- INFORMAL DISCUSSION - For
the first 30 minutes of the Thursday night forums we will have informal discussion.
This will allow for late arrivals, food & drink ordering, and new attendees
to become acclimated.
- ANNOUNCEMENTS - Any
events, news, or other items that you feel are of interest to the group can be
announced at the start of Free Inquiry Forum.
TOPICS for Thursday
(3/11/04) and Monday (3/15/04):
- According to a study
released Tuesday, March 9, by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, a poor diet and physical inactivity caused 400,000 deaths in 2000,
a 33 percent jump over 1990. What can be done? Is
obesity a disease? Should the IRS allow weight-loss
tax deductions?
- Should the voting
age be lowered? Why or why not? If you agree it should be lowered then to
what age?
- Memes
are stated as being a contagious idea that replicates like a virus, passed on
from mind to mind. According to memetics,
our minds and cultures are designed by natural selection acting on memes, just
as organisms are designed by natural selection acting on genes. A central question
for memetics is therefore ‘why has this meme survived?’. Some succeed
because they are genuinely useful to us, while others use a variety of tricks
to get themselves copied. From the point of view of the “selfish memes”
all that matters is replication, regardless of the effect on either us or our
genes. What do you think about this memetics? How is memetics be a useful study?
In what ways can memes be harmful or helpful?
- What are your views
on Iraq's interim
constitution? Will democracy be possible in Iraq?
- John
Kerry versus George W. Bush. Discuss possible keys to winning, strong and
weak points, and scenarios that could affect the outcome.
Quote of the week: "The
meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient
of discouraging rational inquiry." [Richard Dawkins]
Send your
topic suggestions for an upcoming FiF to: info@freeinquiryforum.com
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