Hidden Knowledge

Saturday 13^th January 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Medical Sociologist Dr Sarah Goode

Is adult sexual attraction to children a psychological disorder, a sexual orientation, a genetic fault, or the result of trauma? The UK National Crime Agency states that around 750,000 men in Britain are sexually attracted to children. And with the NSPCC estimating that one in 20 children are sexually abused (over 36,000 annually), providing effective protection for our children is clearly a huge challenge. If we want to keep children safe from sexual harm, then gaining a better understanding of what we’re dealing with is surely the first step. Dr Sarah Goode has done ground-breaking research in this controversial field, and will be addressing the taboo subject of adult sexual attraction to children. She refrains from demonizing the people who feel this attraction whilst insisting that knowledge, rather than ignorance, is what we need in order to keep children safe.

“Join us for a pragmatic exploration of this emotionally-charged subject, and learn how we can minimise the risk to our children”

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. Please email Dave at DHweb2(at)live.co.uk for a PDF copy for you to print and display.

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

Astounding Science and Our Genetic Legacy

Wednesday 25^th October 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With scientist Graham Marshall

The ancestor we share with chimpanzees lived around six million years ago, and we have lived as ‘modern’ humans for only a few hundred thousand years. For just a miniscule fraction of that latter time we have learned to use the scientific method to gain a better understanding of our history and the world around us, and it is easily forgotten that we were fashioned by evolution in small groups on the plains of Africa, and that our inner natures have not changed. Our improved evidence-based knowledge of who we are gives us the power to rise above our basic survival instincts of greed and fear, and the selfish programming of our genes, but can our predicted future population of around 10 billion humans, who have all evolved to be hunter gatherers, adapt quickly enough? Graham Marshall will be reviewing some of the most amazing scientific advances of the last 70 years and will consider how well our species is adapting to modern life in light of our genetic legacy.

Graham Marshall studied physics at Birmingham and Nottingham universities, and his career has included developing electronic devices at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in Malvern, and a scientific post at the British Embassy in Japan.

“Join us for a stimulating review of the most important recent scientific advances and a thoughtful examination of the impact of our genetic legacy”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

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

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.

Why Everyone Should be a Feminist

Wednesday 24^th May 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

Bournemouth University lecturer Frances Hawkhead

Men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, yet women still earn less than men in Britain and are grossly underrepresented in our company boardrooms. Is this because women naturally prefer the roles which attract less pay, or does our social structure still privilege men? Should we support positive discrimination to increase the number of women in key business and civic roles, or is equal opportunity enough? Do existing cultural gender stereotypes harm men as well as women?

Via a brief history of feminism and an exploration of gender in society, Frances Hawkhead will provide some thought-provoking answers to these and other questions, and will invite us all to become feminists.

Frances Hawkhead  is a lecturer in English, Communication & Media at Bournemouth University.

“Join us for a thought-provoking evening as we discover why we should all be feminists”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

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

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 Evolution of Religion

Saturday 12^th November 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Senior Lecturer in Psychology Dr Michael E. Price

‘Is it Adaptive to Believe in a Higher Power?’ The consensus among evolutionary psychologists is that religiosity is a non-adaptive by-product of psychological mechanisms that evolved for other purposes. However, a great deal of scientific evidence now suggests that religion offers survival benefits, and that being religious can actually increase your life expectancy. So, why is there a positive relationship between religiosity and survival, and does this relationship suggest that religiosity is in fact an adaptation? Addressing these issues can produce valuable insights for both the religious and non-religious alike. Dr Michael E. Price is Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution, at Brunel University London. His research focuses on the evolutionary psychology of human social behaviour, morality, and religiosity.

“Join us for a fascinating exploration of the evolution of, and evolutionary significance of, religious beliefs”

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 Human Scale

Wednesday 26^th October 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With English and History of Architecture Tutor John Hubbard

John Hubbard will explore our relationships with our houses and homes. While many animals seek refuge and shelter or create spaces and territories for rearing their young, humankind is unique in the variety and intricacy of the places it calls home. However, our homes are so familiar that we often take them for granted, and ignore the collections they house, which are often museums of the self and a map of our connections to the world. What we do with interior space is as significant as our movements in the wider, less controlled exterior.

John will consider the evolution of the concept of the private home and through the history of architecture, gardens, gender, and material culture, will explore the similarities that even the grandest and most humble of houses share, and reflect upon what these say about our concept of ourselves as a species and as individuals existing in a complex evolved society. The buildings considered will range from Kingston Lacy, Longleat, Wilton, and Stowe to local family homes in flats and houses.

John Hubbard has taught English and History of Architecture at Bournemouth School and Bournemouth School for Girls. He spent a sabbatical year researching the Bankes/Kingston Lacy archive at the Dorchester History Centre. He is a published poet and has given many interesting talks to Dorset Humanists over the years, including an enthusiastic exploration of Thomas Hardy’s ‘poetry of unbelief’.

“Join us for an enjoyable exploration of our relationships with both the grandest and most humble of our houses and homes”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

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

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.

 

Being Human

Wednesday 26^th August 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Dr Fiona Coward.

What does it mean to 'be human', and what is it that makes us unique as a species? Is it even possible to identify a single, critical, and universal human characteristic that explains the essence of our uniqueness?

Charles Darwin’s ground-breaking theory of evolution showed that we share common ancestry with other great apes, and the fossil record and archaeological finds clearly demonstrate that modern humans didn’t emerge from ancestral apes in a single step, so when did populations along the way become distinctively ‘human’?

In recent decades scientists have been surprised to discover that many other animals demonstrate some of the skills we once thought were exclusively 'human', such as making and using tools, living together co-operatively in large groups, communicating in highly complex ways and even using and understanding symbols. In this thought-provoking presentation Fiona Coward will discuss the implications of these findings on how we think about what it means to be human, and will explain when and how some of the most obvious characteristics and behaviours that distinguish us as a species evolved.

“Join us for a highly informative examination of what it means to be human”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Dr Fiona Coward is Senior Lecturer in Archaeological Sciences at Bournemouth University whose research focuses on how and why humans were able to scale up their social lives from the very small social groups we lived in for much of our prehistory to the global social networks which characterise people’s lives today.

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

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.

Fear and God

How fear and anxiety leads to more religion by Tomas Rees

On 14th April, Tomas Rees gave a presentation (see above video) to Dorset Humanists entitled 'Fear and God'.


In the talk he reviewed many of the studies he’s covered on his blog, looking at how and why fear and anxiety provoke religious responses, and the link between unstable and dangerous societies with greater levels of religion (The main talk runs for 50 minutes, with another 20 minutes of questions at the end). He’s posted this talk on his blog and we reproduce the presentation here too.


If you enjoyed this talk and want to find out more, please visit Tom’s blog at Epiphenom for a wealth of additional information: http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com. Tom is also a founder member of Humanists4Science, along with Dorset Humanists’ Chris Street.


'Anxiety a major cause of religion’ 
“Religious nations have higher infant mortality, more murders, worse corruption, more cases of AIDS, and higher levels of abortion” At our April meeting, Dr Tom Rees gave a very illuminating presentation on what makes people more religious. 


Experimental research has found that loneliness, reminding people of death and making them more anxious makes people more religious. Muslims have very high death anxiety because of a vivid belief in Hell.  It was reassuring, however, to learn that reminding atheists about death makes them less religious. 


Anxiety increases our ‘pattern-seeking’ behaviour – it makes people more inclined to ‘see God’s hand’ in everyday events. If the government is not in control people want God to be in control. The least religious people are those who enjoy good health, stable employment, are well-educated and who haven’t experienced war. Peaceful, trusting, urbanised countries have the most atheists and are the least religious. Religious societies have the lowest ‘social capital’ (social cohesion, co-operation and so on). 


Tom offered two explanations as to why the United States is so religious. One reason its vigorous free market in religion and a second reason is its high income inequality and lack of social security which increases anxiety which, in turn, makes people more religious. 


Tom claimed that state-sanctioned religion makes people more cynical about religion. If you get rid of state religion countries become more religious. If you want to reduce your blood pressure, however, religion can help.


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