EDIT!

Update: We had a fantastic time! We socialized, celebrated, decided, talked, shared, ate, drank, ate more, and talked some more. Thanks so much to Joe and David for being such gracious hosts to their beautiful home and farm! Want to see some pictures I took of our Nature Walk?

NOTE: This is INSTEAD OF meeting March 21. We are now meeting the day before. Any questions, email Neece.

I forgot to bring up the subject of our Secular Service in our regular meeting! So we’ll spend a few minutes when we get together for this meeting, gathering ideas and then getting a tally on which service we’re all most interested in. So bring your ideas or comment here with suggestions if you can’t make the meeting.

~

We had so much discussion for The God Virus that we only go through chapter 5. So we’re going to finish the book next month, chapter 6 to the end.

The book we are reading  is The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture by Darrel W. Ray

We still need someone to take chapter 11, and chapter 10 is also available, if someone wants it.

• 6. The Myth of Unchanging Morality: Daniel
• 7. Jesus My Personal Savior: The Roots of American Evangelism: Gerald
• 8. Intelligence, Personality and the God Virus: Neece
• 9. Understanding and Living With The God Virus: Neece
• 10. The Journey: Living a Virus-Free Life: Brent
  
• 11. The God Virus and Science:  Gerald
• 12. The Future of an Illusion: Daniel
  

Directions to Wilks/Smith home from Morgantown via I-79:

North on I-79 from Morgantown, cross the border into PA and take the Mount Morris Exit, #1. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp. You will stay on this road for 3.6 miles (bearing right at church/cemetery) and it will dead end at a stop sign. Turn left on Taylortown Road and go 2.2 miles. There will be a sharp bend in the road but you will go straight ahead onto Big Foot Road (not marked). Go about a city block and take the first driveway on right (you will see a red barn as you turn in).

House phone number: 724-324-2712
cell phone: 724-998-2520

Address:
126 Bigfoot Rd.
Dilliner, PA 15327

Do not trust a GPS – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t in this area.

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Julia Child cooks up a batch of primordial soup and explains how these simple ingredients produce amino acids – the building blocks of life. This video played in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Life in The Universe gallery from 1976 until the gallery closed.

I never watched her cooking show, but I’ve heard she never took herself too seriously, always made fun of herself a bit, and seemed to have fun. She is quite endearing in this video. I hope you enjoy it.

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~

Dec 7th Update:

Yesterday’s meeting was amazingly successful! Thanks to the 22 people who showed up to make it interesting, lively and fun.

We ran the gamut from christian apologist to deists to a bunch of godless athesists. Rachel brought tracts to hand out as well as great arguments for why we should believe in god. Her arguments were classic but I think we held our own and had fun refuting her reasoning.

Godless Heathens Converted: 0 (although Joe raised his hand when she asked if anyone accepted her arguments and wanted to convert, but I think he was just being supportive since he was pretending to be on her side and help her out. Joe you can clarify if you were really converted!)

At any rate, it was fun. Afterwards, we hung out and talked about anything and everything (which atheists can do. We don’t always talk about religion!) It was hard to leave because it was such a fun night.

Thank you so much for opening your home to us, Tim. That made the night so much more successful and comfortable.

~

The theme of this meeting is The Great Conversion!

Rachel (the president of the Brights) is going to use her guile, wit and best emotional appeals to try to convert us to christianity! (She’s a nonbeliever. This is all done in jest, but also to help us practice our logical discussion skills)

With our best atheist and skeptical logic we will defend our lack of belief and counter her arguments.

Bring along any logical fallacy books you might have, in case you want to reference them.

Rachel does not have to follow any rules. She is allowed to use any method (besides physical torture) to try to convert us.

We, on the other hand, will be polite and friendly, and use our best logic, reason and scientific research to defeat her conversion attempts.

This should be great fun for everyone!

After the event, I’ll report back here with how things went and how many atheists were re-converted. Let’s make a strong, positive showing, fellow heathens!

Oh, if you are on the fence, either as an agnostic or in some other manner, feel free to come along and support Rachel with your arguments. All are welcome, even if you just want to watch us discuss faith vs reason.

We met at Tim’s House (thanks Tim!)

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• September 13 Meeting – Favorite Logical Fallacy (10)
• October 11 Meeting – My Personal 10 Commandments (8)
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The October Theme was: My Personal 10 Commandments.

Make a list of 10 (or less) New Personal Commandments. These are 10 rules or virtues you set for yourself that you might hang on your wall, keep on your desk, or wish to teach to others. These 10 Commandments are like your personal creed for living. Write them down and bring your list. We’ll share them at the meeting.

Remember to keep each commandment succinct. It will be easier to remember.

Also, call it whatever you like. You certainly don’t need to call them commandments. That’s just used for familiarity.

EDIT: I found this and thought it might help you: A List of Virtues. It seems interesting for at least looking at a list of virtues that you might connect with.

SUMMARY: Last night’s meeting was interesting and fun. We had 11 people and it was quite lively.

If you shared your 10 “commandments” last night, please email them to me if I can include them on this page. Or, feel free to leave a comment with your list here to share with us! I think it would be nice to have them all written down for people.

Personally, I got a lot out of listening to others share their principles and rules for living.

Butch’s Codex

1. Be passionate about something.
2. Never give in to a bully (make a stand) and never be a bully.
3. Be as honest as possible, never fear the truth.
4. Do not fear things just because they’re different.
5. You are no better than anyone else, but you are as good as everyone else.
6. There is humor in all things, it is up to you to find it.
7. Neece’s Platinum Rule: Treat others as they want to be treated, in their best interest.
8. Learn as much as you can and as many different things as possible. Use empiric methods to improve your knowledge.
9. Never accept things at face value; think for yourself.
10. There will be disappointments in your life. Get over them and move on.
11. Accept the consequences of your actions!

~

Neece’s Principles

1. Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
2. Silver Rule: Do not treat others as you would not like to be treated.
3. Platinum Rule*: Treat others as they want to be treated, *in their best interest.
4. Learn from your mistakes, and when possible, learn from the mistakes of others.
5. Be pragmatic. Choose your battles. Be responsible.
6. If it harms no one, do what you like. (do no harm)
7. Think critically. Think for yourself. Be skeptical. Question everything.
8. Learn as much as you can. Never stop learning. Be curious. Wonder. Use the scientific method.
9. Strive to be your best, and to improve yourself whenever possible.
10. Laugh often. Have a great sense of humor.

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• Events (0)
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Oh, and take note of Dawkin’s tie! It’s Crocoduck tiled! LOL!

Cross-posted from Heaving Dead Cats

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The billboard is up and making the news! You can see all the press we’ve gotten so far here: http://morgantown.unitedcor.org/press . Some of the comments at the different articles are fun and interesting. The Charleston Gazette has 100 comments, the most popular story at the moment. It appears that there are about 3 or 4 positive to each negative comment! Here is the link: http://wvgazette.com/News/200909290601

Rachel has done a great job as our spokesperson. She even got on TV: http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=67641 Watch the video too!

So, MorgantownCoR comprises the Morgantown Atheists, the Morgantown Brights, the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club and the Morgantown Thomas Paine Society. One thing we all want to do is make a positive difference in our community. Through our actions, we can show the traditionally religious people in our area that we are good, moral people too. Together we can make even more of a difference.

As Rachel said earlier today, “Right now, we have the attention of not just our neighbors, but our state. Let’s show them that we are a valuable force in the community. Let’s have a strong showing for our Habitat for Humanity Build this Saturday.”

You can get all the information you need at the Morgantown Brights page: http://www.morgantownbrights.com/2009/09/27/habitatoct3/

Another project we’re looking into is Adopt A Road. Rachel has already started this process rolling. Please let us know if you will be willing to help clean a road with us. We need to show the Brights that the Atheists, Freethinkers and Thomas Paine lovers are also interested in this great endeavor.

We’ll send out more details of what is involved in the Adopt a Road project, but give us an idea if you are interested in helping by commenting below.

So let’s keep the momentum from the billboard going! Please consider showing up for the Habitat for Humanity Build, and let us know we can count on you for the Adopt a Road project.

Also, we will be happy to meet new faces at our upcoming meetings! We’ll keep you posted in the following locations on what events are coming up with our different groups:

Morgantown CoR (includes all events)
Morgantown Atheists (includes the Freethinkers Morgantown Schedule and will also include any Thomas Paine Society Meetings)
Morgantown Brights

We hope to see you soon. You can follow the events by getting our email updates from the Atheists and Brights sites.

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Mr. Deity and Da Man

Go to MrDeity.com to see all of the episodes from the beginning. You can subscribe to them through iTunes as well.

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We talked about logical fallacies and socialized a bit. Please email the information that you shared to Neece so that I can post it to share with everyone. I’ll be posting the different fallacies as I get them.

September Topic of the Evening: Your Favorite Logical Fallacy

We all chose a logical fallacy and talked a bit about it.

So, for this meeting:

• bring your logical fallacy
• an explanation of what it is
• several examples to share with us
• If someone uses that fallacy on you, how would you refute it?
• Bring a legible copy of your notes for us to post on this site after the meeting, to share with everyone. Even better, send a companion email to Neece before the meeting so we can share it with everyone in a big post the next day.
  

Choose from either list, they are a bit different:

• Logical Fallacies on Wikipedia
• Logical Fallacies on SkepticWiki

If you couldn’t make the meeting, you can still participate! You can comment below with your fallacy and the above information to share with us, or you can email us and we’ll share it with everyone.

NOTE: we are looking for a permanent meeting place where we can relax, talk comfortably and have different numbers of people show up. If you have ideas or suggestions, let us know!

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Here’s something Rachel over at Morgantown Brights shared with me since we’ve been talking about logical fallacies lately.

Nothing can reduce your happiness faster than an argument with an irrational co-worker. You can’t win irrational people over to your side by your superior reasoning abilities. And you can’t talk them into getting inside abandoned refrigerators and closing the door to see if the light goes out. There simply aren’t that many abandoned refrigerators. If you use the refrigerator in the break room, everyone will start whining about how there’s no room for yogurt. Until there are more refrigerators, or less yogurt, you will find yourself in frustrating discussions that can have no good endings.Trying to win an argument with an irrational person is like trying to teach a cat to snorkel by providing written instructions. No matter how clear your instructions, it won’t work. Your best strategy is to reduce the time you spend in that sort of situation.

I have developed a solution to this problem. It is based on the fact that irrational people are easily persuaded by anything that has been published. It doesn’t matter who published it, or what the context is, or how inaccurate it is. Once something is published, it’s as persuasive as anything else that’s ever been published. So I figure that what you need is a publication that supports all of your arguments no matter what they are. This is that publication.

I have collected the most common arguments made by irrational people into a handy reference guide and titled it “You Are Wrong Because.” Circle the irrational arguments that apply to your situation and give a copy to the person who is bugging you. Look smug, as though this were conclusive evidence of your rightness. A rational person might point out that just because something is written down doesn’t make it so. But since you’re not giving the list to anyone with that much insight, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you will feel as though you brought closure to a potentially frustrating situation.

You Are Wrong Because:

For your convenience, I have circled the brain malfunction(s) that most closely resemble(s) the one(s) you recently made on the topic of (fill in topic):

1. AMAZINGLY BAD ANALOGY
Example: You can train a dog to fetch a stick. Therefore, you can train a potato to dance.
2. FAULTY CAUSE AND EFFECT
Example: On the basis of my observations, wearing huge pants makes you fat.
3. I AM THE WORLD
Example: I don’t listen to country music. Therefore, country music is not popular.
4. IGNORING EVERYTHING SCIENCE KNOWS ABOUT THE BRAIN
Example: People choose to be obese/gay/alcoholic because they prefer the lifestyle.
5. THE FEW ARE THE SAME AS THE WHOLE
Example: Some Elbonians are animal rights activists. Some Elbonians wear fur coats. Therefore, Elbonians are hypocrites.
6. GENERALIZING FROM SELF
Example: I’m a liar. Therefore, I don’t believe what you’re saying.
7. ARGUMENT BY BIZARRE DEFINITION
Example: He’s not a criminal. He just does things that are against the law.
8. TOTAL LOGICAL DISCONNECT
Example: I enjoy pasta because my house is made of bricks.
9. JUDGING THINGS WITHOUT COMPARISON TO ALTERNATIVES
Example: I don’t invest in U.S. Treasury bills. There’s too much risk.
10. ANYTHING YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IS EASY TO DO
Example: If you have the right tools, how hard could it be to generate nuclear fission at home?
11. IGNORANCE OF STATISTICS
Example: I’m putting ALL of my money on the lottery this week because the jackpot is so big.
12. IGNORING THE DOWNSIDE RISK
Example: I know that bungee jumping could kill me, but it’s three seconds of great fun!
13. SUBSTITUTING FAMOUS QUOTES FOR COMMON SENSE
Example: Remember, “All things come to those who wait.” So don’t bother looking for a lob.
14. IRRELEVANT COMPARISONS
Example: A hundred dollars is a good price for a toaster, compared to buying a Ferrari.
15. CIRCULAR REASONING
Example: I’m correct because I’m smarter than you. And I must be smarter than you because I’m correct.
16. INCOMPLETENESS AS PROOF OF DEFECT
Example: Your theory of gravity doesn’t address the question of why there are no unicorns, so it must be wrong.
17. IGNORING THE ADVICE OF EXPERTS WITHOUT A GOOD REASON
Example: Sure, the experts think you shouldn’t ride a bicycle into the eye of a hurricane, but I have my own theory.
18. FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF KNOWN IDIOTS
Example: Uncle Billy says pork makes you smarter. That’s good enough for me!
19. REACHING BIZARRE CONCLUSIONS WITHOUT ANY INFORMATION
Example: The car won’t start. I’m certain the spark plugs have been stolen by rogue clowns.
20. FAULTY PATTERN RECOGNITION
Example: His last six wives were murdered mysteriously. I hope to be wife number seven.
21. FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE WHAT’S IMPORTANT
Example: My house is on fire! Quick, call the post office and tell them to hold my mail!
22. UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT OF SUNK COSTS
Example: We’ve spent millions developing a water-powered pogo stick. We can’t stop investing now or it will all be wasted.
23. OVER-APPLICATION OF OCCAM’S RAZOR (WHICH SAYS THE SIMPLEST EXPLANATION IS USUALLY RIGHT)
Example: The simplest explanation for the moon landings is that they were hoaxes.
24. IGNORING ALL ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
Example: I always get hives immediately after eating strawberries. But without a scientifically controlled experiment, it’s not reliable data. So I continue to eat strawberries every day, since I can’t tell if they cause hives.
25. INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME THINGS HAVE MULTIPLE CAUSES
Example: The Beatles were popular for one reason only: They were good singers.
26. JUDGING THE WHOLE BY ONE OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS
Example: The sun causes sunburns. Therefore, the planet would be better off without the sun.
27. BLINDING FLASHES OF THE OBVIOUS
Example: If everyone had more money, we could eliminate poverty.
28. BLAMING THE TOOL
Example: I bought an encyclopedia but I’m still stupid. This encyclopedia must be defective.
29. HALLUCINATIONS OF REALITY
Example: I got my facts from a talking tree.
30. TAKING THINGS TO THEIR ILLOGICAL CONCLUSION
Example: If you let your barber cut your hair, the next thing you know he’ll be lopping off your limbs!
31. FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND WHY RULES DON’T HAVE EXCEPTIONS
Example: It should be legal to shoplift, as long as you don’t take enough to hurt the company’s earnings.
32. PROOF BY LACK OF EVIDENCE
Example: I’ve never seen you drunk, so you must be one of those Amish people.

From: The Joy of Work: Dilbert’s Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-Workers By Scott Adams

From Here. Cross-posted from Heaving Dead Cats

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