Category: Forums

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The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand

Johan Rockström

11 a.m., September 14, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

We’re nearly halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate impact scholar Johan Rockström offers the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet and explains what must be done to preserve Earth’s resilience to human pressure.

Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability and Earth resilience. He is deeply involved in research on the future trajectory of the Anthropocene and tipping points in the Earth system. With more than 25 years experience in applied water research in tropical regions, he is also a leading scientist on global water resources. Professor Rockström is a driving force behind myriad international scientific initiatives, including the Earth Commission and the Planetary Boundaries Science Initiative, as well as actively consulting on global sustainability issues for national and multilateral government organizations and business networks.

You can preview this 18-minute talk from August 2024 at: https://www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_the_tipping_points_of_climate_change_and_where_we_stand

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.

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Can Deep Fakes Destroy America?

Sam Gregory speaks at TED Democracy: Imagining our common future. November 14 – 15, 2023, TED World Theater, New York. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED

11 a.m., September 7, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss two videos on the dangers of AI-generated “deep fake” videos.

In the first video, When AI can fake reality, who can you trust?, Sam Gregory warns us that we’re fast approaching a world where widespread, hyper-realistic deepfakes lead us to dismiss reality. What happens to democracy when we can’t trust what we see? Sam presents three key steps to protecting our ability to distinguish human from synthetic and explains why fortifying our perception of truth is crucial to our AI-infused future.

A technologist and committed activist for human rights, Sam has served on the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, co-chaired the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media and led the Threats and Harms Taskforce of a leading coalition to develop standards for media provenance. He’s testified on AI and deepfakes before the US Congress and to the National AI Advisory Council, written for WIRED, The Hill and a range of academic journals and is frequently interviewed by major media. You can preview this 12-minute video, made in November 2023, at
https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_gregory_when_ai_can_fake_reality_who_can_you_trust

The second, US Civil War in 2025 (It’s Closer Than You Think) is an animated video from The Infographics Show that illustrates the fictional collapse of the United States due to an expert AI generated, perfectly timed fake video. The Union ends, not with a bang, but an upload. Watch now to find out what could cause the next US civil war and consider how it could be avoided.

The Infographics Show focuses on making animated motion infographic videos, made in a fun and entertaining way. You can preview this 22-minute talk at: https://youtu.be/rdGsP7oNFDo

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.

———-

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Yuval Harari on the Modern World

Yuval Noah Harari, in 2013.
Join us this Sunday, either in person or online. We’ll watch and discuss three videos of Historian Yuval Noah Harari as he discusses significant issues of the modern world.
 
The first video, from May 23, 2025, is Harari on coping with the Trump eraーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS. Historian Harari speaks to NHK (a Japanese public broadcast service) about the rise of populism, exemplified by the reelection of Donald Trump as US president. You can pre-watch this 7-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvAXqyWJxwg.
 
The second, Yuval Noah Harari on AI and Human Evolution | WSJ Leadership Institute is a June 12, 2025 WSJ (Wall Street Journal) Interview. Harari joins the WSJ Leadership Institute to examine, through his work on human evolution, ethics, and power, how AI is reshaping global institutions, executive decision-making, and our very concept of intelligence. You can pre-watch this 25-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki5hosohNtQ.
 
The third video is Stupidity: A powerful force in human history from May 29, 2024 deals with the questions; are we in the midst of World War III? What’s the role of fiction in human evolution? Why do we tend to overconsume food? Big or small, every detail in our behavior can be explained by looking at the past, from dietary choices to how we’ve used stories to advance. But if progress is narrative-driven, what comes next? In Yuval’s take, he speaks on humanity’s superpower, the paradox of wisdom and the relationship between government and war. You can pre-watch this 12-minute video at https://youtu.be/zvjcJsy51oc 
 
Prof. Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the series Sapiens: A Graphic History and Unstoppable Us, and Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. His books have sold 50 Million copies in 65 languages, and he is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals today.

Attend in Person:
On the last Sunday of the month, like this Sunday, attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. 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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The Tipping Point Update

Malcolm Gladwell

11 a.m., August 24, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online. We’ll watch Malcolm Gladwell discuss his new book Revenge of the Tipping Point and his rethinking of his 1999 book The Tipping Point in two different videos from October 2024.

In the first video Malcolm covers a range of social epidemics and the possible of social engineering to control them.

In the second video he specifically focuses on crime in New York City, and the possible effect of policy on crime.

Malcolm Gladwell Revisits “The Tipping Point” in New Book | Amanpour and Company
Oct 4, 2024

Walter Isaacson interviews Malcolm Gladwell about his latest book, “Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering.” Some 25 years after the publication of Gladwell’s groundbreaking first book, “The Tipping Point,” the author returns to the subject of social epidemics — this time, with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.
You can watch this 18:30 minute video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dMS7c-XwS8.

The Tipping Point I Got Wrong | Malcolm Gladwell | TED
Oct 30, 2024

In his 2000 bestseller “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell told the story of why crime fell in New York City in the 1990s. Now, 25 years later, he’s back with a confession and a mea culpa: “I was wrong,” he says. He shares how his analysis contributed to the rise of the infamous “stop and frisk” policing policy in New York City — and shows why journalists should avoid the trap of imagining a story is ever really over. (Followed by a Q&A with TED’s Monique Ruff-Bell. Recorded at TEDNext 2024 on October 22, 2024)
You can watch this 17-minute video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXrwKydM9k.

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast Revisionist History and co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries.

Attend in Person:
On the first and fourth Sunday of the month, like this Sunday, attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. 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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Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
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Dick Hewetson Celebration of Life

Dick Hewetson

1:30 p.m., September 6, 2025

Our friend Dick Hewetson died on July 19 at the age of 95 after a long and purposeful life. We will be celebrating his life Saturday afternoon September 6 at the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center in San Jose, California. You may join this celebration in person or on Zoom.

Dick was born in a Chicago suburb in 1930. Dick was raised Christian, and was an Episcopal priest in his early adult years, but he never believed what he was trying to preach. At age 42, he came out of the closet as a gay man. Dick and his then-partner had reached the conclusion that the greatest enemy of LGBTQ-plus people was religion.

Dick joined the Freedom from Religion Foundation in 1978, soon after FFRF was founded by Anne Gaylor and her daughter Annie Laurie Gaylor. Dick Hewetson has been an FFRF member for over 45 years. He has been a leader for atheist rights all this time.

Dick also promoted LGBTQ+ rights in the labor union movement in Minnesota, and founded an LGBTQ+ library there. He has furthered gay rights for over half a century. After Dick left the ministry, he worked for the State of Minnesota Employment Division, helping to locate jobs for recent immigrants.

Dick Hewetson chose the day and time of his own death, and carried out his dying process with the aid of California law, with physician assistance and Hospice assistance. That day Dick was surrounded with a small group of his friends and relatives to celebrate his last day of life.

We encourage you to share your memories of Dick Hewetson with the rest of us in attendance at this Celebration of Life.
For folks planning to speak briefly (in person or via Zoom) please email Dick’s friend and our Master of Ceremonies Jim at [jimvanbuskirk@sbcglobal.net](mailto:jimvanbuskirk@sbcglobal.net)
For folks planning to attend in person please email Dick’s niece Kim at [kimspawn5@gmail.com](mailto:kimspawn5@gmail.com) using the subject line “Dick’s celebration of life.”

09/06/2025 Dick Hewetson Celebration of Life from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Attend in Person:

Come to the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, 938 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126, on Saturday September 6 during the setup period 12:30-1:30 pm. The entrance to the Center is at the back of the parking lot.

———-

Also, you can join the celebration on Zoom. To join and be able to speak briefly, 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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