Philosophy of Science

**Tired of surface-level conversations?** Join us for *Real Talk*—an evening of deep, real connection with strangers who are down to go there. We’ll meet at the church (we are a secular group), break into small groups, and draw questions from a deck of cards designed to spark vulnerable, honest conversations. ***Rules:*** 1. Don't debate politics. 2. Keep what is shared in the group within the group. 3. If you need to use your phone, step away from your group first. \*\*If you show up late, please hop into a group and don't interrupt the speaker. Just sit down in a group of your choice, and they'll bring you up to speed when whoever is talking finishes. Community of Christ church: 3526 Massachusetts Ave. PS—If you want to support the group (Meetup organizer fees, new card games, misc. materials) then you can buy me a coffee here: https://buymeacoffee.com/dillantaylor ^^This is 100% optional, and can be done on a one-time or monthly basis. But the meetup will always be free. Thanks! 🙏

Everyone is welcome to attend our weekly happy hour, at Tony & Joe's Waterfront Bar in Georgetown (3000 K. St, NW). The event goes from 7:15 to around 10:00 PM. Feel free to show up at any time. French speakers of all levels- from beginners to expats- are invited. We hope to see you there!

**About The Peer Integration Circle** The peer psychedelic integration circle is in collaboration with Keith Miller, LCSW-C and [Calliope Health](https://calliope.health/). Integration circles will now be moving from last Tuesday of the month to the last Wednesday. Additional information is available on the [Calliope Health site](https://calliope.health/psychedelic-integration-group/). This group is for those who have already had experiences with psychedelics. Other groups would be more suitable for those that have not had psychedelic experiences. ***Please note!!! RSVP is required for this event.*** Psychedelic integration is a way of turning the insights and experiences we have when we use psychedelics into lasting behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s a process of becoming whole, moving from altered states to altered traits. A Peer Integration Circle is a group meeting where people take turns listening to and sharing their experiences, thoughts, and feelings relating to psychedelic integration. **Cost** Free **Co-Facilitators** Keith Miller, LCSW-C and TBD **This group may be right for you if you:** * Have past experience using psychedelics * Want to talk through your psychedelic experiences openly with supportive people * Seek additional strategies for continuing your integration process * Wish to support others in their personal growth within an inclusive and judgment-free space **This group may NOT be right for you if you:** * Hope that attending might replace your need for professional treatment of any mental health problems you might have * Are looking for group psychotherapy, medical care, or psychiatric treatment or advice * Had a challenging experience with psychedelics that continues to cause you distress * Want to find out where to access illegal substances or guides or practitioners working “underground” **How it Works** Here are a few things to know about how our peer psychedelic integration group works: * Tea and water will be provided * Please plan to attend the full duration of the event. Late arrivals and early departures disrupt the safety of our space. Doors will close at 6:55pm * There is a 15-person limit for this event, so that everyone will have the chance to speak and be heard. You must register via our MeetUp page. **Our Expectations of all Participants** To help keep our time together focused, meaningful, and safe for everyone, we ask that you abide by these expectations: * We treat all people within our circle with courtesy, compassion, and respect, regardless of age, ability, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. * We do not encourage or condone any illegal activities, the purchase, sale, transfer, or use of any illegal substances, or partaking in any unlawful activities related to illegal substances. For those who choose to partake, we encourage safety and awareness from a harm reduction standpoint. * We do not use illegal substances during our meetings. * Please do not use the group for references to ceremonies or where/how to find illegal substances, online and/or in person. * Do not bring, buy, sell, transfer, or arrive under the influence of any illegal substances, or swap information on how to acquire them through the group, online and/or in person. * Anyone who disregards these basic requests will be asked to leave the group and not be permitted to return. Thank you for respecting the safety of the space we are co-creating. **Finally** * *We ask you not to show up without registration.* * Attending these meetings does not create a treatment relationship. Any attendees requiring medical or psychiatric treatment will be offered referrals to professional care. * If you have concerns about accessibility, please contact the facilitator at the email below. * If you wish to speak to somebody about difficult psychedelic experiences and are unsure where to turn, immediate and free peer support is available from the psychedelic helpline [Fireside Project](https://firesideproject.org/).

Let's celebrate Chinese New Year. This restaurant has 3-Types of Chinese food! Szechuan, Hong Kong and Cantonese style cuisines. HOW ADVENTUROUS ARE YOU??? Try their Cumin fish. FAMILY STYLE so we can all have a little taste. (But you don't have to share if you don't want to!) Nothing better than Chinese food during the holidays (besides pizza). Here's part of their lengthy menu. Fish Filet & Soft Bean Curd w. Spicy Sauce ( Spicy&Numbing ) Cumin Lamb Cumin Fish Filet (YUMMY!) Cumin Beef Cumin Chicken Sweet & Sour Fish Filet Chengdu Salted & Pepper Jumho Shrimp Garlic Flavor Fried Flounder Filet Braised Beef Tenderloin w. Beer Sauce Whole Fish with Spicy Bean Sauce Braised Whole Fish with Bean Curd Special Hotpot Sauce w. Fresh Fish ( Spicy & Numbing ) Seasoned Spicy Szechwan Style Cod Fish (Spicy & Numbing) Fried Intestine with Chili Pepper Braised Intestine with Fresh Garlic Beef w. Vegetable in Peppery Broth Fish w. Vegetable in Peppery Broth Beijing Duck Duck w. Black Mashroom & Bamboo Shoots (half) Chicken with Hot Garlic sauce Ground Pork with Vermicelli Stir Fried Shredded Pork w. Green Chili Pepper Ma Po Tofu ( Spicy & Numbing ) Twice Cooked Pork w. Fresh Garlic Leaves Stir Fried Pork w. Wooden Ear Mushroom Shredded Pork with Dry Bean Curd Shredded Pork with Chinese Celery Home Style Bacon with Leek Chengdu Kung Pao Chicken ( Spicy & Numbing ) Fried Chicken w. Fresh Chili Peppers (Spicy&Numbing) Fried Chicken w. Spicy Seasoned Potato ( Spicy&Numbing) Diced Chicken w. Dry Hot Peppers ( Spicy&Numbing) Shredded Beef with Chinese Celery Seasoned Spicy Szechwan Pork Chop (Spicy&Numbing) Kou Kou Crispy Chicken (Spicy&Numbing) Bullfrog with Beer Sauce ( Spicy&Numbing) Stir Fried Pork Kidney Szechwan Style All Aboard, Mates!

**\*This is an in-person event\*** Most people hold their ideas too tightly. They refine too early, hesitate to share half-formed concepts, and wait for “perfect” before putting anything in front of a user. Frankie Abralind works the opposite way and that mindset is a big part of why his projects succeed. In this session, Frankie walks you through his real creative process: messy drafts, discarded versions, surprising user reactions, and the moments when he threw out something he loved because the evidence pushed him in a new direction. You’ll see firsthand how treating ideas as *disposable, not precious* accelerates learning and leads to better outcomes. You’ll also get to examine real artifacts from the development of his games **BrainSpin**, **DIEKY**, and **eckso**. Explore prototypes, dive into design dilemmas, and hear candid stories of iteration, failure, and breakthrough that have earned former DT:DC director Frankie Abralind a reputation as an “entrepreneur who ships.” **What you'll learn** • What you need to test an idea quickly • Where to find real users (beyond friends and family) • How to ask non-leading, non-biasing questions • User-testing methods that uncover meaningful insights • Best practices for rapid iteration • How to log feedback, share modifications, and track updates • How to receive feedback with openness and use it productively • How to build, and reward, a network of testers and supporters **Agenda** **6:00pm** – Snacks & connection **6:30pm** – Case Study 1: *BrainSpin* — finding user testers **6:50pm** – Case Study 2: *DIEKY* — play tester appreciation **7:10pm** – Case Study 3: *eckso* — rapid prototyping **7:30pm** – *Zenmo* — live user testing **8:00pm** – Debrief & questions **8:30pm** – Adjourn **About our presenter** **Frankie Abralind** is an experience designer, artist, and neurodiversity advocate. He earned his MBA from the University of Maryland, where he has taught “Innovative Thinking” to graduate students since 2014. He also served as co-director of the Innovation Hub at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital. In 2018, Frankie co-founded **The Good Listening Project**, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening psychological safety in healthcare. He is the inventor of the bestselling game **BrainSpin**, which showcases the power of divergent thinking and collaboration. Today, he leads the stealth startup **Zenmo**, which helps people connect through color. He’s Autistic (and proud!)

Wednesday night skate and chill is our weekly group ride. DCESK8 has been hosting this weekly ride for several years now. We are very active in our group chat and that is where you will find the most up to date information on the rides. Follow the link below to join. Join our Telegram chat here https://t.me/dcesk8 to stay current on what's going on in DCESK8. Our ride meets up at the Lincoln Memorial, near the southwest side of the Reflecting Pool and the Korean War Memorial. That is on the left side if you are looking at the Lincoln Memorial. We meetup at 6:30pm, with the ride leaving at 7:00pm.

Come hang out at a Bethesda staple and total crowd favorite! 🎉 We’ll meet at 7:00 pm to say hello, catch up, and get warmed up before trivia kicks off. Tuesday night perks you’ll love: 🍹 Happy Hour from 3–10 pm 🍕 Half-off pizza all day 🧠 Trivia starts at 7:30 pm — bring your brainpower, bring your curiosity, or just your good vibes. 🚗 Easy parking with plenty of street spots and nearby public garages.

**Scientific Knowledge** James Kim will be leading this discussion. **Introduction:** **Science is a field of study that has had an enormous impact on civilization. Many people have their worldviews informed by scientific knowledge, and the technology that we all depend on is developed based on models resulting from scientific inquiry. However, the questions of what science is, why it works, or if it does are complex and difficult to answer.** **Describing science in a way that unambiguously delineates it from non-science that has historically proven problematic. In general, science is characterized by systematic observation and experimentation. It uses both inductive and deductive reasoning, and scientists form hypotheses and theories which are then tested. Many philosophers of science believe that there are a plurality of methods which can vary widely rather than a single scientific method which all scientists follow. With examples of science such as a chemist running experiments in a lab, an astronomer recording data from telescopes, and a climate scientist running simulations, such a conclusion seems unavoidable.** **A General History of Science:** **One figure whose methodology resembles modern science is Aristotle. He supported learning by observation and reasoning about the world, although he used passive observation rather than experimentation. According to him, the recording of observations wasn’t the aim of natural knowledge, but also to order them and find explanations. Aristotle also suggested two types of reasoning which in modern terms could be categorized as deductive, reasoning which must hold true given logical laws, and inductive, reasoning from observations.** **Modern science further developed from the 16th century onwards, with figures like Galileo, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. It was at this time that a mathematical structure to the natural world was more seriously suggested and justified. There was also a reluctance to describe final explanations, such as Newton accepting that gravity was an “action at a distance” but withholding from explaining what caused it.** **In the 19th century, two general categories of scientific reasoning were made more explicit. One was the hypothetico-deductive, in which scientists first form hypotheses which have observable consequences to be tested. The other was inductivisim, in which the observations of phenomena come first and then the scientist tries to derive laws which explain them.** **In more recent times, philosophers have clarified many aspects of science. For example, a naïve approach to science is one which easily separates theory and observation. However, when notions of observation are scrutinized, it turns out that perhaps all observation is actually theory-laden. As an example, measuring temperature with a thermometer depends on belief in the mechanism by which the thermometer operates, whether that’s by thermal expansion of a liquid or infrared sensors.** **One notable attempt to describe science was falsificationism by Karl Popper. According to him, what science should do is try to falsify hypotheses rather than confirm them. For example, instead of trying to confirm Coulomb’s law of electrostatic attraction by experimentation, the goal should be to try to prove it false with experiments on charged objects. Trying to “save” falsified hypotheses according to this standard would be bad science.** **However, actual science is more complicated. Historical examples such as anomalies in the orbit of Uranus might have seemed to falsify Newtonian gravity, but this was solved by the effect of Neptune. To account for this, Popper later reformed his view to move towards testability of hypotheses rather than outright falsifiability.** **Another important account of science is given by Thomas Kuhn. He believed that science has cycles of dominating paradigms, which scientists operate under until the paradigm shifts after new discoveries accumulate. The shift from classical physics to quantum is an example. Classical physics couldn’t account for energy transitions in atoms and electron orbits, and quantum physics resulted after it provided explanations and predicted experimental results. Also, according to Kuhn, while science does progress, sticking to just one scientific method would stifle it.** **Realism and Anti-Realism:** **The modern state of philosophy of science is complicated, but one debate exemplifies the reasons to believe or doubt scientific findings. This is the realist/anti-realist divide. Realists generally believe that scientific theories are at least approximately true, while anti-realists believe that theories don’t give true accounts of the world, approximately or not.** **An example of an antirealist approach to science is Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system. Some argued that it was just a tool for calculating positions of the planets in the sky, while others argued that it was true.** **The concern over realism and anti-realism is important as science develops more concepts which are more removed from observation: energy, entropy, temperature, fields, etc. Theories involving these concepts not only inform our worldview, but can affect political policies.** **One argument in favor of scientific realism is the no miracles argument. This argument states that scientific theories are so good at predicting results that it would be highly improbable for them to be untrue, i.e. a miracle. Therefore, scientific theories are at least approximately true. An objection to this is the shift from successful theories to significantly different ones, such as Newtonian gravity to general relativity. Even if Newtonian gravity can be described as a limiting case of relativity, what about theories which aren’t limiting cases of their replacements?** **One significant anti-realist argument is the argument from empirically equivalent theories. It seems that since we can have multiple theories with different entities that are equally supported by empirical evidence, there is no way to choose between these theories. Objections to this include the assertion that there are other explanatory virtues besides empirical evidence, such as simplicity, explanatory scope, elegance, etc. Another is that it may be the case that there are theories which do predict results that no other theories give.** **Science and Philosophy:** **Scientific knowledge also informs many other fields of philosophy. Whether we take a realist or anti-realist stance, it will have to fit into our epistemology and how we justify knowledge in general. What kinds of observables do we believe in, which ones don’t we, and why?** **Ethics is also impacted by scientific activity. Some philosophers believe that ethical properties are also natural properties. Even if ethical principles are more akin to abstract objects, scientific knowledge can also help greatly with applying them in our daily lives. The treatment of animals, reproductive ethics, and much more depend on biology.** **In addition, metaphysics is greatly influenced. Many philosophers are naturalists, that the natural world is all that exists, which can be taken to mean that nothing defies scientific law. Notions of space, time, causality, structure and order to the universe are informed by scientific discoveries. Science also helps us learn about how to group objects into their natural kinds, categories which aren’t arbitrary but actual groups of objects in the universe.** **Discussion Questions:** **How do scientists justify their claims?** **Are we justified in believing in scientific theories and the entities they posit?** **Is there a general scientific methodology?** **What are the limits of science?** **What role does the scientist play? Is it possible for science to be done by following an algorithm rather than human judgement?** We meet in person and online. In person will be at 10113 Seattle Slew Lane. The location does not have food for sale. There will be several large pizzas, and we request $2/slice. One pizza will be vegetarian. Tap water is available, please bring any other drinks desired. Online will be: [https://teams.live.com/meet/93583191724730?p=hY3jxVvnOciVl2aRn5](https://teams.live.com/meet/93583191724730?p=hY3jxVvnOciVl2aRn5)

**This talk has completely sold out in advance and no door tickets will be available.** [Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Ballistic Missile Defense Question,”** on the operation of a controversial defense system and the debate over its use, with Dean Wilkening, a physicist and defense system researcher formerly at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford University’s Center for International Security, and the RAND Corporation. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/dc-ballistic-missile](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/dc-ballistic-missile) .] Ballistic missile defense has been a contentious political issue in the United States, especially after President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 speech calling for a “Star Wars” style barrier to Soviet nuclear weapons. Ballistic missile defense is also among the most expensive items in the Pentagon budget for research, development, test and evaluation, with funding estimated at $10.6 billion in 2026. Most recently, ballistic missiles have been making headlines as a result of Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack against Israel, Russia’s ballistic missile attacks against Ukraine, and President Trump’s call for America to be defended by a “Golden Dome” similar to Israel’s Iron Dome system. But is relying on ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems practical and wise? Hear that question tackled by Dean Wilkening, who recently retired from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, has spent much of his life studying a range of defense matters such as hypersonic weapons and ballistic missile defense, and who has published extensively and advised national boards and government agencies on his findings. Dr. Wilkening will discuss the technology underlying BMD systems, which seek to use precision guided munitions to essentially “hit a bullet with a bullet” to thwart attacks. You’ll learn about the support systems, including sensors and command and control systems, critical to making it all work. Then he’ll give an overview of the debate over ballistic missile defense systems, typically split along partisan lines. We’ll look at the evolving missile threat, which includes both conventional and nuclear ballistic missiles as well as hypersonic weapons, and the potential for armed conflict with Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Dr. Wilkening will look at whether BMD systems meet the test of working technically, being able to survive attack, and being cost-effective at the margins. Finally, he’ll take on the big-picture question of whether ballistic missile defense is inherently “destabilizing.” Do they stimulate arms races? Do they actually make nuclear war more likely? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A 2019 U.S. Army test of patriot missiles. (U.S. Department of Defense photo.)

Good day, tout le monde! Please join us Friday evening, after work (or school or play) at about 5:30 at Tunnicliff's Tavern. The restaurant is at 222 7th Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. If the weather is nice, we will sit outside, and spend some time talking, drinking and eating. If we're not outside, come find us inside! We'll be in the back, so please walk past the bar and you'll find us there. We'll be the fun (and possibly somewhat loud) group of folks enjoying each other's company! NOTE: This is for Intermediate or Advanced speakers. We are a group of very nice folks who love speaking French. And remember, we won't judge you or your French, so please come and stop by, even if just for a bit. It's a great way to kick off your weekend!

• What we'll do On https://blackecon101.podbean.com/ Thursdays at 6 pm. discussing the economy....

Every Sunday afternoon before church, one of the Covenant Life Church prophetess' hosts a prophetic training class that activates participants in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. During this class, participants will be provided opportunity to be taught how to use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and will have opportunity to ask questions and talk with someone who has been used in the Gifts during ministry. Teaching is provided on the gifts with emphasis on the Gift of the Prophecy. A combination of lecture and experiential learning is employed to teach, guide and instruct the participants. Everyone is welcome, all classes are free. Childcare is not provided.

NOTE: This is a Saturday event! We hope to see you at the next open community meetup for the MoCo Psychedelic Society, on Saturday, Jan 31st at 1 pm. All are welcome at this event: no prior psychedelic experience is necessary, and you need not have been to one of our prior events to attend. The location will be Meeting Room 1 in the Bethesda Public Library, at 7400 Arlington Road. Parking is available in the lot outside the north door to the building, and the meeting room is the first room on your left as you pass through that door. If travelling by Metro, a red line stop [is a short walk away.](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=red+line+stop+bethesda&atb=v417-1&iaxm=directions&end=what%3AConnie%2520Morella%2520Library%2Cwhere%3A7400%2520Arlington%2520Rd%252C%2520Bethesda%252C%2520MD%2520%252020814%252C%2520United%2520States&transport=walking&start=what%3ABethesda%2520Station%2Cwhere%3ABethesda%2520Station%252C%2520Bethesda%252C%2520MD%252C%2520United%2520States) This meeting will feature a fascinating talk by neuroscientist, Bradley Cooke: **How Psychedelics Affect the Mind: A Neuroscientist's Perspective**. We'll provide tea and light snacks, and there will be ample time after the talk for questions and general psychedelic discussions.

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation as we discuss ***Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World* by Naomi Klein** Here's the summary: What if you woke up one morning and found you’d acquired another self―a double who was almost you and yet not you at all? What if that double shared many of your preoccupations but, in a twisted, upside-down way, furthered the very causes you’d devoted your life to fighting against? Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had just such an experience―she was confronted with a doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define: AI-generated text is blurring the line between genuine and spurious communication; New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers are scrambling familiar political allegiances of left and right; and liberal democracies are teetering on the edge of absurdist authoritarianism, even as the oceans rise. Under such conditions, reality itself seems to have become unmoored. Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo? Naomi Klein is one of our most trenchant and influential social critics, an essential analyst of what branding, austerity, and climate profiteering have done to our societies and souls. Here she turns her gaze inward to our psychic landscapes, and outward to the possibilities for building hope amid intersecting economic, medical, and political crises. With the assistance of Sigmund Freud, Jordan Peele, Alfred Hitchcock, and bell hooks, among other accomplices, Klein uses wry humor and a keen sense of the ridiculous to face the strange doubles that haunt us―and that have come to feel as intimate and proximate as a warped reflection in the mirror. Combining comic memoir with chilling reportage and cobweb-clearing analysis, Klein seeks to smash that mirror and chart a path beyond despair. Doppelganger What do we neglect as we polish and perfect our digital reflections? Is it possible to dispose of our doubles and overcome the pathologies of a culture of multiplication? Can we create a politics of collective care and undertake a true reckoning with historical crimes? The result is a revelatory treatment of the way many of us think and feel now―and an intellectual adventure story for our times. **Let’s meet at Caboose Commons in Fairfax to enjoy some good discussion and meet new friends.**

Dale Gnidovec, Curator of the Orton Hall Museum of Geology at The Ohio State University, will be presenting a program he has wanted to share with us for a long time: Plate Tectonics. His description of his program: Continents on the move - Nothing in Earth history makes sense without moving continents - it tells us why mountains, volcanoes, minerals, and fossils are where they are. This talk examines the evidence for continental drift, why it was disbelieved, and explains how the more-encompassing theory of plate tectonics was developed and eventually proven. Dale is an energetic, incredibly knowledgeable, and very entertaining speaker and this will be another wonderful program by Dale. Hope to see you there! Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Feel free to show up a little bit early to hang out and talk. Going forward our meetings will be hybrid. You can meet us in-person or attend online Join Zoom Meeting [https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1) Meeting ID: 878 3656 4953 Passcode: 760812 One tap mobile +19292056099,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (New York) +13017158592,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (Washington DC) The formal presentation will start at noon

**How to take control of your subconscious and harness its power!** Join us for an eye-opening lecture where the speaker will break down complex ideas in a clear and practical way. You’ll gain insights into: ✅ The true definition of the subconscious ✅ How it generates unwanted emotions ✅ Its real purpose and function ✅ What determines the pressure it exerts on you And the most important topic: **How do you take control of your subconscious!** But this isn’t just another lecture where you sit and listen passively. It’s interactive and engaging—you can ask questions at any time. 📅 Reserve your spot now! Seats are limited, so don’t wait too long to sign up. Location: 1266 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215 Hosted by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation

Joanie Shell and Lindsay Thomas of Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, will be representing the Independent Living Older Blind (ILOB) program, and will explain what this program can offer to persons ages 55 and older. As taken from their website, the ILOB program can help Ohio’s aging population face the many challenges of vision loss and maintain their independence. Target audience for this group is persons who are visually impaired, especially those who have experienced recent loss, however, all are welcome, including family members and supports. Light refreshments will be served. You can also join the meeting by Conference Call at (518) 263-8851.

Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Grandview Heights. You are responsible for your own meal/drinks. We usually don't have any agenda other than eat, drink and talk. :) If the weather is nice we will be on the back patio, otherwise we are in the cigar room. This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us. COTA bus #5 comes to W. 5th and Wyandotte Rd. And it's a minute walk to the restaurant. *** Did you know that there are atheists everywhere?!?! You may not know it, but we are! We're in your schools, diners, police force, military, government, and some are even still in your churches! So come and join us and meet other local atheists, along with agnostics, heathens, humanists, skeptics, and anyone else who's 'hell bound'! Vision: a Central Ohio that accepts atheism as a viable alternative in all areas of public and private life. Mission: grow, support, and provide community for atheists in Central Ohio. Social meetings held most Tuesdays at a local pub/restaurant at 7:00 PM (and often into the wee hours). Attendees call themselves agnostics, skeptics, humanists, non-theists, deists or even theists. All attendees are welcome but should support our vision. Atheists of Columbus (AoC) is part of Omnipresent Atheists (OA). AoC members are invited to join this OA meetup and/or OA Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/omnipresentatheists/ ) but are free to continue conversations on the AoC Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/columbusatheists/ ). AoC was founded in 2012 as a networking, social group for Central Ohio area humanists, skeptics, atheists, agnostics, nonbelievers, freethinkers, and the curious. It was a member of Columbus CoR and held weekly meetings, mostly on Fridays, for several years but then operated as an online only group for some time. In November 2018, Omnipresent Atheists (OA), a group that routinely meets on Tuesdays, invited AoC to merge. Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason (ColumbusCoR.org). Omnipresent Atheists is a member of the Columbus Coalition of Reason ( http://www.ColumbusCoR.org ). Omnipresent Atheists endorses the mission of the Secular Coalition for America ( http://secular.org ).

Bienvenue! Columbus French Conversation group invites you to our Saturday morning French conversation club. Expect a casual and welcoming atmosphere in which to learn french! I will bring my laptop so we can look up new vocabulary as needed! The venue is a beautiful French restaurant so you can really get into the zone :)

We may pick a specific topic and post in advance or may discuss current events and various ad hoc topics . We would love to spend time hanging out and getting to know one another. Atheist, agnostics, other non-theists, and atheist-friendly people are welcome to join us. Note: COUNT operates a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions (http://www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions/) to promote discussions among members and visitors.