Humanists4Science: Jim Al-Khalili - new President of British Humanist Association

Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Jim Al-Khalili - new President of British Humanist Association

3m40s – 4m42s: ‘First and foremost, as you may have gathered, I am a scientist. So I view the world as a scientist views the world. I'm curious about the universe and our place in it, sometimes to the point of obsession. That’s what defines me as a scientist. 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, AGM 2013

Jim Al-Khalili 11th President
- British Humanist Association

In January 2013, Professor Jim Al-Khalili became the 11th (after Toynbee Smith Rayner Bondi Hemming Blackham Melly Leach Ayer Huxley) President of the British Humanist Association (BHA). Jim will retain the Presidency for 3 years.

Humanists4Science Committee would like to congratulate Jim Al-Khalili on becoming the BHA President.

BHA quote Jim Al-Khalili:-

"The most wondrous and surprising thing about our world is that it is rational and explicable. Appealing to the supernatural adds nothing to our understanding of our place in the Universe."

In the March/April edition of New Humanist Magazine Jim Al-Khalili says:-

"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"

Amongst his many recent achievements Jim Al-Khalili hosts the Radio 4 programme "The Life Scientific". Each week, Jim al-Khalili invites a leading scientist to tell us about their life and work. He'll talk to Nobel laureates as well as the next generation of beautiful minds to find out what inspires and motivates them and what their discoveries might do for us. All 46 episodes can be downloaded. Read Jim Al-Khalilis' own official website.

Chris Street 2nd Chair
- Humanists4Science

Chris Street
Chair Humanists4Science

@bhahumanists @jimalkhalili belated congrats from Humanists4Science. Can we assist you? @hum4sci humanists4science.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/jim-al…
— Humanists4Science (@Hum4Sci) March 25, 2013

Humanists4science (H4S) is affiliated to the BHA. The H4S Mission is "To promote, within the humanist community, the application of the scientific method to issues of concern to broader society." Our Vision is "A world in which important decisions are made by applying the scientific method to evidence rather than according to superstition."

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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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Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Jim Al-Khalili - new President of British Humanist Association

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