Do not monopolise December for yourself, NCCS. This letter is in response to the one NCCS sent to STB about the ‘deeper meaning’ of this period in the year.
(Erratum : more appropriate translation of “冬至” , is “the dead of winter”, or “the middle of winter”. We thank our fans for helping correct this.)
We, the Humanist Society of Singapore, support the key stakeholders’ call for repeal of S377A.
Singapore is not a theocracy – we are a secular state, because no one religion should rule the country. It is also this, and choice, that freedom of religion is important. But little do people question that at the heart of freedom of religion, is the fundamental premise of freedom from religion, without which one cannot leave, or switch religions. If there is no middle ground where not having a religion is the no-mans-land, people can never take a breather before considering whether to subscribe to another religion, or stay a clean slate.
Freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, dictate that no one needs to live by a dogmatic set of rules specific to religions or traditions that belong to another person’s belief system. Religions and millennia-old traditions must learn their place in not foisting their Iron Age dogma on others who want to live their lives differently while not harming others. Society must gradually turn its policies to protecting all, regardless of age, gender, gender identity, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, or social economic class.
In law and in life, gods cannot be called to the witness dock, and interpretation of gods’ will will always be subjective and often be agenda laden, so these readings cannot be taken one way or another. Laws are made by humans for humans, in a society we want to forge, and laws can change when our society wants to change. Laws must also be fair and equal, which S377A failed miserably on both accounts.
As for the hereafter, let the gods decide, not the religionists, nor traditionalists.
As long as there are two sides of an issue and one being the status quo, it will always be seen to be political, for there will always be two forces at play, each trying to assert its influence. It will not be helpful for society if acts are labeled sins and performers sinners. Perhaps it is why it has been easy, so far, to affix the label of criminal to people performing acts not in line with one’s own beliefs. Laws should not be made where we stigmatise people first, and rally around an anachronistic to some, contemporary to others, yet unenforced law to keep the same in their places.
Belief systems are personal, so let’s not apply universal rules for others to strictly abide as well.
No red herrings. No slippery slope. No sign posting. No unenforced laws. No dogma. S377A be gone.
Humanist Society of Singapore was formed in 2010, in the aftermath of AWARE saga, with the guiding principle of speaking reason and giving our helping, compassionate hands to the downtrodden, and the nones. Many of us believe that this is the only life we have, and we choose to live and let live, and focus on the bigger things : caring for our progeny , better treatments of our earthly cousins – the other animals, and the protection and sustainability of the only home we know – Earth.
Dr Tim Bunn’s presentation of “Can Neuroscience solve the problem of Consciousness”, kicked off the HSS Psychology Talk fortnightly series yesterday.
It was difficult and arduous at first, for a mind to contemplate understanding the mind itself, and Tim did not make it easier, by saying he could only attempt to correctly summarise the thinkings of the other philosophers and neuroscientists.
From Descartes , to Chalmers, Dan Dennett, Dehaene, Graziano, Tononi, Greenfield and eventually Damasio, Tim brought to the table his understanding of and confusions with models proposed by these great minds.
Questions were taken every step of the way, and it was clear to see they were questions seeking some kind of ‘exact-science’, and clean-cut certainty answers. The answers from Tim, however, were never overtly definitive, and we later found out why.
Tim’s valiant attempt to present the work of more than 7 philosophers/neuroscientists within 3 hours left us breathlessly trying to digest a dazzling variety of metaphors, models and conclusions. He took us onto the next one, and the next, and the next. The relentless effort to continue to plough the hard field, to some may seem tiring and pointless, but after a few of these transitions, it was inevitable that the human brains in the room found a pattern : all philosophers and neuroscientists are trying to define the mechanism and define in their own words what consciousness is.
Tim’s conclusion at the very end, using Dehaene’s flipping of Chalmers’ postulation of hard and easy questions, was brilliant, with a deja vu of how psychology experiments are sometimes conducted : tell the participant something different, to throw them off what the experiment was really trying to find out.
If hard things are easy to accomplish, they won’t be challenging nor fulfilling things anymore. By teaching our own brain to analyze our own mind, this isn’t a simple task – in fact more difficult than any person grudgingly admitting his/her strong opinions may be wrong.
Deceptions/illusions and differences are really two very big characteristics of human learning and understanding. They are in our nature, but the descriptors used, to cause us to be ‘self-aware’ , are still very fluid and intangible. We should continue to explore these, while using humanistic ideals of directing our paths in search of certainty, to lead our shared lives, and understand that certitude can be an attitude that can sometimes stifle curiosity & learnings.
It was well worth the $10/$15 alone for the ‘book reviews’ Tim gave, of books written by the scientists and philosophers; and the journey Tim took us on was one that was well-guided, and not a spoon-fed one. If we truly are conscious only a small fraction of our activities and unconscious the rest, I’d say it was well worth the money for the conscious mind being challenged. And the avalanche of thinking it triggered off – priceless.
Some stayed for photos.
The next talk, “Agent-based Modelling & Game Theory”, by Dr Ronald Ng, is on 13 October 2018 (Saturday), 2-5pm.
Part #1 : Can Neuroscience solve the problem of Consciousness ?
With distinguished speakers of Dr Tim Bunn, Dr Ronald Ng, and Dr John Elliott, every fortnight, to learn more about the human mind and hence ourselves.
First session will be on 29 Sept 2018 (Sat), 2-5pm, at Bras Basah Complex #04-41 .
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Celebrating World Humanist Day, the Humanist Society (Singapore) is organising a panel discussion on Sunday, 24th June 2018, 1-5pm, at OnePeople.sg.
Register here!
The Humanist Music Day event was a half a year ago, though the ripples are still radially expanding to touch distant hearts . We will pick up where we left off, writing about the musicians who performed that Saturday afternoon.
HumanistSG’s second event with People’s Association was another resounding success. A total of 40 people turned up for an event that was supposed to be for 30 people based on the size of the venue. It was also the first time that HumanistSG got to work with the Galaxy Astronomy Club, led by Dylan.
Bryan was a devoted metalhead long before learning to play music. Picking up the guitar casually at age 17, he dabbled in classical music as part of an ensemble (while unsuccessfully trying to play Malmsteen licks) until joining one of Singapore’s premiere death metal acts – Oshiego (www.facebook.com/Oshiego). There, he was schooled again and again in the art of aggressive yet precise riffing, the hallmark of any heavy metal band worth their salt.
