Big Ideas Forum

In this recurring program, anyone who attends tonight has a 6-7 min window to present something that might have caught their attention, something they have wondered about, a book we all should know about, etc. Formal presentations with slides and videos or getting up in front of the forum are not required. The purpose is to share ideas… but mind you: 6-7 min is a lot less time than you think! [Read More]

Ethical questions involve or imply the words ‘ought’ or ‘should’. They involve consideration of conflicting moral choices and dilemmas, with several alternative solutions, none of which is without some challenging or problematic aspect. [Read More]

We will watch portions of the movie DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER and stop along the way to discuss. This movie features Elon Musk and other AI visionaries discussing how AI will change everything. [Read More]

We are taking a new look at climate change - perhaps the most hotly debated subject today. To increase our understanding of it, we will look at our climate in a geological/historical context, see what modern climate models can tell us, and then go into ice ages and glacial issues, oceanography, thawing tundras, albedo feedback - and the role of CO2 in all of it. [Read More]

It’s estimated that 99% of all lifeforms that ever existed on Earth are extinct. So, biodiversity loss is not exactly a new phenomenon. [Read More]

While we often devote some time to discuss implications (and our concerns) regarding the Big Ideas that our presenters explore with us in our bi-weekly sessions, this week our big idea will be fully devoted to a (hopefully lively) discussion of concerns vis-à-vis one of the biggest technological breakthroughs of the last few years. That is, the ubiquitous internet in all of its forms and functions – information and disinformation; communication and clutter; marketing and exploitation. [Read More]