Speaker – Page 25

U.S. Sanctions: The Weaponization of the Global Financial System

Dr. Sharat G. Lin

11 a.m., January 5, 2020

While wars have historically been fought with soldiers and guns, the sole superpower has realized its monopoly ability to wage financial war through sanctions and embargoes against its perceived enemies around the world — Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Gaza. How and why does the United States alone exercise this extraterritorial power to such devastating effect?

Dr. Sharat G. Lin is a research fellow at the San José Peace and Justice Center. He writes and lectures on global political economy, labor migration, the Middle East, and public health. He has visited all of the countries under U.S. sanctions and observed the consequences of sanctions and embargoes.

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After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

U.S. Sanctions: The Weaponization of the Global Financial System – Dr. Sharat G. Lin from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Approval Voting is the Easy Way to Fix Major Problems

Jeff Justice

11 a.m., December 22, 2019

Our current voting method (choose one) has major problems. It causes society to polarize. It allows voting splitting and spoilers to select unpopular candidates. It suppresses third-parties and new ideas.

A simple and effective solution is Approval Voting. Approval Voting is the system that lets you vote for all the candidates you like, including your favorite.

Jeff Justice is a board member of The Center for Election Science, which advocates for better voting methods. In this talk, he will explain why his group settled on Approval Voting as the simplest way to dramatically improve our democracy.

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After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

2019-12-22 Jeff Justice from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Against the Wind: What’s the Deal with Free Will?

Michael Abramson

11 a.m., December 15, 2019

Do we really have a Free Will? If we do, in what sense our choice is “free”? If we don’t and our Free Will is just an illusion, why is this illusion so important to us, and what is behind it? Do we need a Free Will to make moral choices?

These questions were debated for centuries, but now we can try to draw insights from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and other disciplines. Do we know enough to develop a “model” of Free Will consistent with our subjective experience and moral intuition? What can we learn from it?

Finally, even if our Free Will served us well in the past, can it still be a reliable guidance in the Silicon Age?

Let’s try to find the answers together.

Michael Abramson is a physicist specializing in system modeling and simulations, and a concerned citizen leading a “Positive Agenda” group who is involved with a number of activist organizations.

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After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

Against the Wind: What’s the Deal with Free Will? – Michael Abramson from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Bicycle Touring and Zero Waste

Tim Oey

11 a.m., December 8, 2019

Earlier this year, Tim Oey bicycled 5000 miles from San Francisco to Boston while giving 254 talks about Oceans, Plastic, Climate Change, and Kids at schools, aquariums, and museums across the US and raising money to combat climate change. Come learn about the wonders of bicycle touring, how his household of 3 people and 3 dogs generates just a quart of trash a month, and 5 easy things we all can do to save our world for our kids as well as save money. It’s really all about balance.

Tim is a long time cycling and environmental advocate. In addition to a long career in high tech at Harvard, Fidelity, Apple, Sun, and Adobe, he was the VP of Rides for the Charles River Wheelers in Boston, President of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, vice chair for the Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, and a founding board member of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC). He often speaks at government meetings on behalf of bicyclists and the environment and is a bicycling instructor who loves to teach people how to bike and how to bike better.

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

How We Know What We Know: Quantum Mechanics

Ron Garret

11 a.m., November 17, 2019

This is another in a series of talks on the history of science and how we came to our present understanding of how our world works. This installment focuses on quantum mechanics.

Ron Garret is a software engineer by trade. He is currently working on easy-to-use-cryptography software. He was a co-founder and CTO of Virgin Charter, and an early hire at Google. He was previously a rocket scientist. He also made a feature-length documentary about homelessness (www.graceofgodmovie.com). His blog can be found at blog.rongarret.info.

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

How We Know What We Know: Quantum Mechanics – Ron Garret from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.