Free Inquiry Forum - A weekly forum for those who enjoy a casual social gathering involving eating, drinking, and engaging discourse. Discuss, debate or just listen as we take a critical look at current events and subjects involving: Religion, Philosophy, History, Politics, Science and more.
"Those who are led by reason are truly free."
AGENDA & TOPICS
  • 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 (7/29/04) & Monday (8/2/04):

  1. Discuss the Democratic National Convention. Which speakers have you been most impressed with? Least impressed with? Do you feel the overall tone at the Democratic Convention has been positive?
  2. What is a miracle? Do miracles happen? Do miracles (improbable events) have a natural or supernatural explanation? Are most improbable events guaranteed to happen due to the Law of Large Numbers?
  3. A recent study by HealthGrades Inc. concluded that as many as 195,000 people a year could be dying in U.S. hospitals because of easily prevented errors. This estimate is nearly double that of a 1999 study. Are you surprised by these figures? What can be done to make hospitals safer?
  4. The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get free face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and other cosmetic surgery -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills. Should cosmetic surgery be a covered health care benefit for members of the military and their immediate families?

Quote of the week: "No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish." [David Hume, "Of Miracles", from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748]

TOPIC ARCHIVES

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LOCATIONS & SCHEDULES
SOUTH SARASOTA
NORTH SARASOTA
VENUE:

Steak & Ale (In front of the Best Buy / Barnes & Noble Parking Lot)
4034 South Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL
(941) 925-3437
Map

DATE: Every Thursday
TIME: 7 PM
NOTE: We will hold the forum in the right rear room.

 

VENUE:

Big E's Sweets & Gourmet Coffee (Across From Ringling School of Art & Design)
2805 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL
(941) 355-4432
Pictures

DATE: Every Monday
TIME: 8 PM
NOTE: Parking in rear.

 

 

 

The topics for each week are updated on Tuesday or Wednesday. You can view the updated topics by doing one of the following:
visiting this web page
Subscribe to the Free Inquiry Forum mailing list to receive a weekly e-mail of discussion topics for each week. To subscribe to this list, send a plain text e-mail message to list@freeinquiryforum.com, which contains the following text in the first line of the message body:
SUBSCRIBE fif
Joining the HUSBAY Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sarasota_Humanists/ or subscribing by sending a blank e-mail to: Sarasota_Humanists-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (You will then receive weekly reminders and updates via e-mail)
Please note that Steak & Ale and Big E's Sweets & Gourmet Coffee are not affiliated with FiF in any way. Any views held my individuals of FiF may not be the views of the previously mentioned establishments. The location, time, and date of FiF are subject to change.