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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