Memory

Do we really choose our actions, or are we shaped by forces far beyond our control? We often think of free will as the power to make our own decisions and direct our lives. But if we are physical beings in a world governed by cause and effect, what kind of freedom is actually possible? At our next Curiosity Café, we’ll explore one of philosophy’s most fascinating and consequential questions: what is free will? Together, we’ll examine some of the major ways philosophers have tried to answer it. Is freedom compatible with determinism? Are we only free when no one is coercing us? Or does genuine freedom require that we somehow break free from the chain of prior causes altogether? From there, we’ll dive into one of the most famous thought experiments in philosophy — Frankfurt’s case of Jones and Black — which challenges the idea that freedom always requires the ability to do otherwise. What does it really mean to choose freely? And what kind of control do we need in order to be morally responsible? In our second hour, we’ll turn to the ethical and political stakes of the debate. How should we think about responsibility in cases involving brain injury or mental illness? When someone’s capacity for control is impaired, does that reduce their blameworthiness? And if free will is more limited than we tend to assume, what does that mean for punishment, justice, and moral responsibility? Finally, we’ll ask what is really at stake in holding on to the idea of free will. Is it essential to moral responsibility? Can we preserve accountability without it? And how might our legal, political, and social institutions look different depending on how we answer these questions? Join co-moderators Ken Boyd and Marybel Menzies to reflect, question, and engage with others as we explore one of the deepest questions about what it means to be human — whether or not we are free. **Space is limited!** **Please obtain a “Pay-What-You-Can” ticket from Curiosity Café at [this link (click here)](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/curiosity-cafe-free-will-tickets-1986181200437) to attend this event. You need a ticket to be admitted.** See the above link for more info about tickets and other options including a limited number of free tickets. Come and hang out with us, grab food, and read through our handout from 6-6:30pm. Our structured discussion will run from 6:30-8:30pm with a 10 minute break in the middle. Hope to see you there! ***__________________________________________________________________*** This event is brought to you by [Being and Becoming](https://beingnbecoming.org/), a Toronto based non-profit. We aim to create community around exploring everyday concepts and experiences so that we may live more intentional, thoughtful, and meaningful lives. We use philosophy as a tool with which we can come to a richer understanding of the world around us. By offering activities, spaces, and other opportunities for conversation and co-exploration, we hope to enable the meeting and fusion of individuals and their ideas. Everyone is welcome, regardless of background: indeed, we believe the journey is best undertaken alongside explorers from a variety of disciplines, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Find out more about Being and Becoming [here](https://beingnbecoming.org/). About the Curiosity Café Series: For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to join us at our Curiosity Cafés and are wondering what they’re all about: every two weeks, we invite members of our community to come out to the Madison Avenue Pub to engage in a collaborative exploration of our chosen topic. Through these events, we aim to build our community of people who like to think deeply about life’s big questions, and provide each other with some philosophical tools to dig deeper into whatever it is we are most curious about.

We’re still working to get more people into these Meetups, but our goal is to give PlayYourCourt members a few social tennis outings each week in addition to your practice sessions and Challenge League matches. These Meetups are co-ed, super laid back, and all skill levels are welcome. Post your skill level and a suggested court in the comments section so we can round up as many players as we can for some tennis fun! Also, if you’re looking to meet new practice partners or play some matches and you aren’t already in the PlayYourCourt Community, you can go here to see what we’re all about and sign up: https://www.playyourcourt.com/tennis-community/toronto-ON/meetup/ If you love tennis, we’d love to have you! Be sure and watch the quick video that explains how everything works. Happy hitting! - Scott

Practice and improve your English through conversation at St. Andrew Centre (73 Simcoe St, downtown Toronto), while making new friends! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- How to Get to the Event: By TTC, exit at St. Andrew Station. Walk west on King St. West to Simcoe St. Do not enter through the church building; the large church front doors will be closed. At the corner of Simcoe St. and King St. West, turn south and walk on Simcoe St. Enter through St. Andrew Centre, which will be behind the church building.

We are following our favourite trivia host, Simon from Are You Smarter than a Scottish Guy, to one of his other weekly locations: One-Eyed Jack's at 287 Richmond Road (between John and Peter Streets). The beer selection at this location is quite minimal but their food menu is good - https://www.oneeyedjackpub.com/torontomenu. They have a $0.95 wing special with lots of flavours. The trivia starts at 7:00pm with first question at 7:15 pm. We have a pair of tables (12 people) reserved under Steve so far. Serious RSVPs only as no-shows prevent us from fielding a complete team. Top prizes is a gift certificate for the next visit. Other prizes are a free round for the table and nachos. There is also a small prize for best team name, so put on your creative hat; the host seems to like puns and prefers short team names. Let's have some fun, eat some wings, and hopefully win!

Holy ESL This group is an advanced and intermediate English learners who are interested to learn English language as a second language (ESL) using the Bible. Holy ESL is free and you DO NOT NEED to be a Christian. All and any faith is welcome, so come ready to engage in thought provoking conversations and deeping your understanding of both language and faith. Light refreshments are provided.

🎉 **Bingo Night at Birroteca – Limited Spots!** 🎉 Looking for a fun (and slightly competitive 😄) way to spend your Tuesday night? Join us for **Bingo Night** on **Tuesday, April 7** at **Birroteca in Eataly (55 Bloor St West)**! 🕢 **Bingo starts at 7:30 PM** 👋 **Colleen will be there earlier** — just ask for her table when you arrive and come say hi! Get ready for a lively evening of laughs, great food, and maybe even a little beginner’s luck 🍀 if you haven't signed up for trivia with colleen before, pls. e-transfer a $5 deposit to tommills@rogers.com,and notify me right away, on this page, or the personal msg. page. NOTE - everyone MUST spend at least $10, plus tax and tip. 🍝 Check out the menu here: [https://www.eataly.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ETO_Birroteca_Menu_Main_2026.03.26-1.pdf](https://www.eataly.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ETO_Birroteca_Menu_Main_2026.03.26-1.pdf) ⚠️ **Very limited spots available** — please respect your RSVP so everyone who signs up can enjoy the night. Come for the bingo, stay for the food, and leave with bragging rights (and maybe a win or two 😉). See you there!

**This is a ticketed event. Please register at [this link](https://luma.com/wbpv7ouu).** In this talk, Talha Paracha will present insights from his latest research on using language models for improving software security ("Hallucinating Certificates", to appear at ICSE 2026). Certificate validation is a crucial step in Transport Layer Security (TLS), the de facto standard network security protocol. Prior research has shown that differentially testing TLS implementations with synthetic certificates can reveal critical security issues, such as accidentally accepting untrusted certificates. Paracha et al. introduce a new approach, MLCerts, to generate synthetic certificates that leverages generative language models to more extensively test software implementations. Recently, these models have become (in)famous for their applications in generating content, writing code, and conversing with users, as well as for "hallucinating" syntactically correct yet semantically nonsensical output. The authors leverage two novel insights in their work: (a) TLS certificates can be expressed in natural-like language, namely in the X.509 standard that aids human readability, and (b) differential testing can benefit from hallucinated malformed test cases. MLCerts finds significantly more distinct discrepancies between the five TLS implementations OpenSSL, LibreSSL, GnuTLS, MbedTLS, and MatrixSSL than the state-of-the-art benchmark Transcert. ​​​**Event Schedule** 6:00 to 6:30 - Food and introductions 6:30 to 7:30 - Presentation and Q&A 7:30 to 9:00 - Open Discussions ​​​​​​If you can't make it in person, feel free to join the live stream starting at 6:30 pm, via [this link](https://www.youtube.com/@Trajectory-Labs/live).

New Rules: Starting now, we are asking that each person contribute $2 towards maintaining this page. Without our space here on MeetUp, there is no group. So we ask that you bring a tooney when you come to keep us operational. Thank you very much! Thank you to everyone who has ordered something to eat or drink. It's very important that we each make a purchase, even just a tea or coffee, to maintain our welcome. Mil veces, gracias!

Join us for an evening of French conversation at B Espresso Bar in the atrium of the Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music (near St. George station)!
We welcome all levels of French, and it's free\*.
Venez pratiquer votre français! \*While there is no fee to attend this event, guests are expected to purchase something from B Espresso Bar, in accordance with RCM's restrictions on usage of the cafe atrium space. **Building location:** The Royal Conservatory is at 273 Bloor St W, between Varsity Stadium and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). There are entrances off Bloor St. and Philosopher's Walk. If you enter from Bloor St through the large glass doors, follow the hallway on the left beside the staircase and turn left at the end. (Closest TTC: St. George) **Notes and restrictions:** The host may or may not attend this event. Attendees are encouraged to seat themselves at two or more adjacent tables, as needed. Please form groups of 6 people at each table; do not rearrange chairs and tables to accommodate more people, as this obstructs the narrow walking space. Guests are expected to order something from the cafe, and are asked to please refrain from bringing outside food or drink. Attendees must leave the building at 8pm when the cafe stops serving. **Contributions:** If you are a regular with us and would like to support the group, please send any contributions by e-transfer to [diskutomeetup@gmail.com.](http://diskutomeetup@gmail.com.) The yearly donation goal and amounts received year-to-date will be tracked anonymously on [this google sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18GfqYsis8Cf2XGg4KsKQJsY_0Fv3bsSQHwJAxvC1Km8/edit?usp=sharing). Thank you so much for your support.

Sunday Morning Pick-Up Soccer - 7:30am to 9:00am Markham Soccer Dome 5300 14th Ave, Markham (McCowan and 14th) Indoor Turf Field. Game Play: 7 v 7 Fee: $15 Please EMT to miguel.jamal@gmail.com ALL AGES AND SKILL LEVELS WELCOME!!! Download the APP - Canadian Soccer Club OR Please go to www.canadiansoccerclub.com The App can be downloaded via Google Play or Apple Store. Click Register and create a profile. Log in using your credentials and select day you would like to play Please RSVP on Field 1. \*\*\*\*ALL PLAYERS MUST RSVP ON Canadian Soccer Club APP TO PLAY\*\*\*\* Games will begin at 10:00pm sharp. Players are requested to arrive by 9:50pm to pick teams and kick-off at 10:00pm sharp Players are responsible to bring the following: * Cleats or Turf Shoes * A white jersey and a black/dark jersey * Shin Guards (Strongly Recommended) If you have any questions, please contact the organizers at admin@canadiansoccerclub.com Thank you and look forward to seeing you guys out there.

A diffuse harm hurts many people a little; a concentrated harm hurts one person a lot. Other things equal, diffuse harm seems less bad than its concentrated counterpart. For example, shortening a billion happy lives by a second each seems less bad than shortening one happy life by a billion seconds (\~30 years). But this attractive thought is surprisingly difficult to maintain. Although many problems for such a view are known, a particularly vivid difficulty arises in cases that involve a sequence of social positions, each very similar to the last, such as the Fortuna’s Wheel scenario. In such cases, it follows, from rather minimal assumptions, that diffuse harm is just as bad as its relevantly similar concentrated counterpart. In response, some may wonder whether the parity of diffuse and concentrated harms holds only in these special sequential cases. But it can be argued that the approximate parity of diffuse and concentrated harms extends well beyond such cases. Specifically, it can be argued that in many realistic cases, a diffuse harm will bring about an outcome approximately as bad as a relevantly similar concentrated harm. Diffuse harm is easily underestimated. Zach Barnett https://philosophy.nd.edu/people/faculty/zach-barnett/ Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy University of Notre Dame **About the Speaker:** Zach received his PhD from Brown University in 2018. He joined Notre Dame in 2023, moving from the National University of Singapore, where he taught for five years. Zach mainly studies ethics, practical rationality, and epistemology, and he hopes that his work is convincing, surprising, and easy to understand. Current research interests include collective action problems, aggregation and risk, and followability of norms. His representative publications include "Rational Moral Ignorance" (2021) in *Philosophy and Phenomenological Research*, "Why You Should Vote to Change the Outcome" (2020) in *Philosophy & Public Affairs,* "Philosophy Without Belief" (2019) in *Mind*, and "No Free Lunch: The Significance of Tiny Contributions" (2018) in *Analysis*. **\* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \*** This is a talk with audience Q&A presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics that is free to attend and open to the public. The talk will also be streamed online with live chat here [to be posted]. About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca): The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life. In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society. The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai

Dharma Study Group Discover Pure Dharma Share peace and joy. Saturdays: 3/14, 3/1, 3/28, 4/11, 4/18, 5/30, 6/6, 6/13, 6/20, 6/27 10 am - 12 noon Please click the link below to register: [https://form.jotform.com/260146556390256](https://form.jotform.com/260146556390256)

**Join [TILE.]** at the **most popular Saturday Language Learning Social Event & Party in Toronto! 🍁** **[TILE.] = Toronto International Language Exchange [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/tilelearning/)** **[TILE.]** now has a **2-for-1 special event,** which includes: **1.** From **[6:30 - 7:15 PM](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher):** An optional new $5 small group 45-minute **[English language class](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher)**[ ](https://www.meetup.com/english-class-with-certified-award-winning-teacher)led by a certified language teacher **2.** From **[7:15 - 11 PM](https://www.meetup.com/biggest-language-party-event-social-in-toronto):** Our usual huge group **[BIGGEST LANGUAGE EXCHANGE SOCIAL EVENT AND PARTY IN TORONTO](https://www.meetup.com/biggest-language-party-event-social-in-toronto)** (Cost: *$0-$5\*, see below)* Both events happen Saturday on the 2nd floor of the Madison Pub (14 Madison Avenue). ***Attend either or both events!*** Meet Toronto locals and international friends. Talk to language teachers and speakers to learn English, French, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and much more! Join us for board games, conversation, dancing, singing, and more! Make sure to get a nametag from one of our helpers. *You **must** read the full event description below before attending. By attending, you agree to all the terms listed.* **[TILE.] Toronto International Language Exchange** event details: * We are on the 2nd floor of the Madison pub on the patio with all the international flags! *The dance floor opens around 10 PM, and the live piano bar singer start around 10:30 on the 1st floor.* * With our night ride promotion, the second event (the 7:15- 11 PM Party & Social event) is **FREE** for women who will be traveling alone at night to promote inclusion and equity\*. This event normally $5. * The cost for the first event (the 6:30 - 7:15 PM English Language class) is $5 for everyone. **PAY** **$5** right at the event by **CASH, CREDIT, or DEBIT**, or **SEND $5 E-TRANSFERS** to: **TILETORONTO1@GMAIL.COM**. You can also support the bar by buying a drink or appetizer. **\*** The second event ends late at night. It is 100% your own responsibility to ensure you get home safe. We can simply waive the $5 event entry/cover fee for women who will be traveling home alone so that they may instead put this money towards taking a safe ride home. \-\-\-\-\-\- **IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER – Meetup Group** By attending any TILE events, including these ones, you acknowledge and agree to the following: * *The organizers and hosts of TILE events are are not liable for any loss, injury, damage, or other unforeseen outcomes that may occur before, during, or after any event.* * *Participation in TILE events is entirely voluntary and at your own risk. You are solely responsible for your own safety, personal belongings, transportation, behavior, and well-being. It is your responsibility to assess the risks involved in any activity or location and to act accordingly.* * *TILE and its organizers do not provide insurance and cannot guarantee the safety, accuracy of information, or quality of venues, third-party services, or other attendees.* * *By attending, you release TILE, its organizers, and affiliates from any and all claims or liability, and you agree to conduct yourself respectfully and in accordance with local laws and venue rules.* * ***If you do not agree with this disclaimer, please do not attend TILE events.***

Pay attention! We’re delaying a week for those of you who may be on Spring break and/or celebrating the holiday. Ok, no pancakes, but waffles-a-plenty. Join the local UX and Digital Design community for a casual monthly breakfast. Look for us upstairs!

Feeling down? Sometimes depressed? Can't focus? Negativity & stress? Recent losses? Creativity in career and personal life hindered by mental blocks? Sometimes we never fully recover from traumatic experiences. Whether it was yesterday, last week or a year ago, traumatic experiences - a loss of a loved one, losing a job, a breakup - can leave you scarred. You talk about it and feel a little better, but it never goes away. After you hang up the phone, it's still there; the sadness, the cloud, the over-thinking, the worry, the guilt. You try to focus, but you're blocked. You try to look forward into new experiences, new relationships but a cloud is hanging over you, casting a shadow on what you once considered a bright, cheerful future. What happened to your courage? Your strength of character? You're 'why not' attitude? Whoever said 'time heals' must have had a special time machine, because after weeks, months, years, you're wondering - when exactly does that kick in? Sometimes it seems like drinking or drugs are the way to go. But they wear off, and now the problem is still there with added side effects from the drugs. At this free local Meetup event we will talk about: * What causes grief, anxiety and depression to become chronic. * Is it possible to regain your joy and happiness even after traumatic experiences? * How to break away from negativity and focus on the future * What are the steps to take to get control of your mind and your emotions? Learn about a safe, gentle, do-it-yourself counseling that can be done in the comfort of your own home. Let's explore safe, effective solutions for healing from traumatic experiences. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to the event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is sponsored by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center.

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services)

Do you want more Self Confidence, less Self Doubt, more Happiness, less Anxiety, and more Love? This event is an introduction to how to handle irrational emotion. How often are yours or another's emotions out of control? What is that about??? I have asked these questions and after much search have found answers and am sharing. Maybe you have suffered a traumatic experience, a deep loss or been through a painful breakup? After that, you try to move on but you just can't. Possibly you have a thought or emotion that hangs around for days and you just can't shake it. What is all this stress, anxiety, depression, and self doubt? It's just crazy! It's not the real you. You can find out what is at the root of all this. This is a local event. Areas you can change with the right information: * Control of unwanted emotions * Lack of confidence * Grief * Anxiety * Anger management * Creating ideal relationships * Memory * and more... This is a local meeting that can start you on the way to a better life, more confidence and less negativity. All the happiness you have lies within you. Let's find it! Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is created by the Dianetics and Scientology life improvement center.

The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same.

Try new games, meet new people, and find out what story games are all about! Explore the reaches of space! Witness kingdoms rise and fall! Create and explore tragedies! All within a single game night. We play story games like Fiasco, Kingdom, Polaris and Microscope that encourage everyone at the table to participate creatively. We also have one-shots of indie, OSR, and narrative-focused RPGs such as Apocalypse World, Dread, Lady Blackbird, and Old School Essentials! Everybody's welcome! It doesn't matter if you've never tried story games before or never played roleplaying games at all! Just bring your brain and a good attitude and come try it out! *** **IMPORTANT** * When you arrive look for the marked Story Games Columbus Tables. Each table will have a separate game. Seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis. * If all tables are full, look for a Facilitator. We will find a way to get you into a game! * There is a flat $3 cover charge for events at Tabletop. *** **Facilitators!!** Please arrive early so that we can get you set up with a table. Please reach out to me ASAP if you would be willing to help facilitate. You can reach me on the SGC Discord here - https://discord.gg/jUTvWUu

Why are we unhappy? Where does emotional pain come from? Studies show that people who suffer from long-term emotional pain have painful experiences in their lives that were never fully resolved in their mind. In other words, there were issues in the past that were not completely dealt with. This can include abuse in childhood, breakups, divorce, death of a loved one, to name a few. How do you know whether you have gotten over something painful? Here is an easy test: Do you still have attention on what had happened to you? For instance, do you still find yourself thinking about something painful that you went through? If you are, then you are not over it. In fact, in severe cases, people find themselves playing a "tape" in their mind over and over again. So how do you heal from your past? How do you stop the "tape" playing in your mind? In this meeting, you will learn a technique to help you with that. Come join us! Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is created by the Dianetics and Scientology life improvement center.