Humanists4Science: H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition

Thursday 12 January 2012

H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition

During 2012 do YOU resolve to discuss science?

Enter the Humanists4Science Science Resolution Revolution Competition!

New Year Resolutions are often all about ME! ... I'm going to go on a diet, get fitter - join a gym etc etc. During 2012 join the revolution and make a Science resolution.

Resolve to discuss anything scientific with somebody. That can mean discussing scientism or scientific method with a friend. Or maybe you could discuss scientific evidence or scientific thinking?

Enter the Humanists4Science (H4S) Science Resolution Revolution Competition.

Revolution Resolution by British Humanist Association (BHA) is inclusive and open to all, regardless of religion or belief. H4S are affiliated to BHA.

H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition - Rules

Everyone is eligible to enter the H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition
Your resolution MUST include the words 'science', 'scientism' or 'scientific'.
There is no limit on the number of resolutions per entrant to the competition
Add your resolution onto the Revolution Resolution website by 29th February 2012.
Email a copy of your H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition entry to Chair, Humanists4Science. Include your name, address & phone number by 29th February 2012.
Winners will be announced March 2012.

Examples

I resolve by May 2012 to give a talk to my local primary school about 'My Passion for Science'.
By June 2012 I resolve to discuss what I mean by 'scientific method' with 'J'.
During March 2012 I resolve to discuss the science of stem cell research with 'A'.
In 2012 I resolve to discuss with my creationist friend 'C' the scientific evidence for evolution by natural selection.
I resolve to discuss during by May 2012 with 'D', the difference between 'science' & 'scientism', 'scientific' & 'scientistic'.

Prizes

All H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition entrants receive 'Thank You' certificates.
A minimum of 20 people entering the Competition triggers prize giving.

Winner receives 'Magic of Reality - How we know what's really true' by Richard Dawkins (BHA Vice President)
Runner-up receives 'On Being - A scientists exploration of the great questions of existence' by Peter Atkins (BHA Distinguished Supporter)

Competition Judges

Chris Street, Chair of Humanists4Science and David McKnight, H4S Co-Founder.
Judges cannot enter the competition.

Humanism: Science, Scientific Evidence & Scientific Method

In line with February 2011 suggestions from Humanists4Science, for the first time the November 2011 British Humanist Association Strategy includes 'science' and 'scientific evidence' in the BHA Aims:-

Humanism involves a naturalistic view of the universe.... humanists strive to be rational, looking to science in attempting to understand the universe.

We support significant initiatives to meet global challenges, showing how these initiatives rest on our principles of accepting scientific evidence...

For the first time BHA includes 'scientific method' in its definition of Humanism:-

Humanists have trusted to the scientific method, evidence and reason to discover truths about the universe ...

Humanists4Science Vision

'A world in which important decisions are made by applying the scientific method to evidence rather than according to superstition.'

British Humanist Association Vision

'A world where everyone lives cooperatively on the basis of shared human values and respect for human rights.'

Celebrities discuss New Years Resolutions with Susan Blackmore

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About Humanists4Science (Hum4Sci)

Humanists4Science (H4S) Mission "To promote, within the humanist community, the application of the scientific method to issues of concern to broader society."

H4S Vision "A world in which important decisions are made by applying the scientific method to evidence rather than according to superstition."

H4S is for humanists with an active interest in science. We believe that science is a fundamental part of humanism but also that it should be directed to humane and ethical ends. Science is, in our view, more a method than a body of facts.

H4S take a naturalistic view and believe, like 62% of the UK population, that science, the scientific method & other evidence provides the best way to understand the universe.

H4S are a Special Interest Group of the British Humanist Association (BHA).

Since 2008 H4S members have discussed many Humanist-Science topics in our Yahoo Group.

Prof. Jim Al-Khalili - 11TH BHA President - On Scientific Method

'I have a rational unshakeable conviction that our universe is understandable, that mysteries are only mysteries because we have yet to figure out, the almost always logical answers. For me there is simply no room, no need, for a supernatural divine being to fill in the gaps in our understanding. We’ll get there, we’ll fill in those gaps with objective scientific truths: [with] answers that aren't subjective, because of cultural or historical whims or personal biases, but because of empirically testable and reproducible truths. We may not get the full picture, we may never get the full picture, but science allows us to get ever closer.’ Jim Al-Khalili, BHA AGM 2013

"A lot of people say science is just one way of looking at the world, at reality, and poets and musicians and, of course, people of faith, have said there are other ways. I don't buy that. For me there is an objective reality that is there and real. For a theoretical physicist who's trained in thinking about quantum mechanics, which involves the idea that by observing something you alter its nature, you have to have some sort of working definitions of reality"
Jim Al-Khalili in New Humanist magazine Mar Apr 2013

Lord Taverne

Science depends on reason and regard for evidence. For me, the scientific approach lies at the heart of humanism as well as atheism. We all accept that science has made us healthier and wealthier. What has been seldom acknowledged or realised is that since the Enlightenment, which it helped to bring about, science has played an essential part in making us more civilised.

Science is the enemy of autocracy because it replaces claims to truth based on authority with those based on evidence and because it depends on the criticism of established ideas. Scientific knowledge is the enemy of dogma and ideologies and makes us more tolerant because it is tentative and provisional and does not deal in certainties. It is the most effective way of learning about the physical world and therefore erodes superstition, ignorance and prejudice, which have been causes of the denial of human rights throughout history. Science is also the enemy of narrow nationalism and tribalism and, like the arts, is one of the activities in this world that is not motivated by greed.

What can compare, for example, with the recent achievement of the Large Hadron Collider, a venture of collaboration by 10,000 scientists and engineers from 113 countries, free from bureaucratic and political interference? Those people put aside all national, political, religious and cultural differences in pursuit of truth and for the one purpose of exploring and understanding the natural world.

Without the contribution of science, which is, in my view, the rock on which atheism and humanism are built, we would be less inclined to be critical, tolerant and understanding and more prone to prejudice, bigotry and tribalism. We would be a less civilised society.

Lord Taverne, 25th July 2013, House of Lords debate on contribution of Humanism and Atheism

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Thursday 12 January 2012

H4S Science Resolution Revolution Competition

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