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Tam 4 |
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"THE AMAZING MEETING" LIVES UP TO ITS NAME 01/30/2006 Superlatives are all that come to mind. I've just returned from my second experience of "The Amazing Meeting". It was the fourth annual gathering of skeptics, scientists, rational thinkers, columnists, psychologists, and yes, magicians - in all, over 800 paid attendees showed up at this year's fundraiser for the James Randi Educational Foundation (www.randi.org). The common thread of this all-star gathering of participants and presenters is a commitment to science, reason, and in my words, truth-driven thinking. It was instructional, educational, entertaining, and galvanizing (as a community that is committed to the ever-illusive discovery of "truth") - nearly beyond words in fact.
As with last year, Christopher Hitchens was a major attraction for me. I find him not only a brilliant analyst, but a truly independent thinker. (As a Marxist at heart, and columnist easily construed by some as "left wing", his arguments for military action in the middle east seem proof of this to me.) This year, he spoke primarily of his most recent book, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. It is worth noting that his most recent collection of essays is titled, Love, Poverty, and War. While in fact some of the content was not new to me, I often feel like I'm stuck at the narrow end of a supernaturally large "funnel of knowledge", the contents of which push my head nearer and nearer to explosion as the goop tries to seep into my brain. In the process I continue to learn just how little I really understand about the world I live in, and just how much I know, just isn't so. One of the unexpectedly profound presentations was about the global AIDS epidemic, as presented by Stanley Krippner. Perfectly aligned with the theme of this year's conference, "Science in Politics and the Politics of Science", it's hare to imagine a more compelling case for reason and rationality that Mr. Krippner's data about what is known to be effective in fighting AIDS in developing nations, and how the "abstinence only" message is killing people abroad (my term, not his). Being fair and rational, Mr. Krippner is quick to point out the increased attention and spending on the AIDS war by the Bush Administration. Other highlights included a fascinating sneak preview of the new book by Danniel Dennett (pre-release copies sold out very quickly at the conference). Publishers weekly said, "In his characteristically provocative fashion, Dennett ... calls for a scientific, rational examination of religion that will lead us to understand what purpose religion serves in our culture. Much like E.O. Wilson (In Search of Nature), Robert Wright (The Moral Animal), and Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) [spoke at TAM III], Dennett explores religion as a cultural phenomenon governed by the processes of evolution and natural selection." Perhaps most unexpectedly poignant was a presentation by Dr. Hal Bidlack. For a group generally focused on matters of rationality and cognitive function, Lt. Colonel Hal Bidlack provided a powerful and moving message in support of the notion that a skeptic can believe in god (eve if admittedly employing the "appeal to emotion" fallacy). His presentation was a prelude to a panel discussion on just that topic. In as intellectually honest and self aware fashion as one could ask, Bidlack revealed his rationale, at times appearing reluctantly and atypically self-revealing. His discussion of the horrors of his 9/11 Pentagon experiences, as well as the moving personal accounts of religious grappling during the loss of his beloved wife, garnered the largest of only two standing ovations I witnessed during the entire event. So much for the cold-hearted skeptics. Despite admittedly being famously outnumbered in the panel discussion, and probably in fact not agreeing wholly with his assertions, I found him a courageous breath of fresh air, and a profoundly compelling picture of self-awareness, candor and honesty. Lastly, TAM 4 officially included a "call for papers" this year (as opposed to an unofficial one last year). The fact that I didn't think I could afford the time to stay for the Sunday session was a source of consternation to me as I reviewed the list of subjects and presenters. The list of papers is presented here at the JREF web site. it is my hope that we can all gain access to this content online as time goes by (and they'll be included in the DVD of the conference which will go on sale at www.randi.org within a few months). Included in the list of paper topics were:
My suggestion is that you mark your calendars for mid-year, in order to go to www.randi.org and see if the information is posted for TAM5, and to get an early reservation. You won't regret it. |
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