Taylor and I will be discussing how the social sciences put paid to the notion of the rational actor this Sunday (24 November) during our meetup. Here are the couple of articles I will be talking about. The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice (wikipedia, pdf) by Tversky and Kahneman.  This work would earn Daniel Kahneman a shared Nobel Prize for Economics. Amos Tversky had passed away. It is about how people act differently in the same situation depend on how it is described to them. Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction by Palmer and Loftus 1974. (pdf, overview at simplypsychology). Elizabeth Loftus’s work over the years has shed light on unreliability of eyewitness testimony. If you really want to get into it, read Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. (wikipedia) The short story?  We are rationalizing actors, not rational actors.  Big difference.

Facebook last week lead me to an article about a California atheist who had his parole revoke when he wouldn’t acknowledge a higher power in his 12 step program.  He successfully sued the state, though a jury failed to award him damages.  From what I can see, 12 step programs work.  But is it really about a higher power? The attached chart would seem to argue that it is about committing to change and seeking social support. This begs the question, what would a 12 step program look like without reference to a high power? (There is probably a lot of research out there on this. Any pointers?) So I shamelessly cut and pasted the 12 steps from Wikipedia. The sub notes are my comments. The links in the steps are from Wikipedia. These are the original twelve steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous:^[1]

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
   1. Not a problem for non believer.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
   1. So it begins.  How about “Came to believe that accepting help from others and taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences could restore sanity in our live.”
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
   1. How about, “Make a decision to willingly and actively participate in our recovery.”
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
   1. No problem here.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
   1. Easy enough to drop the first clause.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
   1. Any competent therapist will tell you that no one will change until they are ready to change. Again, can be done without reference to a higher power.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
   1. This is prayer, I see the difference between 6 & 7 as being making a decision and doing something about the decision. It seems to me that telling a sponsor, a therapist, a support group or a significant other is potentially more important.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
   1. No reference to a higher power.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
   1. No reference to a higher power.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
    1. No reference to a higher power.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
    1. Self-reflection is an important part of personal change.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
    1. If it worked for you, pass it forward.

I find it interesting that what I always thought of as the keys to a 12 step program is the social support and keeping it simple aren’t in the list.  Where is participating in a support group and finding a mentor (sponsor)? So, what are the steps without reference to a high power?

1. Admit you have a problem.
2. Seek help.
3. Actively participate in your recovery.
4. Take a personal inventory of yourself and your life.
5. Make specific goals for improving your life.
6. Commit to working on at least one of those goals.
7. Ask for help achieving your goal(s).
8. Make a list.
9. Make amends.
10. Monitor your progress. Adjust goals appropriately.
11. Continue to seek support.
12. Pass it forward.  Support others.

Thoughts?  Seems this would be a good topic for a Socrates Cafe. ^ Bill W. (June 2001). “Chapter 5: How It Works” (PDF).Alcoholics Anonymous (4th ed.). Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. ISBN 1-893007-16-2. OCLC 32014950.

A recent AHA article is titled, Thanksgiving Non-prayers for Humanists.  This just begs the question, “To whom do we give thanks on Thanksgiving?” The article is actually about what a secularist could say if asked to give a “prayer” before the meal at a Thanksgiving gathering. There are two related questions over on Quora on this topic, the one is more about what to do if asked to lead the prayer and the second about the etiquette of being a non-prayer at a meal with prayers. In reading the responses, I was surprised by the number of post-theists who went along with the praying.  Now, I am not suggesting that this is the most appropriate time for a theist/deist/secular debate.  It isn’t. And yes it is the appropriate thing to do to honor your hosts beliefs and preferences. But I was surprised at the number of people who bowed their heads, closed their eyes and pretended to go along.  (The best reason I read was so that your hosts couldn’t see you rolling your eyes…) Is this an indication of how uncomfortable we are as a minority in mainstream America? IMHO, holding my tongue is respect enough.  After all, my beliefs are being ignored and etiquette and good manners are supposed to go both ways.  And as one poster pointed out, keeping my eyes open allows me to see the other post-theists in the room. Which brings us back to the original topic, to whom do we give thanks? I give thanks to all the hard working people, including the hosts who made the meal possible. We always think of the farmers and the people who raise turkeys (farmers? ranchers? herders? hmmm…). But there are also the people in the markets and transportation and don’t forget those maintaining quality and the researchers and technologist who made modern food production possible. Without them, 90% of us would still be on the farm. (What ever else you might say about modern food production, way fewer of us live on farms or die of food borne disease…) And a shout out to those less fortunate than us is always appropriate. We can also give thanks to our own good fortune by recognizing the efforts of our predecessors, if for nothing else, being gutsy enough to get on a boat headed for the “New World”. So, to whom to humanists give thanks? Humans of course!

Found out earlier this week that Skepticon 6 is happening this weekend in Missouri.  They are live streaming at http://skepticon.org/.  The schedule is at http://skepticon.org/schedule/.  Looks like a fun event.  Road trip next year? 

Reached out this week to Anne Klaeysen, one of the Leaders at Ethical Culture in NYC just to touch base and catch up. She connected me to the AHA (American Humanists Association) and the AEU (American Ethical Union). Turns out our status at AHA is as an affiliate. To upgrade to a chapter requires a few simple steps, which boils down to being a democratic process organization, having five dues paying members of the AHA and sending them a membership list every year. In return we gain access to their staff, referrals, access to grants and more. The details are at AHA. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The first Sunday meeting (Nov 3) is the annual membership meeting.  Along with electing a officers, we will be discussing the agenda for next year.  The following is being circulated by myself, April and Taylor to stimulate discussion about goals for 2014. Feel free to comment here, talk to one of us or send me a note. ———-

Billings Association of Humanists’ Goals for 2014

By Danny Choriki, Taylor Owen and April Van Mierlo

If elected to the board of directors of The Billings Association of Humanists (BAH), we would be guided by the following goal. (Obviously this is subject to discussion and approval both by our election and via acceptance by the entire board and the membership.)

Generally speaking we would like to create a larger, viable humanist community in the greater Billings area.  While we do not intend to create a “cult”, “church” or “religion”, we do believe that churches at a local level have played a key role in the fostering of community mainly by celebrating and affirming life.

The BAH has successfully created the seeds of such a humanist community in Billings. We would like to explore the expansion of the humanist community, develop a plan and begin implementing it.

The following steps we feel are consistent with existing BAH policy and we would work to further them.

Increase membership through increased physical marketing.

While the meetup and newsletter are critical functions, we would like to see more physical notices in the surrounding community.  Specifically we will put up posters at coffee shops, bookstores, universities, and other places where humanists gather.

We are also looking into a table at MSUB.

Increase membership through increased online marketing.

Continue to develop content on the website and begin to actively promote the website and other events through social media.

The following are steps that we would like to take with the support of the BAH community.

Increase membership through more active and activist events.

By next summer, we would like to add an event a month that is activity or activist oriented.  On the activity side, we are thinking along the lines of something that makes the Billings outdoor environment a better place, clean up outdoors, plant trees, clear/build trail, cosponsor a walk or run that does the same.

On the activist side, we are thinking along the lines of events that promote STEM, such as a science fair, etc.

Additionally we will be looking for ways to engage in the public discourse (Letters to the editor signed as BAH members?)

Network and promote humanist groups within a 2 hour drive of Billings.

Generally we will be looking for other humanist/secular organizations in the Montana/Wyoming region that we can work with to promote humanist community and values.  There is a likelihood that this would initially focus on Bozeman.

Explore means of reifying humanism in Montana with a physical presence and associated fund raising.

The goal for 2014 would be to develop a plan that is within the BAH community comfort and feasibility zone.

We look forward to your comments and contributions at the Annual Meeting, Sunday, November 3.

I found a better article to base the discussion on bioethics than the one I previously posted. It is from the US White House commission on Synthetic Biology. If you can, read the Executive Summary.   The entire report is almost 200 pages.  I will be basically giving a review and summary of this report. You can find it at The Ethics of Synthetic Biology. (http://bioethics.gov/sites/default/files/PCSBI-Synthetic-Biology-Report-12.16.10_0.pdf) See you Sunday.

Lou Shasta Hegwer is having a birthday party!!!!  It will be Potluck….bring your favorite beverage. Saturday JULY 13, 2013.  The place is the corner of Virginia Lane and O’Malley. 6:00 PM Call Lou to RSVP for more info.  248-9182 (it is the day after RELAY so hurry home, take a nap and come to the party.  🙂

The American Society is holding its annual Relay for Life on July 12 and 13 at West High.

Watch for more details.