2:30-4:30 p.m., January 18, 2026

Enjoy this special opportunity, either in person or online, to relax, converse with and enjoy the secular music of Dan Barker, leading church-state separation advocate, author, composer, and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. You can look forward to an energizing mix of thoughtful discussion, live music, and engaging freethought conversation.

THIS EVENT is the third of five stops on Dan Barker’s Western Tour in January, with events in Olympia, WA, San Francisco, CA, Palo Alto, CA, Sacramento, CA, and Salt Lake City, UT. The day before this event, January 17, in San Francisco, Dan will speak about his book, God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction

Your hosts will set out a buffet after our conversation, and welcome additional dishes and snacks. The Fireside Room has a microwave oven.

All events are open to the public, and everyone, members, friends, newcomers, and strangers alike, are warmly invited to attend.

HOSTED BY the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Atheist Community of San Jose, Humanists at Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, and the Bay Area Humanists and Humanist Community.

01/18/2026 Music and Casual Conversation with Dan Barker from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Attend in Person:

Join fellow members of the community in the Fireside Room of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, 505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306.

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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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Like us on Facebook:
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Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2026-01-18/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312555561/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20260118/2737f9e7-08eb-43d5-825f-df783b6b3553/meet-dan-barker-music-and-casual-conversation-with-ffrfs-co-president

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/2003609290867900491

Meet Dan Barker: Music and Casual Conversation with FFRF’s Co-President https://t.co/YLqK8Fboea #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/PE8PkDh1rO

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) December 23, 2025

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

11 a.m., January 4, 2026

(No meeting Sunday, December 28. Merry Yuletide!)

Join our friend Michael Abramson next week, either in person or online.

The focus of this discussion will be on General Artificial Super-Intelligence (GASI) coming next after Generative AI (GenAI, such as ChatGPT) based on Large Language Models (LLMs). We’ll try to look behind the facade of sensationalist claims, fancy images, and videos to understand what is technically possible, what to expect, what the risks are, and what we could/should do about all this.

Here is a link to the slides: AI beyond ChatGPT. It’s perfectly fine if you review them before our discussion. These slides will likely become obsolete in a few months if not sooner, but they could provide initial pointers for your own research.

Bio: Michael Abramson is a professional software engineer with a lifelong interest and career in modeling the dynamics of complex systems. He is currently working as a contractor developing simulation software for the NASA Aviation Systems Division. He lives in Mountain View.

01/04/2026 AI Beyond ChatGPT from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Attend in Person
Join fellow Humanists in the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022-3742. (We had earlier said the Manzanita Room of the Los Altos Community Center. That was a mistake.) Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

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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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Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2026-01-04/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312586487/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20260104/cf5d5361-93f4-43b0-aaee-3e3366356d2b/ai-beyond-chatgpt

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/2004629889425760302

🎤︎︎AI beyond ChatGPT https://t.co/e2kciCaJ13 #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/mYJ0LyMv6e

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) December 26, 2025

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

11 a.m., December 21, 2025

Join our friend Keith Swenson next week, either in person or online.

Ancient philosophers debated ethics and morality, which is the topic of how to live the right life (also called the good life or eudaimonia). Many of my non-religious friends struggle to understand what should be considered the source of morality. These are fine, upstanding moral people. They understand what it means to be fair, good, and kind. They would not live their lives any other way. But they are not really sure where morals come from.

This talk will take the point of view that moral truths are real, and they come neither from God nor are they random. Moral behavior is as it is because of the form of human interaction with each other and with the world. Humans have learned how to behave morally through a self-reinforcing natural process that can be readily seen in the world once we know how to look for it. Moral guidelines are not an accident, nor are they commandments from the supernatural. Instead, we can say succinctly: we discovered the best way to live because it is the best way to live.

Bio:
Keith is a local resident of the Silicon Valley area and a long-time member of the Bay Area Humanists and Humanist Community. After a career in software engineering, he focuses mainly on philosophy topics and runs a couple of websites on topics of philosophical interest. He has a degree in physics and in computer science from the University of California. In his spare time, he likes to hike in the wilderness and plays in a classic rock band.

12/21/25 Objective Morality from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Apricot Room of the Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. 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:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar:

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-12-21/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/312423350/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251221/a74c6f82-07cb-42b5-97dc-251276f6878b/objective-morality

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1999941155908415612

Objective Morality https://t.co/MSuG3LgnHF #Meetup via @Meetup pic.twitter.com/xQxLmt1zUT

— Humanist Community (@HumanistCommSV) December 13, 2025

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