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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Seattle Atheist Church
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261025T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261025T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T191117Z
CREATED:20260927T191117Z
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UID:292-1792929600-1792935000@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: Wait But Why’s Story of Us\, 3: A Story of Stories
DESCRIPTION:The next installment of The Story of Us by the blogger and illustrator Tim Urban of Wait But Why! \nBuilding giants was a necessity for ancient humans. A human tribe was more than the sum of its parts\, in physical power\, in productivity\, and in knowledge. \nGiven the powers of emergence\, large human giants would be forces to reckon with. But unlike ants\, humans are more than just cells in competing giants—they’re competing individuals too. So as tribes grew in size\, the benefits of strength and capability would be accompanied by the cost of increasing instability. \nHumans\, like other animals\, learn via direct experience\, but their advanced language and imagination capabilities offer them a second learning pathway. Human history is a long progression of human behavior\, and human behavior is largely driven by human beliefs. And as Harari\, Weinstein\, and others point out\, what has mattered most in our past is not whether our beliefs were true but whether they drove the right behavior. At some point between 150-person ancient tribes and New York City\, human evolution jumped off of the “survival of the fittest biology” snail and onto the “survival of the fittest stories” rocket. \nThis talk will be a story about stories\, and about the power of stories. \nThis week’s speaker will be Jack. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/81619012054?pwd=qcYnknsgcIsSdOaL1pLnKGUOkuztuc.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-wait-but-whys-story-of-us-3-a-story-of-stories/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261108T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261108T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T191141Z
CREATED:20260927T191141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T191141Z
UID:294-1794139200-1794144600@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: AI Is Just As Dumb As You
DESCRIPTION:The more we work with LLMs (Large Language Models\, like ChatGPT and Gemini and Claude)\, and the more we struggle with the stupid mistakes that they make\, the more we see how very *human* their errors are. They struggle to please. They over-estimate their own ability. They fail to cite their sources. They misremember things. They are *terrible* at mental arithmetic. They fall prey to the easy answer. They don’t have good strategies for thinking about really complex problems. The more stuff they are trying to keep in mind at once\, the more likely they are to forget a step\, to decide that something really isn’t that important right now\, that surely ignoring that rule just this once won’t hurt. They get overwhelmed. They get confused. They forget things. And by studying the parallels between how AIs “think” — or\, rather\, fail to think — and how humans think and fail to think\, we can begin to work more effectively with their limitations. Like we do with each other. Like we do with ourselves. \nThis week’s speaker will be Mikki Phoenix. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/86448305839?pwd=bjmKNOytlKSdJ3PSoqH9LbaehIxcft.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-ai-is-just-as-dumb-as-you/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261115T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261115T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T191511Z
CREATED:20260927T191511Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T191511Z
UID:295-1794744000-1794749400@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: Awesome vs. Aw(e)ful
DESCRIPTION:To be overwhelmed by the greatness of something isn’t necessarily pleasant. When we talk about Awe as atheists do we really mean the overwhelmed part? Are we focused on powerfully wonderful experiences that we might describe as AWEsome\, or on powerfully negative experiences we might describe as AW(E)ful? How about a nice mild sense of wonderment. How about just AWE. \nThis week’s speaker will be Mark. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/87341467871?pwd=oJwotEMF4ayjkiibphkTc0SG5Y3AtH.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-awesome-vs-aweful/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261122T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261122T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T192044Z
CREATED:20260927T192044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T192044Z
UID:296-1795348800-1795354200@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: How Likely Is That? Bayes' Theorem and Why It Matters
DESCRIPTION:Bayes’ Theorem is a formula for calculating probability based on evidence available. It is demonstrably correct (that’s what makes it a theorem)\, and many modern institutions now rely on it: its logic underlies gambling odds\, insurance calculations\, and robot navigation. But it’s results often contradict human intuitions\, because human intuitions are really bad with probabilities. I’ll explain how it works and why it’s important for things like understanding medical results and risk management. \nThis week’s speaker will be Eva-Lise Carlstrom. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/83123484794?pwd=0gqX0ZWeP4IasohAm7raoOsuWaOqrK.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-how-likely-is-that-bayes-theorem-and-why-it-matters/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261129T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261129T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T192057Z
CREATED:20260927T192057Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T192057Z
UID:297-1795953600-1795959000@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: Wait But Why’s Story of Us\, 4: The Enlightenment Kids
DESCRIPTION:The next installment of The Story of Us by the blogger and illustrator Tim Urban of Wait But Why! \nIn the late 1700s\, the forefathers of what became the United States were Enlightenment Kids. During the Enlightenment\, Higher Minds in parts of Europe started cautiously talking about a new story. The new story talked about ideas like human rights and equality and tolerance and freedom. According to this new story\, humans had made incredible advancements in knowledge\, wisdom\, and technology—but they were still doing government like it was 7\,000 BC. The Power Games\, the story went\, were unpleasant\, unfair\, unproductive\, and unnecessary—and they were fundamentally immoral\, violating the most sacred elements of being a human. \nThe story was a mind virus\, just like other stories—and it started to spread. \nBefore long\, it had crossed the Atlantic and taken hold in minds throughout the American colonies\, turning well-behaved English subjects—good cells in the global English giant—into Enlightenment kids. Enlightenment kids were the entitled Millennials of their time\, and pretty soon people across the colonies had decided that wait\, they had rights—and those rights weren’t being respected. \nThe American forefathers were coming of age right in the middle of all of this\, and they decided to take action. They had bigger ambitions than overthrowing their king—they wanted to overthrow the concept of a king. So they wrote a letter to King George III explaining the new situation. \nThis talk \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/89721068083?pwd=8JXiwFuOazbLWh5lHZ3xK3WC20Ciab.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-wait-but-whys-story-of-us-4-the-enlightenment-kids/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261206T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261206T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T191953Z
CREATED:20260927T191953Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T191953Z
UID:298-1796558400-1796563800@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Planning Meeting
DESCRIPTION:Let’s plan what we’ll be doing for the next quarter! Is there a topic you’d like to give a talk about? Come have a voice in what we do next quarter! Even if you don’t want to volunteer to give a talk\, your voice is valuable so that we know which talks to schedule! \nYou can submit your suggestions using this form:\nhttps://forms.gle/Fx2gCjmvfxyETLWn8  \nAs you’re thinking about what talk topics to suggest for our upcoming Planning Meeting\, we encourage you to consider our Wheel of the Year. \nThese are our themes for the coming quarter: \n\nJanuary’s virtue is Temperance with Character Strengths of Forgiveness & Mercy\, Humility & Modesty\, Prudence\, and Self-regulation\nFebruary/March’s virtues are Wisdom & Knowledge with Character Strengths of Creativity\, Curiosity\, Open-mindedness\, Love of learning\, and Perspective\n\nThese are for inspiration purposes only. Talk suggestions do not need to conform to any particular theme. Due to the nature of how we vote and schedule the talks\, there’s no guarantee that a talk that does match a theme will end up being scheduled during that theme’s month. \nPlease be thoughtful about the title and description you propose for the talk\, as it will become the title and description in Meetup. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/81460332319?pwd=tRkeOMtzvP9FxRb79FzaWy5FvLsBjs.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-planning-meeting-3/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261213T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261213T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T192112Z
CREATED:20260927T192112Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T192112Z
UID:299-1797163200-1797168600@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: Kaizen: Making Changes as You Go
DESCRIPTION:Kaizen is the Japanese word for improvement. The word has come to be applied to a specific approach to improvement\, originally in industrial and business processes\, later expanded to self-improvement. In kaizen\, you make small changes while keeping everything else going\, rather than stopping what you’re doing and starting over. This approach is consistent with the recommendations of Stanford psychologist BJ Fogg in Tiny Habits. I’ll talk about how you can use kaizen principles to improve your life one small step at a time. \nThis week’s speaker will be Eva-Lise Carlstrom. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/85056937607?pwd=DQfhfBhzUxF6HZXn3J86JPJXDXq2LY.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-kaizen-making-changes-as-you-go/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261220T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261220T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T192918Z
CREATED:20260927T192918Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T192918Z
UID:300-1797768000-1797773400@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: 5-Minute Speed Talks
DESCRIPTION:This week is our popular Speed Talks event! Three to five speakers get 5-8 minutes each to expound their ideas\, followed by our group discussion period where the community react to the ideas presented\, discuss their own thoughts on the topic\, and ask questions of the presenters. \nIf you have an idea for a talk\, but you’re not sure you can go for a full 20-30 minutes\, this is for you! \nIf you’d like to sign up to give a 5-Minute Speed Talk\, let us know using this form:\nhttps://forms.gle/cdz869YYQDDLBvb87 \nThis week’s speaker will be various volunteers. \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/83781611410?pwd=KtFQr10qZii3D2VXLsXaRscpmtsLLa.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-5-minute-speed-talks-4/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261227T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261227T133000
DTSTAMP:20260927T192245Z
CREATED:20260927T192245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260927T192245Z
UID:301-1798372800-1798378200@seattleatheist.church
SUMMARY:Online Service: The Challenge of Task Initiation
DESCRIPTION:Task initiation is part of the larger group of human behaviors described as executive function. It often can be difficult for folks to either begin a new task or to switch from one task to another. There are an assortment of strategies to help make this switching possible or easier\, and in this talk several different options for making task initiation less onerous will be presented. \nThis week’s speaker will be Alison (aka Fjorlief). \nAfter the talk\, we’ll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented\, and to share related thoughts\, resources\, and personal experiences. \nThis is an online event hosted on Zoom. You can register for it here:\nhttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/89562822657?pwd=lWlfbs5Y5ouwmiDaCe2DukBKyXw9bX.1
URL:https://seattleatheist.church/event/online-service-the-challenge-of-task-initiation/
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