How do you talk to someone who doesn’t believe in climate change?

Katharine Hayhoe

11 a.m., May 4, 2025

Each humanist is responsible for the collective welfare of humanity and the resources of our shared planet. Each of us needs to speak out on climate change.

Well, who talks about it?
How can we motivate ourselves and others to talk about it?
How can we speak in a way that will be heard?

Let’s watch and discuss videos of one committed person, presenting the same message, to very different audiences — one secular, and the other evangelical.

How do you talk to someone who doesn’t believe in climate change?
Preview this 17-minute TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change_talk_about_it

Preview how Prof. Hayhoe translates the same message to a Fundamentalist Christian audience in this 19-minute video: https://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=i-kCGmx0b7U

Canadian atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe is a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor, and an Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Public Law, at Texas Tech University. In 2021, Hayhoe joined the Nature Conservancy as Chief Scientist.

Attend in Person:
On the first and third Sunday of the month, such as March 2nd, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)

Find an international number to call: https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6

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Just What is Academic Freedom? How Does It Relate to Free Speech?

Nicholas A. Christakis

11 a.m., April 27, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either online or in person, as we watch three short videos on the concept of academic freedom. Each one has a slightly different take on the concept of free speech, academic freedom and truth as it relates to academic freedom. They discuss many people’s confusion about this critical subject at this time.

Let’s watch and discuss:

1. “Why academic freedom is not the same as free speech”
Michael Bérubé is an Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of What’s Liberal About the Liberal Arts? Classroom Politics and “Bias” in Higher Education.
Preview this 16-minute video from May, 2024:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4msRgJmMp4

2. “Academic freedom: What it is, what it isn’t and why there’s confusion”

In 2012, the Scholars at Risk Network, of which Robert Quinn is the founding Executive Director, received the University of Oslo’s human rights award for “relentless work to protect the human rights of academics and for having inspired and engaged others to stress the importance of academic freedom.”
This 7-minute video is from 2005:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGGqS2aVAzg

3. “Without academic freedom, we might never see the truth. Here’s why.”

Nicholas A. Christakis is a physician, sociologist, and director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, where he is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science. His most recent book is Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society.
Preview this 6-minute video from 2005:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G1nk-iCHEA

Join us to view watch videos and discuss our thoughts about what we heard. Do these videos clarify our thoughts on this timely subject?

Facilitator: Alex Havasy is a long-time active member of the Humanist Community who has a wide interest in subjects related to Humanism.

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in Milpitas Library Group Study Room B, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035.
Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

———-

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Can there be World Peace?

Jody Williams

11 a.m., April 20, 2025

Join our Forum this Easter Sunday, either in person or online, as we delve into the theme of World Peace. Let’s watch these two videos, then discuss the practicality of either of these visions being effective in the real world. One of the videos is ten years old, the other is two years old. The subject is an ancient one.

You can review these videos at:

How to make world peace? Troy Davis at TEDxStrasbourgUniversité. 19 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y7XWpe0Zyc

Jody Williams: A realistic vision for world peace. 11 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6CqD1kV8s

This Sunday’s facilitators will be Alex Havasy and Carl Angotti, both long-time Humanist Community members.

Attend in Person:
On the first and third Sunday of the month, such as March 2nd, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)

Find an international number to call: https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
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Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-04-20/

RSVP on Meetup:
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Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250420/ceeb8d04-e281-4080-b5dc-69eed3c6e354/can-there-be-world-peace

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Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Erasing History: How Fascism Works

Prof. Jason Stanley

11 a.m., April 13, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a video of Jason Stanley, as he gives proper context to what fascism means and how the Trump administration’s second term could really mean the completion of the American fascist state.

Host Chris Hedges spoke with him on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, recorded on March 26.

Jason Stanley is an American philosopher who is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He has accepted an appointment at the University of Toronto based on what he describes as the deteriorating political situation in the United States.

You can preview this 59-minute talk at:
https://youtu.be/cw2Kgz_2cBk

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035.
Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
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RSVP on Meetup:
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Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
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Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Share our event on Patch: https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250413/ac0864d9-e26a-49eb-a3e5-ecc9a1abed1b/erasing-history-how-fascism-works

Curing All Diseases, Again! Trampling Scientific Boundaries for Fun and Profit

David Weinberg, MD

11 a.m., April 6, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we welcome a guest speaker over Zoom.

What can medical frauds in history teach us about their parallels in the modern day? What were the Violet Ray Device of the 1920s, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, and the Microbe Killer by William Radam in 1886? Let’s also examine a recent case, a US Stem Cell Clinic in Florida.

The answer to the dangers of pseudoscience in medicine are critical thinking, scientific rigor, and effective regulation to protect public health.

David Weinberg is a full-time academic vitreoretinal surgeon, and professor of ophthalmology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. His interest in the less-than-science-based aspects of medicine was sparked by inquiries from his patients. Investigating their questions led to his discovery of numerous grandiose claims for implausible, unproven treatments of potentially blinding eye diseases. (All opinions expressed by Dr. Weinberg are his alone, and do not represent those of his employer or any other organization with which he is affiliated.)

04/06/2025 Curing All Diseases, Again! Trampling Scientific Boundaries for Fun and Profit – David Weinberg, MD
 from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Attend in Person:
On the first and third Sunday of the month, such as March 2nd, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)

Find an international number to call: https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
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RSVP on Meetup:
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Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250406/1f67c2ea-9244-4a7a-846b-900bb9e54d49/curing-all-diseases-again-trampling-scientific-boundaries-for-fun-and-profit

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
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