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Joe White
A Primer on Ignorance
and Stupidity
Sunday,
April 1
11 a.m.
Ignorance and stupidity tend to be universally maligned and for
good reasons, to some extent. After all, much misfortune seems
rooted in ignorance and stupidity. However, in his provocative
talk based on his forthcoming book of the same title, Prof.
Joe White asserts that this readiness to malign these two
pervasive cognitive conditions and then believe that the
progress of human well-being is dependent upon their elimination
is not only foolhardy and conceptually melodramatic but
profoundly counter-productive to that well-being. As it turns
out, philosophically and scientifically, both ignorance and
stupidity will forever be with us and play essential roles in
our evolution as social beings, including our morality,
virtuousness and aesthetic values.
White also will examine a case demonstrating the role ignorance
plays in contemporary political philosophy that can lead to the
realization of the year 2020 being “a year without war
globally.” He is spearheading a project to accomplish that goal,
which can be found at:
http://ayearwithoutwar.org.
In addition to chairing the Department of Philosophy at Santa
Barbara City College, White is Executive Director of the Center
for Philosophical Education, which publishes the only
international undergraduate journal of philosophy. He is the
author of the philosophy textbook, Adventures on the Frontier
of Ignorance, now in its 5th edition. A frequent contributor
to newspapers and magazines, White also participated in the
24-part PBS series on Philosophy called The Examined Life.
Admission
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
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Richard Wackrow
Junk Science: The Holy Grail of the
War on Terror
Sunday,
April 15
11 a.m.
at CFI-L.A.
4:30 p.m. in
Costa Mesa*
Just how great is the danger that terrorists will
secretly construct and then detonate a nuclear bomb in a major
city? Would a “dirty bomb” really kill thousands? How much
plastic explosive is necessary to take down an airplane? Is it
feasible to mix the fabled “binary liquid explosive” in an
airliner restroom? Finally, if all this mayhem is as easy to
accomplish as we have been led to believe, why hasn’t there been
a single incident of mass murder by terrorism on U.S. soil since
9/11?
In researching his new book, Who’s Winning the War on
Terror, author Richard E. Wackrow concludes that most
of the thinking behind the Department of Homeland Security and
other agencies’ efforts to protect America from the specter of
terrorism seems to be based on the fanciful science of Bruce
Willis movies.In his talk, Wackrow also will look at how
acceptance of this sloppy science, from citizens to the national
government, has nurtured the growth of a terrorism-industrial
complex that devours resources that could be used more
intelligently elsewhere, keeps a majority of Americans in a
continuing state of anxiety over the possibility of another
major terrorist attack, and thus accomplishes the goals of
terrorism itself.
Wackrow is a retired print journalist living in Montana.
A former reporter and editor for suburban newspapers in several
markets, as well as a writer for the Dallas Morning News,
Entrepreneur magazine, and other major publications, Wackrow
has been appalled by what he saw as the excesses, waste and
civil liberties violations resulting from a war on terrorism. He
emerged from retirement in 2005 to establish a Web site
concentrating on Fourth Amendment issues, resulting in the
writing of his meticulously researched first book.
*This event will also be held at
4:30 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Community Center at 1845 Park
Avenue, Costa Mesa.
map
Hosted by the
CFI Community of Orange County.
Admission
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
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Parenting Beyond Belief Conference
with Dale McGowan
Saturday,
May 5
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
More than 9 million parents are raising their children without
religion. The Parenting Beyond Belief Conference, a unique
all-day workshop with author and educator Dale McGowan, offers
encouragement and practical solutions for secular parenting in a
religious world.
See event
page
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Dale McGowan
In Praise of Dissent
Sunday,
May 6
11 a.m.
Dissent is often seen as a luxury, a privilege to be
tolerated in times of peace and prosperity. But when the enemy
is at the gates, dissent is considered a treasonous threat to
survival. But like so much conventional wisdom, the best
research and a careful reading of history suggests that "United
We Stand" is precisely the wrong advice. Dale McGowan
examines that research and history, making the case for messy
dissent over tidy unity.
McGowan is editor and co-author of Parenting Beyond
Belief and Raising Freethinkers, the first
comprehensive resources for parenting without religion. Dale was
named 2008 Harvard Humanist of the Year and serves as founding
executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief, a humanist
charitable organization. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Becca
and their three children.
McGowan will be
holding a special workshop at the Center for Inquiry-L.A. the
day before his talk. (See separate announcement.)
Admission
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
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Hector Avalos
Religion and Violence:
A New Theory for an Old Problem
 Sunday,
May 20
11 a.m.
at CFI-L.A.
NOTE: Time,
location change for Costa Mesa talk
This talk will now be at
3:30 p.m. at the OC Freethought Alliance Conference at UC-Irvine*
Since 9/11,
a new wave of studies of violence has debated whether religion
can cause violence or whether it simply is being co-opted by
political forces. Basing the lecture on his book, Fighting
Words: The Origins of Religious Violence (2005), Dr.
Hector Avalos will introduce a new theory for the precise
role of religion in violence. Avalos argues that virtually all
violence is due to real or perceived scarce resources, and
religion can create the perception of scarcity that can lead to
violence. The artificial scarcities created by religious belief
include holy space, "salvation," and group privileging, which
can be seen as commodities that can be more valuable than oil,
gold or bodily life itself. The lecture will illustrate how
these commodities created by religious belief repeatedly have
caused violence from ancient to modern times in Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
Avalos is Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State
University, where he was named Professor of the Year in 1996,
and a Master Teacher in 2003-04. A former fundamentalist
preacher and faith healer, Dr. Avalos is now one of the few
openly atheist biblical scholars in academia. Born in Mexico,
Avalos received a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of
Arizona in 1982, and a Master of Theological Studies from
Harvard Divinity School in 1985. In 1991, he became the first
Mexican American to earn a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Near
Eastern Studies at Harvard. He is the author or editor of nine
books.
*This lecture
will be repeated at 3:30 p.m. at the Orange County Freethought
Alliance Conference at University of California-Irvine,
210 C Student Center, Irvine, CA 92697.
Attendance to
(only) Hector Avalos's lecture at the conference is free for CFI
basic FOC members, and $6 for non-members.
Basic CFI FOCs receive a $10/day discount on conference
registration. Conference details at:
http://freethoughtalliance.org/fta/annual-conference/. Show
your CFI membership card at the door to receive the discount in
cash.
Admission (at CFI-L.A.)
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
NOTE TO
HOLLYWOOD ATTENDEES: Hollywood Blvd. may be closed due to a bike
race. If it is closed off, please take Franklin to Berendo to
reach our lot (on Berendo at Hollywood).
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Marty Klein
America's War on Sex:
The Religious Right's Attack on Secular Democracy
Sunday,
June 3
11 a.m.
Sex and religion are
constantly in the news this election year – typically in ways
quite aggravating to secular humanists.
With a sharp wit and 30 years of clinical experience,
Dr. Marty Klein returns to CFI-L.A. to analyze the news,
describing what he calls America’s War on Sex. “The Religious
Right is using the issue of sexual regulation to undermine
secular democracy,” he says. “Its War on Sex uses phony
categories, ‘dangerism,’ and a broad Sexual Disaster Industry.
It is successfully re-conceptualizing private sexual expression
into public behavior, which is therefore subject to public
control.”
Birth control, sex education, strip clubs, pornography,
broadcast indecency, sex research – they’re all subject to
increasing regulation and a massive disinformation campaign by
the Religious Right, supported by cynical politicians and an
amoral mass media. It isn’t a war on women, or a war on
liberals, says Dr. Klein – it’s a war on sex.
Klein is a psychotherapist, sex therapist, and
international lecturer in sexuality and public policy. He has
been an expert witness or invited plaintiff in many important
state and federal obscenity and anti-censorship cases. His
award-winning book America’s War On Sex, with a foreword
by the ACLU’s Nadine Strossen, was honored as Book of the Year
by AASECT (a professional organization of sex educators,
therapists and counselors), and will be re-released on April 30.
Admission
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
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Ray Hyman
Science and Psychics
Sunday,
June 17
11 a.m.
at CFI-L.A.
4:30 p.m. in
Costa Mesa*
Since the mid-1800s, prominent scientists investigating
psychic claims have concluded that they had proven the reality
of psychic powers. Their scientific colleagues, however, refused
to accept the evidence for such claims, thinking the maverick
investigators had become mentally unbalanced. According to
veteran psychic investigator Ray Hyman, those on both
sides of the controversy failed to realize that an otherwise
competent and sane scientist could be incompetent when
investigating paranormal claims.
Hyman will show how those scientists accepting psychic
claims dramatically underemphasize the power of the disciplinary
matrix in keeping the scientist a trustworthy contributor to the
field. The tendency for scientists to attribute success in their
chosen fields to their own internal abilities is a harmless
conceit as long as the scientist is working within his area of
expertise. However, this conceit makes them incompetent as
psychic investigators. Evidence for psychic claims, like any
acceptable evidence, has to be based on procedures that are
calibrated, debugged, validated, and standardized. Without this,
science, as we know it, could not exist. Yet, none of the
mavericks ever reported a serious attempt to devise such
procedures for their psychic investigations.
Hyman is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the
University of Oregon, where he conducts the yearly Skeptics
Toolbox. Before receiving his doctorate in 1953, he worked as a
professional magician. His background in magic and his lifelong
interest in how smart people can believe in the paranormal
prompted him to focus his research on the psychology of
deception. He has written books, journal papers and popular
articles dealing with how we are fooled. In 1976, he joined with
James Randi, Martin Gardner, Paul Kurtz, James Alcock and
others, to establish the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (now the Committee for
Skeptical Inquiry [CSI] ). During his career he has served on
several governmental committees investigating allegedly
paranormal work involving intelligence, military and other
agencies.
*This lecture will be repeated at
4:30 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Community Center at 1845 Park
Avenue, Costa Mesa.
map
Hosted by the
CFI Community of Orange County.
Admission
Friends of the Center: Free
Public: $8
Students: $4
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