Month: March 2012

Counting votes — Which Flawed System Do You Prefer?

Dr. Keith Devlin

Mar. 25, 2012

The elections in San Francisco last fall highlighted once again the thorny issue of how votes are counted, with the poll results being counted on that occasion using the ranked-choice system. Is that the best method? On the face of it, you’d expect mathematics to provide the answer, as it does on so many occasions.  Unfortunately, when it comes to the democratic process, the one thing mathematicians are sure of is there is no perfect method. Dr. Keith Devlin, Executive Director, H-STAR Institute, Stanford University, and “the Math Guy” on National Public Radio, will explain some of the flaws of all the systems.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2012-03-25): Counting Votes — Which Flawed System Do You Prefer? (Dr. Keith Devlin) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Thorium Nuclear Power

Dr. Alex Cannara

Mar. 18, 2012

Dr. Alex Cannara will review the three key reasons for nuclear power, summarize key reactor design choices, and discuss (a) why Thorium is important, (b) key legislation being drafted, and (c) what citizens & groups can do. Dr. Cannara has years of experience as an engineer and professor, and is the lead developer of a proposal on safe nuclear power for the 2011 MIT CoLab Competition now being judged.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2012-03-18): Thorium Nuclear Power (Alex Cannara) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

How to Live the Good Life

Arthur M. Jackson

Mar. 11, 2012

Arthur M. Jackson

Arthur M. Jackson, longtime Humanist Community member and leader, will for the first time provide a PowerPoint presentation about his book How to Live the Good Life:  A User’s Guide for Modern Humans.  This book is the result of over fifty years of struggle to find a naturalistic model for ethics and morality able to provide existential and emotional support to the individual. He was looking for a fundamental understanding of life and the world in which we find ourselves, based on the science paradigm rather than tradition, authority, or cultural relativism. He proposes that this has led him to a science of religion and ethics capable of supporting a religion of wisdom.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2012-03-11): Arthur M. Jackson’s Book "How to Live the Good Life" from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Yet Another War? Iran in the Crosshairs

Paul George

Mar. 4, 2012

Paul George

After a decade of war in the Middle East — wars that have cost the lives of thousands, and over a trillion dollars, wars that have left two foreign countries in shambles and our own flat broke — the drumbeats for yet another war in the region are beginning to syncopate our news. This time it’s Iran that finds itself in the crosshairs. While the U. S. imposes crippling sanctions on Iran and moves massive firepower into the Persian Gulf, someone is assassinating Iran’s nuclear scientists and sabotaging its facilities. In response, Iran has vowed to choke off one of the world’s critical oil supply routes. What are the possibilities of war with Iran? What are the likely consequences? And why on earth are we even thinking about another war right now?  Paul George, Director of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, will discuss these issues.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2012-03-04): Yet Another War? Iran in the Crosshairs (Paul George) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.