Category: Forums

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Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism

Kurt Vonnegut by Bernard Gotfryd / Adam Cuerden

11 a.m., December 7, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a talk about Kurt Vonnegut by Wayne Laufert, given on June 2022 for World Humanist Day..

Why did iconic author Kurt Vonnegut describe himself as a “Christ-worshiping agnostic”? Find out in this presentation about the new Humanist Press book “Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism”. Author Wayne Laufert will explore the values that the freethinking Vonnegut expressed in his fiction and nonfiction.

Kurt Vonnegut was the American Humanist Association’s Humanist of the Year in 1992 and honorary president until his death in 2007.

Wayne Laufert is a former newspaper reporter and editor who runs the Vonnegut Baltimore book club. Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism is his first book. He has been a member of the humanist Baltimore Ethical Society since 2013 and a fan of Kurt Vonnegut since long before that. Wayne joined the Vonnegut Baltimore book club in 2011, as it began its second season. These days he runs the club with lots of help.

We’ll watch the first 26 minutes. The remainder of the hour-long video was Q&A, which is well worth listening to but made the video too long for our Forum.

You can pre-watch this video and listen to the Q&A at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9Muei60vw

Attend in person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035-4323. Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.

Attend online:
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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Visit the Bay Area Humanists and Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-12-07/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312329615/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251207/4d88c76c-cc89-4e69-800a-9eaade2f3f86/behaving-decently-kurt-vonneguts-humanism/a>


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My Life Journey to Discover Meditation

Carl Angotti

11 a.m., November 30, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we welcome Humanist Community member Carl Angotti to tell us about “My Life Journey to Discover Meditation”.

Carl writes: I am giving this talk to introduce fellow humanists to meditation, not as some super solution to life’s problems and concerns, and not because I discovered something that suddenly changed my life forever, but something that has been part of a lifelong process.

As I see it, most Humanists are thinkers, and many of us are “doers”, but learning to “un think” and “un do” is foreign to many of us. Only a few of us have discovered Meditation as another way to enhance their understanding of their world. My talk will literally start from childhood, through adulthood, to my first real experience of Meditation, and later experiences. I have been meditating, off and on, for 24 years. Perhaps you might want not take so long as I did to experiment with this different state of being, and learn to use it in your life.

Come join us to hear my thoughts, and answer questions about what meditation is, and what it is not, in my experience.

Bio

Carl Angotti was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, and after graduating from college in 1962 he came to Southern CA, and then to the SF Bay Area of CA in 1965. He is a long time humanist and member of the Humanist Community. He started his journey from agnostic to unbeliever over 62 years, starting as a Unitarian, then shifting later to becoming a Humanist over this same period. He has long been interested in learning about philosophy, psychology and of course engineering. He as been a technical engineering consultant in the Bay Area for more then 35 years.

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Old Mill Clubhouse, 49 Showers Dr, Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

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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Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Bay Area Humanists and Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-11-23/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312147371/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251130/fddb3930-f625-4a55-8b82-60768f290ce9/my-life-journey-to-discover-mediation

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Will Democrats learn from the MAGA podcast manosphere?

Scott Galloway — “Prof G”

11 a.m., November 23, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a video from last Monday.

Scott Galloway — affectionately known as “Prof G” to his legion of podcast followers — is deeply concerned about young men in America. He joins Nicolle Wallace on “The Best People” (on MS NOW, formerly MSNBC), reflecting on how a lack of economic viability and social connection have created powerful headwinds that make the experience of young men today far different from his own.

Scott joins Nicolle on solutions to this problem and how it impacts politics today. He gets into Trump’s use of the MAGA podcast manosphere and what Democrats can learn. Galloway also has some tough love for Democrats on “purity tests” but says Republicans are just “cruel” in the Trump Era.

You can preview this 55-minute video at:
https://youtu.be/YfGZ05nK2sk

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035-4323. Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.

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:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar: Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Bay Area Humanists and Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-11-23/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312104986/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251123/a36476ec-5e5c-4772-88e9-c45c93972124/will-democrats-learn-from-the-maga-podcast-manosphere

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

Why the Rich Don’t Pay Taxes

Ray Madoff, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School.

11 a.m., November 16, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a video from last October that explains why the rich don’t pay taxes.

The richest Americans control $46 trillion in wealth—but many pay little or no federal tax. ‪Boston College law professor Ray Madoff, author of “The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy,” explains how a century of tax policy created two Americas: one that pays taxes and one that doesn’t.

Drawing on her new book, Madoff reveals how the wealthy use legal tools—inheritance loopholes, trusts, and philanthropy—to avoid taxation altogether. She shows how “charitable giving” often benefits billionaires more than the public, and how our tax code has quietly built an American aristocracy.

Madoff calls for a new vision of stewardship—where wealth is once again tied to responsibility, and the public good comes before private dynasties.

You can preview this 26-minute video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLKacgW6YOI

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035-4323. Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.

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:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar: Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-11-16/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/311955384/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251116/e51c6418-7875-47c3-ad67-1121c0ac3efb/why-the-rich-don-t-pay-taxes

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

Streamer Culture Is A Time Bomb

American psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia, co-founder of Healthy Gamer

11 a.m., November 9, 2025

Join us this Sunday online as we watch and discuss a video of Dr. Alok Kanojia, talking about the various psychological traps we fall into, and emphasizing the lack of and need for dialogue, which is so difficult to establish on the web.

Dr. Kanojia uses the example of “collargate,” the charge that Twitch streamer Hasan Piker cruelly shocked his dog with an electric collar. The case demonstrates how, if there are both favorable and unfavorable interpretations of an event, streaming magnifies this polarization.

Dr. Alok Kanojia is an American psychiatrist and the co-founder of Healthy Gamer, a mental health platform focused on supporting the gaming community. He is the president and co-founder of the Healthy Gamer Foundation and the HG Institute, where he discusses mental health with popular streamers and viewers, often addressing topics like addiction, depression, and emotional regulation. He also collaborates with organizations such as the United Nations and the White House on youth mental health initiatives.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas at Austin and earned his medical degree and Master of Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his psychiatric residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Kanojia has a personal history with video game addiction, which he overcame through spiritual training in India. This, combined with his medical training informs his unique approach to mental health, blending Western psychiatry with Eastern philosophies. He is a former instructor at Harvard Medical School and has worked as a private psychiatrist for esports professionals.

He is the author of the bestselling book How to Raise a Healthy Gamer: End Power Struggles, Break Bad Screen Habits, and Transform Your Relationship with Your Kids.

You can preview Dr. Kanojia’s talk at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t0jCsU_5v4

Join us online:
For the first time since the onset of Covid-19, the Humanist Forum will only convene online 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:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar: Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-11-09/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/311864659/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251109/35576457-106e-40d3-bf27-9b0d457fea1f/streamer-culture-is-a-time-bomb

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1985900181909561697

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