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Welcome!

We want to make the world a better place: by talking with, listening to - and potentially working with - people who see the world differently.

We - the people on this site (and, we trust, you) - want to make the world a better place. The question is: how?  An important part of the answer is: with help from one another - we can't do this on our own.  If we want to make this happen, we will need to learn how to cooperate, really cooperate, with one another.

Right now, the challenges the world faces, but also the possibilities for real change, are greater than they have been in our lifetime.  So we want to do everything we can to understand the challenges and come up with the best possible responses, to enable us to work together and make the best changes happen.

What the human race does today, and in the next few years - how we live, the choices we make - will shape the world, and decide our future.

We need to understand the practical challenges we face.  But we also need to explore ideas and beliefs, hopes and fears, because these are the things which drive our choices and affect the way we live.  And we need to explore them with people who do not already agree with us, because we will need to cooperate with as many people as possible if we are going to beat these challenges.

We will not learn enough if we only talk to those who agree with us, and we will not be strong enough if we only cooperate with those we like.

So we want to attract a wide range of people with different ideas and opinions.  With a range of differing perspectives, we can test the evidence for our ideas and explore the alternatives, so that we have good reason to believe the actions we take are the best we are capable of.  And we always need to be open to the possibility of understanding more, and changing our strategy.

Alongside the challenges, we also want to share some good news about things which give us hope end encouragement: if we are to overcome these challenges, we will need joy and strength just as much as we need clear thinking and accurate information.

We need to act, and interact, as people, with all the benefits and struggles this brings; we cannot pretend to be impersonal dispensors of objective truth.

The problems of this world are caused by people, and they must be solved by people.  Facts really matter, but they rarely persuade people to make the changes which are needed: alongside the facts, we need the personal stories.  Issues need to be grounded in human experience, so we can relate to the story and be moved emotionally as well as intellectually.

We will aim to be as truthful and honest as possible, but nobody is entirely objective.  The best we can do is be open and honest about our preferences and prejudices, do our best to make allowances for them, and be open to other people questioning and challenging our assumptions.

What Next?

Fee free to browse.  All the content on the site is available for anyone to read.  If you wish to contribute in some way, or simply support our vision of people cooperating despite disagreement, you are very welcome to join us, but please read the material in the Introduction first, to understand how we try to do things and why we have a small monthly membership fee.

This site is currently under development - we are still copying content across from the original site.  But there is enough to give you an idea of what we are aiming to build.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

 

Activity

Paul Hazelden posted an event

Nov 21, 2024 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Oct 29
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Christianity]
Introduction
I talk with a lot of people, and - possibly as a consequence - I am asked this question on a fairly regular basis: why don't people join the church?  On the basis of no formal research whatsoever, but simply looking back at conversations over the past decade or two, it seems to me that there are three main reasons, all relating to massive cultural changes which have happened in comparatively recent times.  But, alongside these 'public' reasons, when we have…
Oct 25
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Religion and Spirituality]
When talking about a religion or belief system, please be particularly careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.
There is a common assumption in many Western countries that if you are religious, then you 'believe in God', and that your choice of religion is all about believing in the 'right' God. However, while you will find a God or multiple gods in many religions, there are also religions without any gods, and religions where belief in a God…
Oct 22
Paul Hazelden commented on Paul Hazelden's blog post Assisted Dying
"Adrian,
I'm sure you are right: we are unlikely to ever fully agree on this one.  But I think the issues matter, and the subject is one we need to talk about.  And thank you for stating your case: I don't share your perspective, but many people do.  I suspect, if we had a referendum on the subject, a large majority would back you rather than me.
I am certainly not saying that one involuntary death due to coercion is one too many: it is only too many if it can be avoided without causing greater…"
Oct 15
Adrian Roberts commented on Paul Hazelden's blog post Assisted Dying
"Paul 
I don't think we are ever going to fully agree on this because it is an emotive subject with ideological implications. There are very few absolutes here. Not murdering people is an absolute of course - but even then I had to change to the word "murdering" from my original "killing people against their will", otherwise we will get into the Just War or capital punishment debates. In the case of the Assisted Dying debate, perhaps the perfect is the enemy of the good. How many misuses of such…"
Oct 14
Paul Hazelden commented on Paul Hazelden's blog post Assisted Dying
"Adrian,
Many thanks!  I'll do a proper response later.  Just a couple of quick points.
You say that you cannot believe that people who want to play God and be allowed to kill others will be attracted to a profession which enables them to do just that.  I simply note that your lack of belief is not an argument.  You also say you cannot believe that many people will choose this path: how many people would you consider acceptable?  And if we know the medical profession is allowed to recruit such…"
Oct 13
Adrian Roberts commented on Paul Hazelden's blog post Assisted Dying
"Replying to Paul's recent (October 9th 2024) comment which is embedded in his orgiinal article under the heading "Comment", and refering to my replay dated April 10th 2022: To take your main points:
Life Insurance: Assisted Dying would only be necessary if the person had a disease that rendered them unable to physcially function sufficiently to kill themselves or to perform their normal activities such as basic self-care. Life insurance policies already have exclusion policies for suicide, and…"
Oct 12
Paul Hazelden commented on Paul Hazelden's blog post Assisted Dying
"Adrian,
Many thanks for this response - sorry my reply has been so long coming.
I have had numerous encounters with suicide and attempted suicide over the years, both in my work and private life.  I do agree that judging a person for that decision is not helpful - but I can't just stand back and accept suicide as a valid lifestyle choice, either.
I have responsed to several of your points in a new section, 'Comment'.  There were several other points it was tempting to reply to, but those seemed…"
Oct 9
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Social Challenges]
Introduction
This is just a placeholder: a proper article is required here.
But one quick point about the UK National Health Service (NHS): almost everybody agrees that it is in need of radical reform, so let's start to spell out what that reform might look like.
For a start, we need to change the primary aim.  The NHS currently aims to deliver cost-effective treatment, but it should aim to deliver prompt and effective treatment.
The current system seeks to maximise…
Oct 5
Paul Hazelden posted an event

Oct 17, 2024 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Sep 21
Paul Hazelden posted an event

Sep 19, 2024 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Sep 15
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Improving Ourselves]
Introduction
Even more than most pages on this site, this is not intended as the 'last word' on the subject.  But we do need somewhere to record the most important principles we have learned, to help people make better choices in their lives.
Enjoy, Don't Postpone
Enjoy the ride: take joy in the here and now, don't wait until you have achieved your goal before you allow yourself joy.
Cultivate happiness.  This is hard advice, and it can sound cruel: people the…
Sep 2
Paul Hazelden commented on Brian Monahan's article Money, The Financial System and Human Welfare
"Here is a short (7 minutes) and clear video: Governments don’t borrow from financial markets, by Richard J Murphy."
Aug 26
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Improving Ourselves]
Introduction
This is just a stub, a short placeholder piece as a reminder that something more detailed is needed.
Most people recognize honesty as a virtue, but there are several different forms of honesty, each with their own challenges.  Most obviously, there is honesty about the external world - "I stole the tarts."  But there is also honesty about yourself, and honesty with yourself.  Of these, being honest with yourself is perhaps the most fundamental, and the…
Aug 15
Paul Hazelden posted an event

Aug 15, 2024 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Aug 13
Brian Monahan commented on Brian Monahan's article Money, The Financial System and Human Welfare
"Here is the outcome of Sam Altman's (boss of OpenAI) 3 year study of a "UBI" framework. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sam-altman-s-basic-income...
Sam Altman is interested in this because he is very aware that his core product, Ai, is likely to destroy a lot of mid-range jobs. So he needs something to say about that and has therefore researched UBI as a possible stop gap.
Another idea from Sam Altman is Universal Basic Compute. Perhaps future societies won't need money -- but use AI…"
Jul 25
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