Humor

Sleep in on Sundays. When you've had your fill of pajama-time, roll out and have some tasty brunch with your fellow Humanists!

A time to make signs, pack swag bags, and have fun together in anticipation for the Pride festivities the week after.

I have been studying the question of "self" online with Prof. Ellie Anderson and so I thought a prompt on the "self" might be interesting. Full confession: I had Claude create this prompt and I like it, so here goes: Imagine a thought experiment that merges two classic puzzles: > You undergo a procedure, performed neuron by neuron, in which every biological component of your brain is replaced with a functionally identical synthetic substitute. At each step, your behavior, memories, and personality remain unchanged. When the last neuron is swapped, is the consciousness experiencing the world still you? And — more pressingly — was there ever a continuous "you" to begin with? ### Questions to Wrestle With * If consciousness is purely physical, does the *gradual* nature of the replacement matter, or is it equivalent to being destroyed and rebuilt? * Could there be a "self" without continuity of experience — even moment to moment, while you sleep? On a more practical level, consider the simpler case first: **hemispherectomy** patients — people who have had an entire cerebral hemisphere surgically removed — often retain a strong sense of personal identity and continuity. This suggests "you" are not rigidly tied to specific physical material. But does that vindicate the synthetic neuron case, or merely show that identity is more *flexible* than we thought — not that it can survive *complete* substrate replacement? I used Claude so I could get this out today and let everyone have some time to consider it. Hope to see you at the Oracle. Sorry about the location change two weeks ago. That's what I get for trusting local weather predictions!

Dodgeball is back again! If you’ve been wanting to come out, this is an easy one to join. We’ll be playing for about 1.5 to 2 hours, you do not need to bring any equipment, and no experience is needed. We use a specific set of rules and equipment to make the games run better and keep them fun for everybody, not just people who already know how to play. If it rains, the event will be canceled.

A cookie covered in creamy frosting can brighten anyone’s day! National Frosted Cookie Day is all about that simple joy. **DETAILS:** We'll celebrate the occasion by visiting Cheryl's Cookies headqtrs. cookie shop, trying to decide which seasonal treats to choose! **NEXT:** we'll head west on Polaris Pkwy to Bonefish Grill for Happy Hour eats n drinks. We can share our sweet finds for dessert... *In a busy world, National Frosted Cookie Day offers a little sweetness that reminds us to slow down and enjoy the moment.*

Let’s meet and share discussion of the James Baldwin short story collection, Going to Meet The Man.