Ancient Stoicism and Modern Humanism

Saturday 14^th May 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought Christopher Gill.

Is Stoicism compatible with a modern humanistic outlook, and can it help us live better, happier lives today?

In the popular imagination, a Stoic is someone who represses their emotions, but Stoic philosophy is much richer than this misconception suggests. Believing that material things alone are insufficient to guarantee happiness, the Stoics placed great value on wisdom, justice, moderation, courage, and living in harmony with our communities and the natural world around us.

Christopher Gill will outline the Stoics’ key ideas on virtue, happiness, and social development, and explain how Stoic practices can improve our life satisfaction, and help us flourish as human beings.

Christopher Gill is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of Exeter, and has played a leading role in ‘Stoicism Today’ which presents Stoicism to a modern audience as an aid to human flourishing. His publications related to Stoicism include a translation with introduction and commentary of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations Books 1-6, and a complete modern translation with commentary of Epictetus’s Discourses entitled Epictetus: Discourses, Fragments, Handbook

“Join us for a stimulating exploration of Stoic principles and practices, and learn how they can help us live better, happier lives”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

The Happiness Course

September/October 2015. All sessions: 7.30pm to 9.30pm
The Green House Hotel, 4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

Happiness is good for you and good for society, but what makes some people happier than others?

Is it possible to attain greater happiness in life and sustain it without dramatically changing our personal circumstances?

Scientific studies by experimental psychologists have revealed that around half of your happiness level is determined by your genetic inheritance and a surprisingly small 10% reflects your life circumstances. While there may be limitations to how much you can alter your circumstances, the great news is that around 40% of your happiness level can be directly affected by simple daily activities and the conscious choices you make.

This enjoyable six-week course will enable you to explore the philosophy, psychology and science of happiness, while learning how to make the changes that will improve your own personal happiness level. We’ll also look at some common causes of unhappiness, and discover how changing your thinking and doing some basic practical activities can help you experience a happier life.

There will be a small charge for this course to help cover venue hire and expenses. All sessions: 7.30pm – 9.30pm at The Green House Hotel, Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX.

Session schedule:

1. Big questions about life; introduction to positive and humanistic psychology: Tuesday September 8^th 2015

2. Foundations for happiness – social and environmental factors:.Monday September 14^th 2015

(No meeting in 3^rd week of September)

3. Supporting your happiness system – physical and neurological factors: Tuesday September 29^th 2015

4. Happiness habits – proven techniques to increase your level of wellbeing: Tuesday October 6^th 2015

5. The science of happiness – looking at further research findings: Monday October 12^th 2015

6. Pulling it all together and living your one life: Tuesday October 20^th 2015

Total Course cost: £24 for non-members, or £18 for members of Dorset Humanists, or £6 for students

(Note: The total course cost is the same regardless of how many sessions you choose to attend. i.e if you are a non-member, a single upfront payment of £24 works out at only £4 per session if you choose to attend all six of them)

Ways to book:
1. See a committee member at a Dorset Humanists meeting and pay with cash or a cheque. Please make cheques payable to 'David Warden'.
2. Email David Warden at chairman@dorsethumanists.co.uk and request our bank details to arrange a BACS payment.
3. Phone David Warden on 07910 886629 for BACS details
4. Contact us via the contact form on our website for our BACS details
5. Contact us in one the above ways and request a mailing address to post a cheque. This address will be David's or Simon’s home address.

Please book early to avoid disappointment due to a limited number of places!

Course leaders: David Warden BA (Hons), MA, Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, is Chair of Dorset Humanists. Phil James BSc(Hons), MSc is a Member of the British Psychological Society and currently a PhD researcher at Bournemouth University.

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed by car and on foot via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Click here to view details of forthcoming and recent Dorset Humanists events on this website.

 

David Warden to Present ‘The Science of Happiness’ for Sunday Assembly

Sunday 30^th November  11.00am – 12.30pm
The Brunswick Pub**, 199 Malmesbury Park Road, Bournemouth BH8 8PX

We’re pleased to announce that Chair of Dorset Humanists David Warden will be the guest speaker for Sunday Assembly Bournemouth’s November Assembly. David will be presenting a condensed version of his very popular talk on ‘The Science of Happiness’ as part of the event’s theme of "How to live a Happier Life”. David has previously spoken on this subject at events for both Dorset Humanists and West Dorset Humanists, and he also incorporated an expanded exploration of the topic into Dorset Humanists’ well-received ‘One Life’ course on Humanism and atheism.

If you have you ever wondered what makes some people happier than others, and whether it Is it possible to attain greater happiness in life and sustain it without dramatically changing our personal circumstances, we expect you’ll be both surprised and inspired by what David reveals in his talk, so put away your copy of ‘the Secret’, turn off the chat show ‘self-help gurus’ and discover the real science of happiness at Sunday Assembly Bournemouth’s next meeting! The group are continuing to collect more food for a local food bank, so, if you plan to attend and are in a position to do so, please take along any long-life dried or tinned food you can spare, and they’ll make sure it gets to families and individuals who need our help.

Sunday Assembly Bournemouth launched in September 2014, becoming one of more than 60 similar groups worldwide in a rapidly growing non-religious community of people united by a desire to improve their lives, support their local communities and celebrate the wonder of life. The format they’ve adopted for their monthly ‘Assemblies’ is to take “all the best bits of church but without the religion”, and what this means in practice is that at each Assembly they explore a positive life-enhancing theme with a mix of inspiring readings, guest presentations and uplifting sing-along pop songs. So far the group has proved popular with local humanists, atheists,and agnostics but it remains to be seen whether they can also achieve their aim of attracting folks of a more religious persuasion too.

For more details on Sunday Assembly Bournemouth and this event, please visit their website here: http://bournemouth.sundayassembly.com/how-to-live-a-happier-life/

**  Please note: A small number of flyers for this event were distributed at a previous Dorset Humanists meeting with the wrong venue printed on them. November’s Sunday Assembly will definitely be at the Brunswick in Charminster, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused

The Science of Happiness

On Saturday, David Warden, Chair of Dorset Humanists shared the results of his reading around the science of happiness, and personal pursuit of the same, in an enjoyable and well-attended meeting. While there isn’t room to do justice to his presentation here, we present a brief summary of his key points and a list of books that David recommended during the afternoon.

If you’d like to discuss this topic, please post comments on our Facebook page or join the discussion on the 'HASSNERS' Humanist Meetup page.

Summary

1. Evolution doesn’t give a fig for your happiness. It just wants you alive and making babies.

2. Your brain is a contraption, part of which we share with lizards and other reptiles. The ancient limbic system generates troublesome emotions.

3. The happiest people are Swiss, in social class I, extrovert and married.

4. Your happiness ‘set point’ is partly determined by your genes and other unalterable factors.

5. You can take control of about 40% of your potential for happiness.

12 top tips

1. Spend more time with the people who make you feel good

2. You can take control of your brain chemistry (to some extent, by thinking of your emotions, chemical events in your body and as information, alarm signals)

3. Active activities (TV, a passive activity, induces mild depression)

4. Life is a package deal – unhappiness is part of the grainy ‘texture’ of life. Don’t be unhappy about unhappiness itself – it’s normal and it will pass.

5. Practise gratitude (over the space of a few days write a list with 100 items on it – things you have been grateful for in your life)

6. Honour your own life (no regrets…)

7. Practise compassion (to everyone around you, even the unlovely)

8. Take action to reduce stress (plan your time better)

9. Do more enjoyable things (and have some idleness time)

10. Engage your senses more fully (enjoy ordinary things, trees, birdsong, sunshine)

11. Join a community organisation (such as Dorset Humanists)

12. Start a happiness project (keep a happiness journal for a year and make it your goal to increase your happiness and those around you)

Further reading (And DW’s comments)

· Daniel Nettle The Science of Happiness – compact and readable

· Cecilia D’Felice Dare to be You – a beautiful self-help book

· Paul Gilbert Overcoming Depression – a chunky self-help manual

· Don Cupitt The Way to Happiness – Don Cupitt is keen on ‘ordinary ecstasy’

· Martin Seligman Authentic Happiness – Positive Psychology

· Robert Holden Be Happy – a bit religious but in-depth and useful

· Andre Jordan Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now – a great book for wallowing in misery

(Note: If you do decide to buy any books from Amazon to further your investigation of the science of happiness, please use the following link which provides a small cash percentage to the British Humanist Association without increasing the price you pay: http://www.amazon.co.uk/?%5Fencoding=UTF8&tag=britishhumani-21&linkCode=sb1&camp=2378&creative=8438 ).

The Science of Happiness

Saturday 11th June 2.00pm Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown, Bournemouth, BH9 1TW

Update 12th June: Discuss this talk over at HASSNERS forum. What makes some people happier than others?

Is it possible to attain greater happiness in life, and sustain it, without dramatically changing our personal circumstances?

Studies by experimental psychologists show around half of your happiness level is genetically fixed and a surprisingly small 10% reflects your life circumstances. The great news is that 40% of your happiness level can be directly affected by simple daily activities and the conscious choices you make. In this interactive presentation, David Warden explores many of these scientifically tested ideas and techniques. Come along and find out how you can live a happier life!

Everyone welcome – Free entry

{If you can help promote Dorset Humanists by displaying an A4 poster for this event, please email Dave at: DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF copy}