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Humanist Thought of the Week - Inspiration to live a better life with Jennifer Hancock, founder of Humanist Learning Systems
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 05, 2013
Tuesday Nov 05, 2013
How Humanism can help us be better conversationalists – or should – if we don’t become jerks about it.
When you talk to others do you have an agenda?
Are you trying to show how clever you are?
Are you trying to win an argument?
Or are you genuinely curious about the other person?
Who they are and how they came to hold the views they do.
Too often we are so caught up in what we want to get out of a conversation we forget that there is a real human being on the other side.
We need to learn to talk with people instead of at them.
To do that, we have to genuinely care about what they have to say and to share.
That requires you to recognize them as a human worthy of your respect and compassion.
Even if you disagree with them.
Tuesday Oct 15, 2013
Tuesday Oct 15, 2013
The Humanist lyrics of Phil Ochs
One of my favorite songs is “When I’m Gone by Phil Ochs.
If you haven’t acquainted yourself with his music and you are a Humanist, I urge you to seek his music out.
When I’m Gone is from his “There But for Fortune” album.
The song is about accepting mortality and deciding to make a difference while you’re still alive.
I can’t live proud enough to die when I’m gone, so I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here.
This single sentiment is at the heart of my Humanism and at the heart of other Humanists I know.
Accepting death does not have to lead to depression.
It can be empowering if you let it.
Tuesday Oct 08, 2013
Tuesday Oct 08, 2013
What is real really matters.
Humanists are concerned with reality.
Ours is a secular philosophy.
We don’t spend time worrying about the supernatural.
We understand our problems have natural causes and we therefore must seek natural solutions to them.
In order to be successful we need to know what is objectively real vs. what is imagined to be real.
What is the difference?
Objective reality can be verified by others.
It is only by subjecting our beliefs to the scrutiny of others that we can find out what is really true and avoid making costly mistakes.
Tuesday Sep 03, 2013
Tuesday Sep 03, 2013
Discipline is a word that has many definitions.
Most of them are positive.
Read the rest of this entry » Tuesday Aug 27, 2013
Tuesday Aug 27, 2013
Whenever I complained about something growing up, my father would tell me, Life isn’t Fair.
And it isn’t.
Read the rest of this entry »