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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

Don Baker published an article
MORALITY - Eye in the Sky - Film - Drone Strike - ethical issuesThe film I referred to on Thursday was 'Eye in the Sky' - Helen Mirren one of the leading actorsThe ethical issue was whether a drone strike should be completed to 'take out' a terrorrist leader who rarely came 'into view'. (I seem to remember in Pakistan/Afghanistan or that area).The terrorist leader was undoubtedly a 'bad person' and a high value target, no question, and this was their chance, maybe never to be…
yesterday
Paul Hazelden posted an event

May 15, 2025 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Monday
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Morality]
Introduction
(By Paul Hazelden; this was circulated as an introduction for a discussion.)
When we say the war in Ukraine (or anything else) is immoral, I would like to know what we mean by this. Are we only saying, as some people suggest, that we disapprove of it? Is morality just a statement of personal or group preference? And, if not, then what is it? Can we find out what is moral by voting on it, or is there some other method we can agree upon?
I'm not suggesting we talk…
Monday
Paul Hazelden published an article
 [Back to Spiritual Challenges]
Clearly, there is a lot which could be said here.

Morality: An Introduction
Morality is simply a useful fiction
What Do We Mean By Morality?

 
Monday
Paul Hazelden posted a blog post
I have recently discovered Ivan Illich; it turns out that I have been promoting much of his teaching for years, without knowing it. Here is one brilliant quote:
“Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the…
Monday
Adrian Roberts commented on Adrian Roberts's article Actually I don’t think Trump is All That Bad Really
"Time to update my initial post from mid-February 2025; it is now 10th May 2025. Do I still think Trump is "not all that bad really"? (Actually my original conclusion is that he very nearly is that bad). 
I still think that his policy on Ukraine may possibly be the most rational thing that he is attempting to do. The row in the White House between him and Zelensky, provoked by Vance, was a disgusting display of bullying, but even then, generally it was not so much what Trump said as the way that…"
May 10
Adrian Roberts commented on Paul Hazelden's article Reforming the NHS
" Paul 
I take your point that the cost of healthcare can be measured not just by the cost of provision but by the cost of not providing it - the reduced productivity of people who are unable to work due to illness or the need to care for someone who is ill. The trouble is that it would take a brave government to increase health spending and gamble on getting it back from people being more able to contribute to the economy.  Many consumers of the health care do not contribute economically in any…"
May 5
Paul Hazelden commented on Paul Hazelden's article Three Kinds of Sex
"19 April 2025: I have just posted this response to a Facebook article which was seeking to argue for partucular position on the basis of a spurious 'scientific' account. I wrote an article about this topic a while back: Three Kinds of Sex (https://just-human.net/articles/three-kinds-of-sex). What Helm says is true, but it's only part of the truth. Yes, there are various possible combinations of the two sex chromosomes, but that doesn't produce more than two sexes. Things can go wrong in many…"
Apr 19
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Ukraine]
We had another discussion about Ukraine last night (17 April 2025, for the record), and we can't see any plausible way to end the war, either by military or political means.  Our suspicions about US surveillance seem to have been confirmed, as within hours of our discussion, the White House starts to admit that they can't see a way forward and are planning to pull out of the 'peace talks' unless the warring parties have a change of heart real soon.
The problem with a peace…
Apr 18
Brian Monahan commented on Adrian Roberts's article Thirty Years in the NHS: a Community Psychiatric Nurse's view
" Thank you for this, Adrian"
Mar 28
Adrian Roberts published an article
[Back to Healthcare]
THIRTY YEARS IN THE NHS: A COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRIC NURSE’S VIEW
I will try not to make this too much about me, or about the patients, or even about psychiatry as such, but about the issues that I encountered regarding NHS policy and governance, during my thirty years as a psychiatric nurse. I can’t really give an insider’s opinion on the recent closure of NHS England, but I am sure that it will be beneficial to remove a layer of bureaucracy and hand back control to the…
Mar 21
Paul Hazelden posted an event

Mar 20, 2025 from 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Online

Mar 1
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Healthcare]
Introduction
Almost everybody agrees that the UK National Health Service (NHS) is in need of radical reform, so let's start to spell out what that reform might look like.  Other countries manage to deliver prompt and effective healthcare: it's not impossible.  But we have to want to do it, and we have to believe it is possible.
Details
Aim
For a start, we need to change the primary aim.  The NHS currently aims to deliver cost-effective treatment, but it should aim to…
Mar 1
Adrian Roberts commented on Paul Hazelden's article A Peace Deal for Ukraine
" Paul 
I think your penultimate paragraph is the best hope for peace, short of one side capitulating completely. I presume and hope that Trump's strategy is something like it. 
The Europeans and the UK painted themselves into a corner very quickly. Their justifiable outrage at the Russian aggression left no room for nuance. The Telegraph, Express and Mail in particular have made a huge investment in backing Ukraine, churning out propaganda about Ukraninian achievements, which I would like to…"
Feb 25
Adrian Roberts commented on Adrian Roberts's article Actually I don’t think Trump is All That Bad Really
"Brian 
Some quick replies to your points: 
As I said to Paul, I am dubious about any conspiracy theory. There may well be aspects that don't add up. But the trouble with conspiracy theories is that they end up even more convoluted and difficult to accept than the standard theory. For instance, the lengths that flat-earthers have to go to, to explain how it is possible to apparently go round the world - some propose a doughnut- shaped world for instance! In this case, Crooks would have known…"
Feb 25
Paul Hazelden published an article
[Back to Social Challenges]
Introduction
Okay, the title is clumsy: demographics are the details of a group of people, so they always relate to one population or another.  When you consider the demographics of a population, you are often looking to see how they change with time.
When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, apart from the constant threat of nuclear war, most people believed that the most significant threat to the human race came from the 'population time-bomb' - the problems…
Feb 24
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