Ethical Culture Society of Silicon Valley

Emerging from our topic in November on the Common Good came Sports! Are sports part of the common good? How do they fit with ethics? Considering sports from the soccer playing fields at grade schools to the stadia of professional teams to individual sports like biking and golf, let's look as how sports foster healthy relationships, and the values we want in our lives. What role do sports play in your life?

Join us on the patio a bit before 10:30 to be settled when the meeting starts. Look for the Ethical Culture sign at the table. We set out chairs for everyone so please RSVP. Dress according to the weather! They have heaters but we will be outside!

We are meeting at a restaurant and using their facilities. Please be prepared to order food.

Join us! Invite others! Bring your unique point of view and add to the
discussion.

See you there!
Photo by Dave Brisket on Unsplash.

Ethical Culture will be participating in the 12th Annual Interfaith Memorial for Unhoused Neighbors on Monday, Dec 22 at 11 AM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1100 Shasta Ave, San Jose.
At this interfaith memorial service we will honor and remember our friends, family and neighbors who have died without shelter in Santa Clara Country over the past year.
This event is sponsored by the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council (SiVIC), the Westminster Presbyterian Church, The Unhoused Resource Group, and the Tombstone Project.
ECSSV is a member of SiVIC. Our presence at this event gives voice to those with a non-theistic point of view. Please join us. No RSVP. Just show up. Your presence will make a difference.

A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2024
“An eye-opening analysis of why our politics have become so polarized….Keith Payne illuminates one of the biggest problems of our time and lights the way toward some promising solutions.”
—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

"Good Reasonable People challenges each of us to drop the weapon of demonization and replace it with something more powerful: a framework for understanding—and for being understood by—people who see the world differently from us."
—Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures

A leading social scientist explains the psychology of our current social divide and how understanding it can help reduce the conflicts it causes

There has been much written about the impact of polarization on elections, political parties, and policy outcomes. But Keith Payne’s goal is more personal: to focus on what our divisions mean for us as individuals, as families, and as communities. This book is about how ordinary people think about politics, why talking about it is so hard, and how we can begin to mend the personal bonds that are fraying for so many of us.

Drawing upon his own research and his experience growing up in a working class, conservative Christian family in small town Kentucky, Payne argues that there is a near-universal human tendency to believe that people who are different from us are irrational or foolish. The fundamental source of our division is our need to flexibly rationalize ideas in order to see ourselves as good people.

Understanding the psychology behind our political divide provides clues about how we can reduce the damage it is causing. It won’t allow us to undo our polarization overnight, but it can give us the tools to stop going around in circles in frustrating arguments. It can help us make better choices about how we engage in political debates, how policy makers and social media companies deal with misinformation, and how we deal with each other on social media. It can help us separate, if we choose to, our political principles from our personal relationships so that we can nurture both.
Suggest a book!! Not too long a read. Choose something available in print, audio, and electronic versions. Please put the title in the comments section or message Ben through Meetup with your suggestion.

All are welcome, whether you have read the book or not. There is much for everyone to discuss and learn.

A virtual meeting. The link shows when you RSVP. If you need a passcode, it is ethics.