We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
A NEW YEARS' REALITY CHECK: CAN THE SKEPTIC & RATIONALIST COMMUNITIES SUCCESSFULLY FIGHT DOGMATISM & TRIBALISM -- OR ARE THEY BECOMING DOGMATIC TRIBES IN THE PROCESS?
INTRODUCTION:
The beginning of a new year naturally lends itself to taking stock of what we've accomplished over the last year and setting goals for the year ahead. And for those of us who identify as members of the skeptic & rationalist communities, it's important to ask what we think our groups' goals should be and what we personally want to get out of our participation. There's a difference in these two groups' focuses - i.e. the skeptic movement has typically focused on teaching critical thinking and debunking irrational beliefs, whereas the newer rationalist community has focused more on trying to help its members improve their own thinking by recognizing logical fallacies & cognitive biases. However, it's easy to see how these two missions are compatible & complimentary, and if they've got even a moderately successful track record in achieving these goals, then for most of us that means it's worth participating in them.
But as just as many people who make New Years' resolutions end up abandoning them after a few months as they settle back into old habits, many well-intentioned groups gradually drift away from their goals without ever fully realizing it. So we should ask ourselves if meetup groups like this one actually help their members & society as a whole. Can the skeptic & rationalist communities actually help improve their members critical thinking skills and understanding of the philosophy of science? And can these movements also help improve the rationality & scientific literacy of society at large? If these movements are successful in gaining more adherents & spreading their message, could this translate into political action on climate change & a more robust approach to existential risk?
Or conversely, are the critics of the skeptic & rationalist communities right? Does the skeptic community merely teach a form of blind devotion to the scientific establishment? Is the rationalist community a "cult" that promotes a dubious mix of statistical mumbo-jumbo, cold-blooded utilitarianism and utopian science fiction fantasies?
Is the entire mission of improving society by making people more rational & less dogmatic a fool's errand? When we disabuse people of traditional religion & paranormal beliefs, does this inevitably leave them feeling empty & alienated and prone to succumbing to new forms of dogma & superstition, as the psychologist Clay Routledge argues? Is Andrew Sullivan right that our current period of high political polarization & bitter feuds between "political tribes" is caused in part by secularization?
It's a tall order, but this meetup will try to address all of these questions...
A NOTE ON MATERIAL FROM RELATED MEETUPS:
There's no assumption that people attending this meetup will remember things we've covered before, but I just thought I'd mention that we've covered some complimentary material in previous sessions...
Back in March of 2017, the Philly Political Agnostics hosted a meetup entitled "The Debate Over Scientism, Naïve Utilitarianism & Technocracy". This discussion addressed some arguments made by several prominent members of the skeptic & atheist communities like Sam Harris and Neil deGrasse Tyson that "science alone can determine morality" and that a rational society could determine the correct policies by merely looking at the weight of the evidence. We looked at articles by critics who argued this approach overlooks the "fact-value distinction" and the "epistemic horizon" that makes some forms of government planning impossible. https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/mwpxjmywfbxb/
In February of 2018, our group hosted a meetup entitled "Science Activism & Science Policy". We discussed how science fandom is an emotionally satisfying but often fruitless form of "expressive activism" and we contrasted it with a more evidence-based form of "instrumental activism" for advancing science. Note the links to Eliezer Yudkowsky's essay "Science as Attire" and Venkatesh Rao's essay "The Varieties of Scientific Experience" in the Introduction section. Yudkowsky & Rao are two of the prominent figures in the rationalist community, and they're aware of some of the problems of making "Science" into a form of identity politics. https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/246835989/
In July of 2018, our group hosted a meetup entitled "Is 'New Atheism' Declining or Evolving?" We addressed the common arguments that "atheism is just another religion" and "the New Atheists are fundamentalists" and we looked at how atheist advocacy & the public perception of atheism ties into broader trends in religious belief in the American populace. We also looked at how atheists has been recently split by the growing political divide and what this might mean for the future of atheism as a movement. https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/252679767/
