Five years ago a small group composed of 21 highly motivated individuals came together to form the Secular Hub. The Hub has become an important community center for many more people since. Two of those original founders speak here, discussing what atheism and the secular community was like before the Hub existed and how it has changed since.
These two founders have something else in common as well in that both live with cerebral palsy, and they discuss what it means to live and work in America.
Atheists for Humanity Inc. is a 501(c)3 charity non-profit based in Denver, Colorado. Our goals are simple: raise money and awareness for worthy charities and actively work to de-stigmatize atheists and atheism
In case you didn’t see it, the Secular Hub got some positive press last year. Check out the article for a decent characterization of a Sunday morning at the Hub, made possible by the initiative of the founders
The Secular Hubcast: the Voice of Denver’s Secular Hub
Secular Hub member and podcast host Michael Schaffer joins the Hubcast this week with a look into Risks, Rewards, and the process of Deciding.
What basis should you use when making decisions in life? How can you become better at detecting BS thrown your way? When is it actually a good idea to piss off your neighbors?
Michael discusses this and so much more in life in his podcast, Reasonable Risk. Check out his podcast, give him five stars, tell him the Secular Hubcast sent you
Nimbyism (Not in My Backyard) is alive and well, everywhere from here to Pakistan. Can you spot it in you neighborhood? Here’s the episode that was discussed
Earth, third rock from the Sun, our home for at least a few million or billion years (depending on when you start the clock) and the next 4 or 5 billion years…I hope. The Earth was our first universe until we realized there was more out there and here on Earth.
Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on the Earth. The gravitational interaction between the Earth and relatively large Moon causes ocean tides and stabilizes the Earth’s orientation on its axis. Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets.
Earth’s interior remains active and hot with a solid iron inner core (5,400 °C), a molten liquid outer core (2,730–4,230 °C) that generates a magnetic field that extends far out into space. The Earth’s magnetic field serves to deflect most of the solar wind, whose charged particles would otherwise strip away the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Combined with all the water and atmosphere, it makes Earth a relatively comfortable and safe place for life to evolve.
Life began in the ocean over 3.5 billion years ago and evolved into the complex tree of life we see today. In 2016, researchers estimated that there might be 1 trillion species currently on Earth with only one thousandth of 1 percent (0.001%) identified/classified by us. This is up from 10-14 million estimated in 2012. Those numbers do not account for all the species that have already disappeared from the Earth. Some estimates are 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct, but that is very difficult to verify.
There is only ONE global ocean covering approximately 71% of Earth’s surface and 90% of the Earth’s biosphere. The global ocean has been geographically divided into distinct named regions. The boundaries between these regions have evolved over time for a variety of historical, cultural, geographical, and scientific reasons. Most of the ocean is unexplored — about 95 percent of this underwater realm is unseen by human eyes. The world ocean is the habitat of 230,000 known species, but because much of it is unexplored, the number of species that exist in the ocean is much larger.
Out of sight does not mean we (humans) do not have a huge impact on the ocean. The ocean is a vast source of food, but we are depleting the fish stocks with modern fishing methods. We dump our waste into the ocean, thinking it will disappear. Since 1996, NOAA has removed 904 tons of debris from Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii including 57 tons from a 2014 mission.
Over 7.6 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and natural resources for their survival. We must learn how to care for this ecosystem before we try to create an artificial one on another planet, otherwise we will be doomed anywhere else and on Earth.