Bc Humanists Podcast

Nicolas Fillion is a philosopher and mathematician who has been since 2013 a professor of philosophy at Simon Fraser University. His main contributions have so far been to philosophy of science and applied mathematics, but his research and teaching also include the history of science, formal logic, decision and game theory, critical thinking, and epistemology broadly construed. As part of an effort to promote and spread critical thinking skills, he has recently been developing a teaching curriculum on the epistemology of conspiracy theories. Note: Sorry for the file alarm test that at interrupts at 41:26 and continues for much of the rest. The BC Humanist Association was formed in 1984 and we have a regular attendance of over 30 people at our Sunday meetings.

Modern Humanism first emerged around 100 years ago, has been in Canada for about 60 years and the BC Humanist Association has existed for over 30 years. While the philosophy has evolved over the years, the importance of this progressive worldview, with its emphasis on reason and social justice, has never lost its importance and in an age of rising populist and nationalistic extremism is increasingly urgent. In this talk, BC Humanist Association Executive Director will give a brief history of modern Humanism, a review of the campaigns being taken on by some of the major Humanist organizations around the world and a look at the challenges we're facing in British Columbia. Recorded at the Sunday, March 12, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Nick Taylor, an advocate of basic income, joins us to talk about how the conversation around basic income has developed substantially in just under a year with a negative income tax trial planned in Ontario, discussion of federal funding for a trial in PEI, and the newest cash grant trial started in December 2016 in Finland for 2,000 recipients. Plus developments in municipal basic income in San Francisco, and a private trial across the Bay in Oakland. Nick will outline how the different funding sources for these experiments reflect competing promoters and drive the resulting approaches to the concept of providing unconditional cash grants to individuals. Recorded at the Sunday, February 26, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

David "Dave" Silverman (born August 13, 1966) is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of religion in public when possibly interpretable as governmental endorsement, in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. His annual anti-Christmas billboard which calls Christmas "a myth" has often sparked controversy. (from Wikipedia) David talks about his new book Fighting God. Recorded at the Sunday, February 19, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Dr Elisabeth Ormandy shares her personal story of how she went from neuroscientist to animal welfare and ethics expert over the course of a decade, and why she is committed to advancing science without the use of animals. This talk covers both scientific and ethical reasons why replacing animals in research, testing, and teaching is an important endeavour. Elisabeth is co-founder and Executive Director for the Animals in Science Policy Institute – a registered non-profit based in Vancouver, BC, whose mission is to build an ethical culture of science that respects animal life by promoting the reduction and replacement of animals in research, testing, and teaching. She lives in Vancouver, BC, and teaches at the University of British Columbia. Recorded at the Sunday, February 12, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected i

Patti Bacchus is the Vancouver Observer's Contributing Education Editor. She's a public education advocate and former Vancouver School Board chair (2008-2014) & trustee (2008-2016). She also serves as a Director for the Broadbent Institute. Recorded at the Sunday, February 5, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Mattias Martens, writer, programmer, philosopher, presents an idea of ‘limbic terrorism’ as a model for how populists can shut down discourse online and off by reverting to personal attacks aimed at the social standing of the people involved and how intellectuals can fight back without being reduced to the use of similar tactics. Follow Mattias: https://www.facebook.com/mattiasinspace/ https://twitter.com/mattiasinspace Recorded at the Sunday, January 22, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Joann Robertson speaks about Political Correctness: How we got here. Where do we go? Recorded at the Sunday, January 15, 2017 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Joyce Arthur is a founding member of FIRST, a national feminist sex worker advocacy organization based in Vancouver that lobbies for the decriminalization of prostitution in Canada. Joyce works as a technical writer and pro-choice activist, and is the founder and Executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, a national pro-choice group in Canada. Joyce will be speaking on the threat to reproductive rights, including abortion, contraception, and other reproductive healthcare presented by the election of US President Trump and the even worse on these issues (if that is possible) Vice President Pence whose legislative record in Indiana is a grim foreshadowing of the threatened reversal of decades of progress on women's rights. She will also address the threat of the global wave of right-wing populism to women in Canada and the rest of the world. Recorded at the Sunday, December 18, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitte

Over the past thirty years there have been three local groups which share aims and often members: The BC Humanists, the local branch of the Centre for Inquiry and the BC Skeptics. All three have worked to promote a scientific, as opposed to a religious worldview. I shall maintain that there have been three principal ways of doing this: 1) through public education, primarily using the media and meetings, 2) through research into paranormal and religious claims, and 3) by social networking to provide members a chance to interact with others who share their worldview. These three ways are compatible with each other, but over the years one or the other has been emphasized more than the others. In the early days, 1) and 2) had more prominence, today it is 3). In this talk Dale Beyerstein and Lee Miller aim to start a discussion about the merits of each by providing a history of the groups over the thirty years. Recorded at the Sunday, November 13, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn mo

Rob Teszka is a research consultant and performer who helps creative agencies and market researchers apply the psychology of attention and awareness. He is also a magician who regularly performs at the Magic Circle in London, and has contributed to peer-reviewed academic research on the psychology of magic, focusing on using the techniques of conjurors to study how people perceive, make decisions, and and interact with each other. He combines the insights of psychology with the secrets of magic to create a very unique approach to understanding human behaviour. Magicians have the uncanny ability to manipulate how people perceive the world, and this could be the key to understanding how the mind works. The techniques of misdirection provide a useful framework for studying attention and its link to eye movements, while magical methods themselves are a valuable tool in designing research. Magic and illusions were central to the birth of experimental psychology at the turn of the last century, but fell out of fa

Teresa Gagné of Vancouver Peace Poppies talks about the history and significance of the white poppy, and the importance of broadening our Remembrance Day focus to include the devastating effects of war on the civilians who now make up 85% of its victims, as well as its disastrous environment impact. Recorded at the Sunday, October 30, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Steve Thompson is from the UK and had moved to Vancouver in August 2015 to study for a Master’s degree in library, information and archival studies. His professional background was in academic publishing where he worked as an editor on both journals and books. His main interest is in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He has recently participated in a UBC-based research group on the viability of the blockchain platform for records management with a chapter on the preservation of digital signatures on the blockchain. Recorded at the Sunday, October 11, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

"Ujjal Dosanjh is a lawyer, social activist and parliamentarian who has devoted his life to public service. He became Attorney General of British Columbia in 1995 and served as the province's thirty-third premier before entering federal politics. He was a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011, including a period as minister of health. Throughout his life, Dosanjh has remained a vocal human rights advocate and an outspoken critic of violence and extremism. In 2015, he was honoured with the inaugural Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Award." Bio taken from his memoir, Journey After Midnight Dosanjh speaks briefly on his view and experiences around ‎the separation of church and state. He then fields questions on secularism, immigration, human rights, education and more. Recorded at the Sunday, October 2, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher and

Gary Bauslaugh is the author of three books related to assisted death in Canada; his most recent (The Right to Die, April 2016) tells the stories of the courageous Canadians whose often heroic actions helped create a climate of acceptance of the idea that assisted death should be legalized in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada’s historic ruling in February, 2015, declared the law prohibiting assisted death unconstitutional, and provided guidelines for new legislation which would be in tune with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Then it went to the politicians to pass actual legislation, an exercise that many of who have been advocates for progressive reform on assisted dying looked forward to with great hope and anticipation. The results, however, were tragically inadequate. Bauslaugh spoke out against the proposed legislation and on May 6 was called to Ottawa to speak on the matter to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. His views were reflected in the Senate’s initial

Dr Karen Garst speaks to the UBC Freethinkers about the archaeological evidence for worship of the female goddess in the Paleolithic era through its continued existence when male deities became incorporated into the pantheon of gods. Karen Garst has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the UW - Madison, a Masters in French Literature from the same, and a BA in French from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She has served as a field representative for the Oregon Federation of Teachers (AFT), executive director of the Oregon Community College Association, and executive director of the Oregon State Bar. She is married and lives in Salem, Oregon. In 2014, the U. S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Burwell v Hobby Lobby. She was incensed. “Since when did a ‘corporation’ get to use its religious beliefs to dictate what health care a woman could receive?,” she stated. She decided to write a book on atheism and the harm religion has done to women. A friend introduced her to Dr Peter Boghossian at PS

Ian Bushfield, Executive Director of the BC Humanist Association presents a detailed analysis of the June 2016 Insights West poll commissioned by the BCHA to explore attitudes in BC about religion and its interaction with laws and social policies. Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/bchumanist/is-anyone-in-bc-still-religious-ian-bushfield Full data: http://www.bchumanist.ca/religious_and_secular_attitudes_2016 Presentation on BCHA 2013 poll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr6bwREC6C0 Recorded at the Sunday, August 21, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Joyce Arthur, a freelance writer and women's rights advocate, talks about the recent study her pro-choice group completed on anti-choice “Crisis Pregnancy Centres” (CPCs). The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada recruited volunteers to review every CPC website in Canada to look for misinformation on abortion or signs they were being deceptive and not upfront with potential clients. The study identified 180 CPCs across Canada. Of those, 166 had websites. The findings revealed that a large majority of CPCs do one or both of the following on their websites: 1) spread misleading or inaccurate information about abortion, contraception, sexually-transmitted infections, sexual activity, or adoption; 2) present themselves deceptively, such as by not disclosing that they won’t refer for abortion, or hiding their religious stance from prospective clients. This means that CPCs are posing a public health risk and interfering with the reproductive rights of women. What can be done? Joyce will go over some recomme

Armin Navabi, of Atheist Republic, an ex-Muslim from Iran will speak about how Ex-Muslims in the West are frequently attacked from bigots on the right, and apologists on the left. This marginalizes many ex-Muslims, leaving them feeling betrayed and unwelcome, muting the most effective force against Islamic extremism. Recorded at the Sunday, June 26, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com

Pamela Zevit, of Evidence for Democracy updates us about the state of science policy in Canada today. What has changed, what still needs to change to return Canada to its former position as an example of public policy informed by science. Recorded at the Sunday, June 19, 2016 meeting of the BC Humanist Association in Vancouver. Learn more at www.bchumanist.ca Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Subscribe on Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes. Intro music: We are all connected instrumental - Symphony of Science www.symphonyofscience.com