(What is freethought? - Edit Wiki)
Videos 1 to 30
 Tulsa Atheists Meetup video
from Most Recent
July 24, 2008
Author: TulsaAtheist Added: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:55:29 -0800 Duration: 94The Tulsa Atheists Meetup (TAM) group is open to all Tulsa-area folks who define themselves as atheists (those with no belief in any gods), agnostics (those who are uncertain about the existence of gods), humanists (those who apply reason and science to understanding the universe and solving humanity's problems), or any variety of freethinker (those who base their beliefs on science and logic rather than emotion, tradition, or authority).
|
 Tulsa Atheist TV ad #1
from Revver - american Videos
July 24, 2008
Author: TulsaAtheist Added: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:55:23 -0800 Duration: 40This history-making video is the first advertisement from an atheist group to appear on American commercial television, and it's currently showing on Cox Cable in Tulsa, Oklahoma ("The Buckle on the Bible Belt"), of all places! If you're a Tulsa-area atheist, agnostic, humanist, or other freethinker, come join us.
|
 Joe Nickell - Humanistic Skepticism
from Point of Inquiry
July 19, 2008
The worldâs leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Looking for a Miracle, Inquest on the Shroud of Turin, and most recently The Relics of the Christ. In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Joe Nickell expounds on his unique kind of paranormal investigating, which is neither mystery mongering, nor debunking. He emphasizes how his humanist values carry over into his skeptical work, and how his notion of doing good is applied to skepticism as a movement. He criticizes many in the skeptical movement who seem not to care to honor claimants with on-the-ground investigations, instead dismissing from the armchair that a supernatural claim is impossible. He also challenges those with the ghost hunter mentality, who lack effective training in investigation and instead just promote belief in unsupportable paranormal claims, even while engaging in important field investigations. Nickell ends discussing the future of the skeptical movement and the odds he thinks it has to adopt the kind of humanistic skepticism he promotes.
|
Maggie Jackson - Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age
from Point of Inquiry
July 11, 2008
Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist who writes the popular âBalancing Actsâ column in the Boston Globe. Her work also has appeared in the New York Times and on National Public Radio, among other national publications. Her acclaimed first book, Whatâs Happening to Home? Balancing Work, Life and Refuge in the Information Age, examined the loss of home as a refuge. Her newest book is Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. In this interview with D.J. Grothe, Maggie Jackson discusses her controversial thesis about the downsides of the information age, and how the distractions from modern technologies lead to less critical thinking and less fulfilled lives. She explores the causes and effects of the erosion of attention, including media culture, the internet and personal communication devices, and even our fast-food culture, and how these impact relationships, work and personal identity. She details some advances in "attention science," a field in cognitive neuroscience, and what they tell us about how people can overcome their distractions. And she shares what listeners can do to stop the erosion of attention in their lives.
|
 Ben Radford - Paranomal Investigation
from Point of Inquiry
July 04, 2008
Ben Radford is is one of the world's few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into psychics, ghosts and haunted houses, exorcisms, Bigfoot, lake monsters, UFO sightings, crop circles, and other topics. He is managing editors of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The author of many books, including Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us, and Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World's Most Elusive Creatures (with Joe Nickell), he also writes online at LiveScience.com and MediaMythmakers.com. In this interview with D.J. Grothe, Radford recounts some of his experiences as a paranormal investigator, drawing a contrast between his work and that of the ghost hunters. He talks about his attempts at steath skepticism and also about his new board-game, Playing Gods. Also in this episode, philosopher and Center for Inquiry founder Paul Kurtz shares a special message for rationalists on Independence Day, about the Influence of the Enlightenment on America.
|
PZ Myers - Expelled from Expelled
from Point of Inquiry
June 27, 2008
P.Z. Myers PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and the author of Pharyngula, the most heavily-trafficked science blog online. In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, P.Z. Myers details his expulsion from a screening of Expelled, Ben Stein's documentary which claims that the scientific community is limiting academic freedom by not allowing Intelligent Design to be taught or discussed in the schools. He explains the background of how he and other scientists were invited to appear in the film under false pretenses, and what his response has been. He addresses focus groups and other marketing methods for finding the best way to communicate science to the public. Calling himself part of the radical fringe, he elaborates on his view that leading science organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement for Science and the National Academies of Science are playing a shell game on the public when it comes to teaching the compatibility of science with religion, arguing that there is a direct link between science education and religious skepticism. And he also shares his thoughts about the future of the atheist and rationalist movement in the United States.
|
PZ Myers - Science and Atheism in the Blogosphere
from Point of Inquiry
June 20, 2008
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and the author of i Pharyngula /i , the most heavily-trafficked science blog online. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, P.Z. Myers explains the purpose and impact of his blog, and whether his priority is to advance science education or atheism. He talks about what he sees as his roles in the scientific community and the atheist movement, and how related these roles are. He explores the relationship between science and atheism, and argues that the more a public learns science, the likelier it is that they will become atheistic. And he talks about where a science educator's atheism fits in the classroom. He also addresses the position of leading scientific organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academies of Science regarding evolution being compatible with religious belief, and their use of religious scientists as spokespeople, and he assesses their motivations and strategies to advance science to a largely religious American public.
|
Susan Jacoby - The Age of American Unreason
from Point of Inquiry
June 13, 2008
Susan Jacoby is the author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. A prominent public intellectual she is frequently appears in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Free Inquiry. Her latest best selling book is The Age of American Unreason. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Susan Jacoby explores recent trends that she argues have led to the "Age of American Unreason," including religious fundamentalism, mass media consumption and "video culture," and multiculturalism. She addresses how fundamentalism feeds anti-intellectualism in America, and how not only fundamentalism can be blamed for it. She details both the upside and the downside of the internet, the perils of too much TV viewing, and the effect of such over-consumtion on the cultural literacy of average Americans. She addresses criticism that she is merely "elitist" or a "luddite," and ends with specifics on how people can work to challenge the Age of American Unreason.
|
Taner Edis - Science and Nonbelief
from Point of Inquiry
June 06, 2008
Taner Edis, born and raised in Turkey, is associate professor of physics at Truman State University and the author of The Ghost in the Universe: God in Light of Modern Science and Science and Non-belief, among other publications. His latest book is An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Taner Edis explains reasons he thinks religion persists, and explores the complex relationship between science and nonbelief, detailing how the institutional interests of science may prevent some in the science community from working to diminish religion, the New Atheists excepted. He talks about how scientific theories are often misused by paranormalists or supernaturalists to advance their cultural position, focusing on the New Age movement's use of quantum physics and on the intelligent design movement. He examines differences between science and pseudoscience, arguing that often it is not possible to demarcate what is uniquely science. And he surveys various scientific approaches of examining religion, such as rational choice theory, the secularization hypothesis, and various evolutionary approaches, such as group selection theory, the byproduct theory of religion, and memetic approaches (that religion is a virus of the mind ).
|
Robert M. Price - Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms
from Point of Inquiry
May 30, 2008
Robert M. Price is professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute. Heâs a fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion and the Jesus Seminar. Dr. Price is the author of a number of books such as The Reason Driven Life, Deconstructing Jesus, Incredible Shrinking Son of Man, and The Da Vinci Fraud. He has appeared widely in the media, and was featured prominently in the movie The God Who Wasnât There. His latest book is Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Robert Price explores the origins, doctrines and dangers of various strands of contemporary "pop mysticism," including Rhonda Byrne's The Secret and other "New Thought" proponents, the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and The Course in Miracles. He contends that there is some truth to many of these mystical worldviews, especially the emphasis on introspection and self-improvement, and details how to take what is of value while rejecting the unsupportable claims. He also addresses the popularity and influence of Christian televangelist Joel Olsteen, whom he argues is in fact a promoter of New Thought in Christian trappings. He also explores what the secular humanist and skeptic movements might learn from both the Christian Mega-churches and the New Age movements, and how they can work together as freethinkers against fundamentalist dogmatic religious-political movements.
|
Jamy Ian Swiss - Skepticism and the Art and Philosophy of Magic
from Point of Inquiry
May 23, 2008
Jamy Ian Swiss is universally considered one of the worldâs top sleight of hand performers, famous to magicians for his subtlety, skill and depth of understanding of magicâs history. He has appeared on a number of television programs in the United States, Europe, and Japan, including on The Today Show, CBSâs 48 Hours, Comedy Central, CNN, PBS Nova and the PBS documentary, The Art of Magic. Heâs performed internationally for corporate clients, lectured to magicians in over a dozen countries, and is a co-producer of New York Cityâs longest-running Off-Broadway magic show, Monday Night Magic. He is also a co-founder of the National Capital Area Skeptics and the New York City Skeptics, and a long-time contributor to the skeptical movement and its magazines. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Jamy Ian Swiss talks about his skeptical beginnings, and argues that magic done well is an "entertaining form of skepticism, rather than a debased form of mysticism" (as described by Adam Gopnik in the recent profile of Jamy in "The New Yorker"). He explores some of the philosophy of why and how magic works, and examines ethical and artistic issues related to the performance of contemporary magic and mentalism, as reflected n the work of a spectrum of performers ranging from Derren Brown to Marc Salem to Uri Geller. He also wonders about the effectiveness of the skeptical movement overall, and the value of getting involved in the skeptical community.
|
|
Log in or sign up to leave comments.
0 comments on freethought:
(No comments yet..)
get widgets
RSS feed for freethought: 
To add your video to this page, just add this code in your video blog post:
|
