "Yes that's usually a good rule of thumb." and got retweeted by the author of the sci2pol blog Haralambos Dayantis.