December 18, 2011, 8:00pm


"Vitamins: What are they and can we have too many?" 


by Ethan Kegley




Abstract:

What does the general population know about vitamins? Most people would say that vitamins run though the beginning of the alphabet from A to E. The average person might comment that vitamin A comes from carrots, vitamin B comes from their breakfast cereal, vitamin C comes from oranges, vitamin D comes from milk and that vitamin E is taken in the form of a pill to keep your skin from aging too quickly. The average person does not know a whole lot about vitamins. Why is this? How many vitamins are there actually? Where do they come from and what do they do in our bodies? Is it even possible to take too many vitamin pills?

I hope to give a basic overview of what vitamins are, their similarities, differences, what they do in our bodies and how the general population has come to know so little about them. The term vitamin was made up by a Polish scientist in the early 20th century. One of the first ways to classify vitamins is by their solubility. Some are water soluble, others are fat soluble. We all know the vitamins A-E, but how much do we know about vitamin “K” or vitamin “B9?” There is plenty of information to be had about vitamins, but the information is not always whole or in some cases can be somewhat misleading.

Is it possible that having a better understanding of the way we eat and the way or bodies deal with the intake and processing of vitamins and or lack of vitamins could be a major factor in health? I will deal with these issues and hopefully clear up any misconceptions about vitamins and possibly create an interest in living a healthier life.

December 13, 2011

"Nomadic metaphysics - mobility as resistance narrative and life strategy"

By, Michal Grzegorzewski

World is a motion and social world is in state of flux. Fixed order and hegemony of sedentary states cannot fully compete with nomadic flexibility. Marginal becomes paradigm. Global capitalism creates elites and resistance against its own regime. Mobile subject benefit from the system others oppose it by being elusive. Nomadic modus viventi is more observable and applicable than ever before. Mobility is a win, attachment is passé.

I will divide theorizing on mobility into 4 subtopics:

Social World as a dynamics of Brownian Movements – where I will provide introduction to a general characteristics of modern social dynamics in the contexts of people in the motion and transnationalism based on works of Pries and Bauman.

Complex framework of modern mobilities – will be devoted to more detailed presentation of mobilities of different scale – from everyday small mobilities to big mobilities of immigration with their meanings, politics and practices as proposed by Adley , Urry, Appadurai

Nomad as a thread and liberation – in this section I will draw on Deleuze and Guattari notion of two forms of power and resistance illustrating the case with work of de Certeau to propose and discuss a concept of nomadic state of mind.

Startegic flexible citizenship and power positioning – here I will refer to work of Aihwa Ong and her analysis of strategic spatial management of national and culture belonging in the framework of Chinese elites from Hong Kong.

December 4, 2011

"The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche"

by, Jim Magee

Few if any of the major thinkers since Plato have come close to the intellectual honesty and intensity of Nietzsche. Even fewer have been more misrepresented and misunderstood. Yet the ideas This lecture will serve as an exposition of the life and thought of Nietzsche for the interested beginner who would like a way into Nietzsche and his core concepts and ideas.

November 27, 2011

Sonja Dimoska

JUNG’S PSYCHOLOGY AND THE CONDIOTION OF MAN

Carl Gustav Jung was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20^th century. He is the founder of analytical psychology. Even though his work did not get proper acknowledgement during his life, today Jungian psychology is a legitimate psychological school. In addition, modern western culture is caring the seal of his thought. Terms such as introvert and extravert, complex, archetype, collective unconscious, are just a part of his legacy. 

Jung was a pioneer in the science field to accept and treat man as a being whose mind is not just an expression of the logical reasoning, but it is determined by the unconscious as well and therefore needs to be treated as such.

The presentation will firstly explain Jung’s main concepts, such as five main archetypes, alongside with references to their articulation through human psyche. Jung believed that as the physical body is structured in a certain way to enable people to feel, understand and respond to the world, there is no reason to deny analogous structure of the psychic body. The archetypes give the necessary provisions to our comprehension of the world, inner and outer. The speech will follow with an elaboration on archetypes’ interdependence and interaction in reference to the broader understanding of human psyche and the collective unconscious. This idea led Jung to understanding of the position of human being in broader context that brought completely new reading of myths, fairytales, religion, ethnology. Followed from this, criticism on modern culture seen through personal and collective psychology is even more valid today than in Jung’s time.

To the end, Jungian suggestion on developing a healthier psyche through individuation will be given. Jung strongly believed that if people want to improve the quality of its being in the world first they need to come in terms with their own internal world which finally is no different to the existence as a whole.

November 13, 2011

Thomas Levene

What Is the Federal Reserve And Why We Should Protest Against, And Abolish It?

Abstract:

Since the Wall Street protests, thousands of people all over the world have demonstrated against the excesses of Wall Street and bankers. As the wealth gap widens and economies collapse people are seeing Wall Street and banks as the culprits. But are they really directly to blame? This speech will look into the real culprits: the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private banking cartel that enjoys the protection of the government. It will break down how they can create money and influence Wall Street and economies.  It concludes that the Federal Reserve and other institutions like it are behind much of the economic miseries since its inception in 1913 and should therefore be abolished.




Link: http://www.adoa.com.tw/tdladoacomtw/

November 6, 2011

Angel Cvetkov

Western practices to Eastern Enlightenment

Abstract:

During big part of the 20th century, and especially after WW2, with the rise of the bit era and the counter-culture, the secular, post-christian West has been seing Eastern spirituality with romanticized eyes, and has tried to incorporate some of its tennets within its worldview. Almost every child today knows what Yoga is and the numbers of Buddhist practitioners in the West has been quietly increasing. Eastern spiritual systems are extremely complex and often difficult to practice in the everyday life, but their "decentralized" nature provided the much needed spiritual inspiration to the post-Christian individualist youth who faced alienation in the growing secular consumerist societies burdened by politics and dry pragmatism.

Enlightenment is a word that has very different connotations in the West and East. In the West, it brings sentiments much in line with Kant's "Dare to think" paradigm, which during the counter-culture movements of the 60ties became ways to challenge the social authorities, Church authorities included. The Eastern idea that the divine resides everywhere and in everything, a.k.a. one omnipowerful non-questionable authority, and that it can be possibly found if one goes on a journey of self-discovery, merged well with the capitalist ideas of individualism and personal freedom of choice. Whether Western concept of individuality is a by-product of capitalist consumerism, is certainly not the point of this presentation.

The idea of personal quest for self-discovery has been as old as mankind, and I would like to present some interesting authentic practices from the West which try, in much of an "Eastern (experiential, non-mentalist way) to "deliver" an answer to some eternal questions like "Who or What am I" etc.

These practices are not divorced from their Eastern connotation, and yet, in many ways they remain fateful to the counter-culture aversion of ultimate authorities.

October 30, 2011

Aleksandar Stamatov

The divination practice and philosophical implications of the Book of Change

 Abstract:

        The Book of Change (Yi Jing) is an ancient Chinese book that dates around 1100 B.C. It is consisted of sixty-four drawings and because each drawing is consisted of six lines they are also known as hexagrams. The hexagrams are given names and they represent symbols of various things and events in nature. Other than the hexagrams, there is the text that explains each hexagram and additional text that explains each line in a hexagram. In this shape the Book of Change was used for divination and it is still used today.

At the beginning of this speech, I will explain the process of divination. The questioner comes up with a question and by special method one hexagram is picked. The diviner relying on the text comes up with an answer to the question. There are no “Yes” and “No” answers in the Book of Change; the text should be taken symbolically and the diviner interprets the text according to the situation in the question.

Next I will explain the origin of the Book of Change. According to the tradition, there were first invented the eight trigrams, each consisting of three lines. There are two kinds of lines—yin and yang—and when they are combined in a drawing of three horizontal lines, we can come up to eight combinations. Later these trigrams were combined with each other to form the sixty-four hexagrams and the text was added so as to form the Book of Change. Even later other commentaries were added which now are considered as part of the book and represent the philosophical interpretation of the book.

By explaining the origin I will also refer to the philosophical implication of the Book of Change. The main idea is that there is one hidden principle as the origin of all that exists, which function can be seen through the two opposites of the yin and the yang. The world which we can grasp by our experience is subject to constant change, and by understanding this change the human being can form unity with the one principle.

October 23, 2011

Ethan Kegley

"Can Food Be Our Medicine?"

Abstract:

What is medicine? When did we first start using it? What is food? How do these two things relate to the human body? Every day, day in and day out, we eat. We do a plethora of things when we are awake, and many of those specifically relate to food or eating. It has been said by many that “We are what we eat.” This may be truer than most people actively think. Everything that we put into our bodies becomes part of us in a specific way and or for a specific time. This can be good but this can be equally, if not more, terrible. So what about the “food” and “medicine” that each of us grew up on? How did medicine become separated from food? What is our history with the food we have eaten traditionally and how has our food evolved with us? If our food and our culture have evolved together, then why do we have such a disconnection from the food we eat? It is possible that we have lost something in the west, that only now we are beginning to find again. Is it possible that now, in our evolution we have more to learn from the plants we co-exist with than the “medicine” we have been dependent on? I want to relate how the possibility exists to heal ourselves with the food we eat and the environment we put ourselves in. There are many factors that go into being “healthy.” Can food be our medicine for our next step in our evolution?

September 25/2011

Matt Bronsil 

Abstract:

Montessori is a Method of Education based primarily on the ideas of Maria Montessori, a female Italian Physician who took a strong interest in child development and education.

Her methods are very different from traditional education.

We will explore what is different, how Montessori got started, how it grew (and eventually died out), and specific challenges to Montessori Education in Taiwan.

Matt Bronsil grew up in Montessori and is the son of Beth and Ken Bronsil, both of whom helped start the Montessori movement in Taiwan

June 26

Title: Lived Experience, Historical Consciousness and

Narrative: A Combinatory Aesthetics Ethic

Speaker: Dr. David Pendery

Abstract:

In this paper I introduce the conception of an “aesthetics ethic” conditioning historical consciousness and writing. The aesthetic ethic is a synthesis of epistemological, cognitive, aesthetic, experiential, linguistic and ontological qualities in accord in both historiography and historical novelization. By way of this synthesis, I posit a strong, binding amalgamation that links these two genres. The aesthetic ethic is a dynamic, densely deliberative field comprising individual and community historical experience, embedded within profoundly aesthetic and conscious contexts, in which history is first lived, and historical writing by historians and historical novelists is then composed. The aesthetics ethic will prove to be a useful map revealing details about how historians and historical novelists perceive (one of the source meanings of aesthetic) common facets of historical consciousness amidst a true kinship (one of the source meanings of ethic) of overlapping interests, methods and aims. We find that the writings and interpretations of historians and historical novelists overlap in important ways, such that, most importantly, historical novels become credible, newly imagined representations of the past, authentically effecting enlarged historical apprehension. My study encompasses not only letters, but also life, and I will argue that the fundaments of historical narrative is read up out of experience, composed by historians and historical novelists, read out by readers, and then replaced within a healthy reciprocal, contextual circle of human experience and communicative endeavor. All of these processes are at once highly aesthetic and ethical.




The forums are held in the Café Bastille 3, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No.7 溫州街7號 (in the basement of the café). It’s close to Daan Forest Park (not the one at Gonguan) near the intersection with Hoping East Road. They start at 8pm.


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June 19

Title: Is Free Will and Illusion?

Speaker: Dan Aldridge

Abstract:

The question of the existence of free will isn’t just empty philosophical word-games – it deeply affects issues in both religion and society’s values.  In Christianity, Epicurus’s troublesome question:

“Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?”
…is answered by apologists primarily with the argument that God gave people free will, and hence, suffering and evil are things we bring upon ourselves. 

But if indeed it turns out that humans are not imbued with free will in the sense Christians claim, then Christians must re-exam Epicurus’s penetrating question in a new light.

In society, the bonuses we heap upon CEO’s  – far disproportionate to the roll statisticians tells us they likely have (or don’t have) in determining a company’s fortunes – are probably due largely in part to the fact that we tend to attribute a God-like agenticity to the visible head of a company, who we imagine determines its fate much in the way we imagine God determines that of the universe, and our indivisible souls determine that of our own lives.    

And in criminal justice, more often than not, we still see systems which are focused primarily on retribution rather than correction. This is to a large degree a result of the fact that, even in light of everything neurology, genetics, psychology and sociology tell us about consciousness and decision-making, we still like to see things in terms of individual agents making choices independently of circumstance.  We bridle at the notion that people aren't responsible for their actions, and seek catharsis in moments where evil-doers receive what we they have coming.

      This discussion will explore these questions, and further, try to see the implications and even suggest a prognosis for individuals and society if indeed the cherished notion of a self -- making choices freely outside the chain of causality -- turns out to be unworkable in light of what science has to say on the subject.




The forums are held in the Café Bastille 3, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No.7 溫州街7號 (in the basement of the café). It’s close to Daan Forest Park (not the one at Gonguan) near the intersection with Hoping East Road. They start at 8pm.


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June Forums

June 12

Speaker: Ethan Kegley

Title: Food In the 21st Century: Its Waste and How to Stop It
Abstract:

When I was in 9^th grade I had a General Sciences teacher who started his first lesson of the year with the old adage: “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Of course my classmates and I had to argue with him. We got what we thought were free lunches every day.  Provided by our parents and sent to school with us. We thought that if he were to buy us lunch it would, necessarily, be a free lunch for us. We were not, all of us, so naïve as to think that nobody paid for the lunches we ate. We were, on the other hand, stubborn and little educated. I was 15 years old then and the second half of my life has been a journey of food (and other things). After reading such books as “If You Love this Planet,” “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” “Botany of Desire,” “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” at the age of 29, I finally decided to change my life. I stopped eating cake, cookies, chips, candy, and stopped drinking soda and other sugary drinks. I also tried to start eating as locally as possible, stopped buying imported canned food and started making everything I could from scratch. I will discuss the waste built into our modern food system. How unbalanced food subsidies are. The way modern food production has shaped the way we eat. The hidden costs nestled deep within our food choices. Some common and or popular foods and what the alternative to them might be. I want to emphasize that each of us has the power to vote with our wallet, every time we go to the cash register. Come and learn a little something about what we often include in our diet and why we don’t have to anymore.

The forums are held in the Café Bastille 3, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No.7 溫州街7號 (in the basement of the café). It’s close to Daan Forest Park (not the one at Gonguan) near the intersection with Hoping East Road. They start at 8pm.


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May 2011 Forums

Every Sunday in May at 8pm we will have the following forums:

May 1

Speech title:

Chinese Martial Arts in Taiwan

Speaker: Tom O’meara

Abstract:

The school has been in an existence in cork over 30 years, from its development of fu jow pai to Chinese boxing to name but a few, it uses the five animal system. Its main characteristics are the tiger and dragon fist (it's essence) with emphasis on low rooted stance's powerful hand techniques and elusive evasive hand movements. Chinese gong fu can be demanding art which requires the whole self-fitness, flexibility, strength to perform and execute a form or technique successfully is needed. The techniques are dangerous and effective, a humble attitude is needed. Misuse of the techniques can be fatal. Discipline plays a huge role in our school.

May 8

Speech title:

David Harvey: Neo-Marxism, Geography and the City

Speaker: Michal Grzegorzewski
Abstract:

    Since 1970`, Marx-influenced critics of capitalistic system have been trying to develop a missing component of Marxism – analysis of spatial dimension of capital, production and social relations. How does the system of modern capitalistic accumulation shape the space? What are the relation between geographical expansion of capital and geographical development?

     One of them - David Harvey, offered deep analysis of neglected yet fundamental problems of spatiality of capital by linking them to the context of changing notion of space and time and the city. Harvey proposes to upgrade historical materialism to historical-geographical materialism, in order to reduce contemporary social problems, threats and, first of all, to understand how space is produced by capitalism. His investigation is supported by his solid theoretical and practical background of geographical training, as well as, over 30 years of reading Das Kapital along with political activism within worker organizations.

     Harvey proclaims, that everyone has the right to the city and is obliged to participate in decisive processes creation of cites. When citizens stay passive, capitalists take over to ensure spatially their dominance and constant profits, he suggests.  Harvey belongs to these thinkers who formulate the big message:

    Wake up! Space is neither innocent nor natural. It is deeply entangled into ideological play and always has been this way. Taking over space means subjugating human lives. This is more invisible then others, menace of capitalistic exploitation. 

May 15

Speech title:

The Science Behind the Power of Words and Its Application for Meditation

Speaker: Tom Levene
Abstract:

       Does the Word have power??? Can words and phrases Change physical reality if repeated?? This looks into the philosophical rationale, and scientific studies relating to how repeating  word phrases or “Mantras” like “Om Mane Pene Hum“ can be effective. I also will draw on my Master’s thesis from Applied Linguistics, relating to studies by non meditators on this subject. I will then try and build some kind of common ground between modern science, physics and ancient philosophy on this subject. Ultimately this speech points out how potentially important our own thoughts and spoken words are, or could be, in shaping and molding our culture, outlook and perhaps even physical reality.

May 22

Speech title:

Chinese Superstition as a Process of Thought

Speaker: Andrew Kushner
Abstract:

Should you be superstitious? 

Is superstition a legitimate form of thinking?  Are pre-scientific modes of thought relevant in a scientific age?  What lies in the grey area between science and magic?  Is there something which modern-day rational science might be systemically overlooking?  What are superstitious and magical thinking, and how can they be distinguished from the contemporary scientific worldview? 

We will analyze the Chinese traditional cosmology of “systematic correspondence” -- the systems of Yin-Yang, Five Elements and Bagua (the Eight Trigrams) -- and their development in the Han dynasty.  We will investigate whether these systems of thought have anything to offer us in the present era, in light of recent developments in systems theory and cybernetics.Top of Form

May 29
Speech title:
The Life and Work of Nikola Tesla
Speaker:
Marko Durasic
Abstract:

Nikola Tesla symbolizes a unifying force and inspiration for all nations in the name of peace and science. He was a true visionary far ahead of his contemporaries in the field of scientific development. He went to America and had a dream to test the power of Niagara Falls. Tesla made for Edison's company several patents, which enabled the creation of a massive profit. Later he managed what he has always dreamed. At Niagara Falls the first hydropower plant was built based on Tesla's inventions, which represents the final victory of the idea of ​​alternating current. He made lot of discoveries: the Tesla coils, by which for the first time the fluorescent lighting was demonstrated; the Columbus's egg, centered on the principle of rotating magnetic field; the Neon lamp, which was the first demonstrated of wireless transmission of energy. He also worked on the study of what would later be called X-rays. However, he never patented his inventions, much of the data was destroyed in a fire in the laboratory, and all the credit for the discovery of X-ray today belong to Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. Tesla refused the Nobel Prize for few times and he stated that all of his patents remain recorded in world literature and will be more valuable to mankind than all the Nobel Prize and was absolutely right.

The forums are held in the Café Bastille 3, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No.7 溫州街7號 (in the basement of the café). It’s close to Daan Forest Park (not the one at Gonguan) near the intersection with Hoping East Road. They start at 8pm.

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April 2011 Forums

April 3

Title:
Cristian Icons, Mind-Altering Substances, and the Pathway to God

Speaker:
Dr. John A. Rush (via Skype)

Abstract:

Who was Jesus? Was he a real person? What happened to him? Did he die on the cross as suggested by the Catholic Church and many biblical historians? Or did he “die” in some other manner?  In his latest book, The Mushroom in Christian Art: The Identity of Jesus in the Development of Christianity, and in this presentation, John A. Rush will expose the greatest creation myth ever “sold,” that is the creation of Jesus as a living, breathing human being, forged into history after 312 CE by Eusebius of Caesarea once some of the Christian cults were connected to the politic.  Before this time there were numerous cults, the members of which had various experiences of Jesus, the Teacher of Righteousness, through the Amanita muscaria mushroom (and other mind-altering substances) as revealed in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Once connected to the politic the search was on for Jesus, but he couldn’t be found.  The real story of Jesus, and who he was, however, was coded in Christian art for all to see – if you know what to look for.  The message attributed to Jesus, that is, seek knowledge, know thyself, personal responsibility, and human decency was “murdered” by the Catholic church and replaced with a perversion, an oppressive tradition, that promotes ignorance and slavery to the Church.

April 10

Title:

The Philosophical Aspects of Chinese Painting:
The Taoist Influence on Landscape Painting from Tang to Song Dynasty

Speaker:

Sonja Dimoska

Abstract:
This speech provides an overview of the main philosophical implications in Chinese painting. More specifically it will discuss the influence of the Taoist philosophy on Chinese landscape painting in the period from Tang to Song dynasty. Chinese landscape painting as an individual mode of art expression developed during Tang dynasty and flourished immensely. Its second era of glory was achieved during Song dynasty. Landscape painting was considered as a superior art form and it was practiced by the literati or highly educated officials talented in poetry, calligraphy and painting. They were to represent men of virtue, of high morality that revealed their achievement of acting in accord with Tao. The presentation follows with elaborating that landscape painting was not purely a representation of the nature, but was a form through which Tao manifest itself through its vital forces yin and yang. The landscape painting that captured the spirit resonance was considered an achievement worth of admiration as it grasped the harmonious dynamism of the universal principal. Apart from the nature as a motive, other aspects that disclose the Taoist influence are to be discussed such as the empty space, monochromatic painting style, visual perspective, man representation in nature etc.  Chinese landscape painting is inseparable from its philosophical grounding and therefore exploring Chinese aesthetics through philosophy brings us towards better understanding of Chinese painting on one hand and the holistic Chinese philosophy on the other. 

April 17

Title:

Meditation - Meaning, Preparations, Techniques

Speaker:

Stephen Giger

Abstract:

As changes on this globe increasingly are speeding up, more people

ask themselves, where or what it is, that remains stable. Meditation

can give us several answers these questions.

What exactly is meditation?

Is it necessary, to go to the mountains and join a special retreat to

perform meditation?

Why should we even meditate? What are the possible benefits and

might there even be bad things about it?

In this short talk I will try to answer all of these questions and furthermore

provide insight to how exactly we can practice to gain quicker positive

results.

In meditation the place, food, sleep, social habits and a suitable technique are

the key points to gain a greater understanding of this sacred practice. Only

by getting a clear understanding of these points, we are ready to set foot

on this amazing journey inside ourselves.

April 24

Title:

Pseudo-Science, Scientific Denialism and Skepticism

Speaker:

Dan Aldridge

Abstract:

“Science and religion are basically equivalent, as both are based on faith.” 

“Science is always changing its mind, so I don’t trust it.”

“Science is just another culturally-determined system of belief, with no special claim to truth.”  

“Science is subjective”.

“Science is an elitist insiders’ club that colludes in suppressing decent to preserve its privileged status in society.”

“Follow the money!  Funding drives what passes for science now, so what passes for science now isn’t really science.”

Many of us have heard or even made claims like this.  But how carefully do we scrutinize the evidence for them?  The notion that science is essentially a faith-based belief system, for example, is based on a misapplication of the term “faith”, as faith denotes belief in the absence of evidence or even in the face of contradictory evidence, whereas in science, all trust we place in credentials, theories or even scientific laws is always provisional.  To quote ____ Steven J Gould, "In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms."

However, most of us don’t have the thousands of hours necessary to attain expertise in a given field and call ourselves scientists.  That being the case, if, as in science, one’s goal is to become right instead of simply to prove oneself right, how does one distinguish genuine knowledge from what Philosophy of Science Dr. Massimo Pigliucci calls “Nonsense on Stilts” – especially given the media’s profit-driven propensity for promoting the notion of controversy where none exists?

This question leads us to the importance of promoting skepticism - the sleek and powerful engine at the heart of science - which teaches us to spot and avoid the cognitive pit-traps within ourselves, as well as to identify and combat the social manifestations of these pit-traps: scientific denialism and pseudo-science.

Every forum begins at 8pm.

Place: Cafe Bastille 3, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No. 7 台北市大安區溫州街7號 (in the basement of the cafe). It's near Daan Forest Park (not the one at Gonguan) close to the intersection with Hoping East Road, behind the 7-11.

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March 2011 Events

March 6, 7:45pm

Title: "Can We Control the Climate"

Speaker: Thomas Levene

Abstract:

Man has always tried to control and manipulate his surroundings for his own benefit.

The topic of controlling the weather is a controversial one. Firstly because some people believe man should not “Play God” and secondly because some of the Geoengineering techniques discussed could be seen as harmful if they were misused, if used for war for example.

There are many natural ways we can control our climate. However this talk will focus on the “artificial” techniques.

This talk will highlight the Geoengineering strategies available and technologies and their “effects” both good and bad. It will also pose the question “Are people controlling the weather now” “If so how?” And if we are “Do people have a right to know about it”?

March 13, 7:45pm

Title: "Lao Zi and the Fundamentals of Daoist Philosophy"

Speaker: Aleksandar Stamatov


Abstract:

One of the most influential figures in Chinese thought and culture is Lao Zi. He is considered the founder of what is known as the Daoist philosophy. In this speech I will present various ideas of his which are foundations of Daoist philosophy. In the beginning I will discuss the historicity of Lao Zi and the Dao De Jing, the book that is ascribed to him. I will begin the discussion of his philosophy with the concept of Dao. Dao, according to Lao Zi, is the “un-carved block”, the “undifferentiated One”, the “beginning of all things”, and the “mother of the universe”. Dao is the creator of all things but as itself, it is not a thing. All things have names but Dao cannot have a name because it is not a thing. Then I will relate Dao to the concepts of Being and Non-Being. For Lao Zi, Being comes from Non-Being and Dao is more likely to be identified with Non-Being. I will also try to explain the concept of De which is considered as the manifestation of the Dao in the world and in human beings. In the end I will discuss Lao Zi’s theory of wu wei, the non-action or the effortless action. This theory is directed towards a ruler to whom Lao Zi says that the best government is the one that governs the least. The ruler should not bring many laws and prohibitions, but he should try to rule the state with wu wei which means the least possible interference in people’s lives. Lao Zi believes that because there are too many laws and prohibitions, there are also as many transgressions of them.

March 20, 7:45pm

Title: "Megalithic Stone Builders in Ancient Civilizations"

Speaker: Ethan Kegley


Abstract:

Egypt is home to more than just the 3 “great” pyramids at Giza. There are 10 pyramids at the site of Giza alone. Main stream Egyptology says that the pyramids were tombs. I hope to show that while a few pyramids may have been the final resting places for some specific ancient people, they surely were not built for only that purpose. Through the analysis of construction materials and techniques, I will present alternative answers to the purpose of the pyramids. Through comparison of tombs to the pyramids I will argue that the pyramids themselves were not originally meant to be tombs. I will also focus on other aspects of megalithic stone building in Egypt such as trilithon (trilith) construction and the tunnels and aquifers under the pyramids. As I trace the Nile down from Cairo, away from Giza, a picture will emerge about a people that we might as yet hardly know. I will finish in Egypt with Abu Ballas, The Eight Bells, The Cave of the Swimmer and Nabta Playa. The second half of my speech will focus on ancient Peru and Bolivia. I will talk about the relationship and unknown possibilities between the sites of the Chankillo Observatory, the pyramids at Caral, Oyantetambo, Saksayhuaman and Tiawanaku. I want to contrast the main stream history to what many scientists and explorers are finding to be a newer and more complete view of the past. I hope to show that in both Egypt and Peru, as well as countless other sites around the world, there is a history that we are unaware of, and that ‘civilization’ is much older and possibly stranger than we yet know.

March 27, 7:45pm

Title: "The Creation of Western Religious Myths"

Speaker: Ethan Kegley

Abstract:

Myths; creation, religious, or historical can give us insight into the people who wrote them, they give us perspective and depth. Beyond the creation myth there are layers of religious myth and apologies for those myths by modern scholars. Over the course of thousands of years, myths are born out, carried on and propped up by people in power as a way to create a stable power structure. This history goes back beyond “civilization,” back to shamanistic times. But, the myths really come into play after humans moved from small groups of 50-150 people into urban settings with the need for rule setting structures. I will be giving an overview of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic “historical” myths and how they were needed as “historical” charters to set up what became full political structures. I will discuss how the Jewish myth borrows from Babylonian and Egyptian tradition. From there I will move on to the Essenes (Esau) and how a man named “John the Baptist” helped to create a tradition which eventually led, through the perversion of Paul, to Catholicism in the early 4^th century CE. Briefly, I will connect Islam to Judaism, but I want to focus on the creation of the Jesus myth and how it relates to John the Baptist, Esau, Egypt and pre-civilization shamanistic traditions.

Place: Café Bastille, Taipei City, Daan District, Wenzhou Street, No.7 溫州街7號 (in the basement of the café). It’s close to Daan Forest Park near the intersection with Hoping East Road.


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