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What we’re about
The Humanist Community in Silicon Valley was established in 1962 and is a chartered chapter of the American Humanist Association. We have a long tradition of promoting humanist values while providing interesting educational programs and fun, friendly social events for our members.
Check out our WEBSITE, like us on FACEBOOK, and follow us on TWITTER (@HumanistCommSV).
Our main event is the Sunday Forum which features a different speaker each Sunday discussing a topic of interest. A wide variety of topics are covered from week to week. Forums are held in various locations from 11am until 12:15pm. Look at each individual Forum listing to see where it is being held.
A buffet lunch follows the Forum at 12:30pm. Lunch is free for first time visitors and students. Otherwise we ask for a donation of $10. If you can't afford that, please give what you can, and join us for good food and even better conversation.
NOTE: Approximately 30 to 40 people attend the Forum each Sunday. Because Forums happen every Sunday, most of our members do not RSVP on Meetup, so don't let our RSVP count fool you.
Other weekly programs include the Free Thought Discussion Group (http://www.humanists.org/blog/free-thought-...) every Wednesday night at 7:30pm, and the Academic Video Group (http://www.humanists.org/blog/academic-vide...) every Thursday night at 8pm.
Monthly events include a Potluck, workshops (see the calendar for classes and schedules), and our Fun Group (www.humanists.org/blog/fun-group), which organizes a "fun" activity around the first of each month.
We hope to welcome you soon to the Sunday Forum or one of our other events. If you would like to suggest a topic for our Forum series, please send a message to the organizers (Brian and/or Matt Courtney). We would love to help you share your enthusiasm for a topic, a speaker, a social action project, a fun outing, etc., with other community members.
Humanists have more fun... together!
See you soon!
Brian
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Saving DemocracyLink visible for attendees
Among the things we hope democracy provides are: a government that is open and not corrupt, a legislative body that represents the views of the voters, and verifiable elections. Today we will watch and discuss four videos that address these issues.
In Can Democracy Exist Without Trust? (13:47 minutes, www.ted.com/talks/ivan_krastev_can_democracy_exist_without_trust), Ivan Krastev describes why distrust is so common among voters and openness is such a problem.
In Why US Politics Is Broken – and How to Fix It (10:39 minutes, www.ted.com/talks/andrew_yang_why_us_politics_is_broken_and_how_to_fix_it), Andrew Yang describes a voting instituted in Alaska that promises better representation.
In We the People and the Republic We Must Reclaim (18 minutes, www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim), Lawrence Lessig talks about the corrupting influence of money.
Finally, in E-voting without Fraud (6:45 minutes, www.ted.com/talks/david_bismark_e_voting_without_fraud), David Bismark presents an approach that allows one to check that a vote is correctly counted while preserving voter anonymity.
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Attend in Person:We have not been able to arrange a room to meet this week. We hope to see you in person next Sunday, because on the first and third Sunday of each month, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040.
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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, go to:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81653890712?pwd=QzN4MTVNbGEwQ0Zua3d1VG9tVE50UT09
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 smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634Join the meeting by phone. +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call here:
https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6***
Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpYAdd this event to your Google calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event...
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/302441354/
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter: https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1816706349004419472
Humanist Community website: http://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-07-28/
Videos of previous forums: https://vimeo.com/hcsv/
To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/)) of the Humanist Community.
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If you would like to speak at a Humanist Forum, or know someone who would, or there is a topic you think we should discuss, please let us know by emailing vp@humanists.org or havasy@live.com.
- Academic Video Group - Online MeetingLink visible for attendees
We are meeting online via Zoom. If you wish to join us, please sign up for the meeting, and the zoom link will be available on the right panel.
This Week: Videos for 13 June, 2024 7:05 pm - 9 pm
Crash Course Sociology
Socialization: Crash Course Sociology #14 - 9:35
Last week we introduced the idea of socialization and today we’re talking a little more about how it works, including an introduction to five main types of socialization. We’ll explore anticipatory socialization from your family, the “hidden curriculum” in schools, peer groups, the role of media in socialization, and we’ll discuss total institutions and how they can act as a form of re-socialization.They Chose Freedom
According to director Vladimir Kara-Murza, the principal goal of his documentary was to show that even a small group of citizens that is prepared to defend dignity and freedom is eventually able to prevail over a totalitarian dictatorship.
They Chose Freedom - Ep.04: History Repeats Itself? - 22:30
They Chose Freedom, a four-part documentary film written and produced by Russian historian and television journalist Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, tells the story of the dissident movement in the USSR from its emergence in the 1950s until the collapse of the Soviet dictatorship in 1991. Public readings of banned poetry in Mayakovsky Square, the development of samizdat (underground publications), the 1965 and 1968 opposition demonstrations in Moscow, and the harsh repressions unleashed against dissenters by the Communist regime—including forced psychiatric “treatment,” prison camps, and exile—are chronicled in this documentary.
The film is narrated primarily through interviews with prominent Russian dissidents: Elena Bonner, Vladimir Bukovsky, Vladimir Dremlyuga, Viktor Fainberg, Natalia Gorbanevskaya, Sergei Kovalev, Naum Korzhavin, Eduard Kuznetsov, Pavel Litvinov, Yuri Orlov, Alexander Podrabinek, Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky, and Alexander Yesenin-Volpin. In the final episode, they offer their thoughts on the current situation in Russia under Vladimir Putin and prospects for the future.Public screenings of They Chose Freedom (in Russian) have been held in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2013, for the 45th anniversary of the 1968 Red Square demonstration against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Institute of Modern Russia sponsored the translation and English-language production of They Chose Freedom as part of its commitment to preserving the legacy of those who have dedicated their lives to the struggle for freedom, human rights, and the rule of law in Russia.
Again, if you wish to join us, please sign up for the meeting, and the zoom link will be available on the right panel.