An introduction to The Free World Charter.

Please read and sign The Free World Charter today at:
http://www.freeworldcharter.org

The Free World Charter is a set of principles that have the potential to optimise life on Earth for all species, eradicate human poverty and greed, and advance progress exponentially.

Neither political nor religious, the ten short principles of the Charter could form the foundation of a new, advanced society that uses no money, is free, fair and sustainable. They are based solely on common sense, Nature and survival.

This is our world, and we can solve many of our problems today and have a better society, by following just a few simple rules of Nature.

For more information, read:
http://www.freeworldcharter.org/?a=more

For FAQs or common criticisms, read:
http://www.freeworldcharter.org/?a=faqs

Read and sign the Charter:
http://www.freeworldcharter.org/?a=charter

Join our Facebook page for discussion:
http://www.facebook.com/freeworldcharter

Tags: Action, Advance Progress, Common Sense, Discussion, Earth, Free, Greed, Human, Human Poverty, Information, Information, Introduction, Life, Life on Earth, Man, Money, Poverty, Progress, Season Two, survival, World Charter

By leading the Americans in his audience at TEDxPSU step by step through the thought process, sociologist Sam Richards sets an extraordinary challenge: can they understand — not approve of, but understand — the motivations of an Iraqi insurgent? And by extension, can anyone truly understand and empathize with another?

Sam Richards is a sociologist and award-winning teacher who has been inspiring undergraduate students at Penn State since 1990. Every semester, 725 students register for his Race and Ethnic Relations course, one of the most popular classes at Penn State and the largest of its kind in the country. Through his natural ability of seeing a subject from many angles, Richards encourages students to engage more fully with the world and to think for themselves — something he did not do until his third year in college. Because of his passion for challenging students to open their minds, an interviewer recently referred to him as “an alarm clock for eighteen-year-olds.”

His career began at the age of 24 when he was hired to teach a cybernetics course — just 15 minutes before the first class meeting. He remembers walking into the room without having had a moment to create a lesson plan and greeting his students, “Welcome to the course. I’m your instructor. And if you have no idea what cybernetics is, you’re not alone — because I don’t either.” This characteristic willingness to be playfully transparent in the classroom, along with a talent for making complex ideas understandable and relevant, is the foundation of his success as a teacher.

Richards is also the co-director of the World in Conversation Project at Penn State (www.worldinconversation.org), whose mission is to create a kind of dialogue about social and cultural issues that invites the unexamined, politically incorrect thoughts of participants to the surface so that those thoughts can be submitted to conscious exploration and inquiry. The conversation topics span a range of cultural issues — from U.S. race relations to gender to faith to international racism. This year, nearly 7,000 University Park students will participate in one of more than 1,300 of these unscripted conversations. Furthermore, the project also sponsors video dialogues between Penn State students and students at other universities around the world.

Tags: America, Conversation, Dialogue, Education, idea, Ideas, Insurgent, Kind, Man, Meeting, Nation, Pennsylvania State University, Political, Politics Of Iraq, Project, Sam Richards, Season Two, Social, Sociologist, State, Student, Ted, Tedxpsu, Thought, Thoughts, Topic, U.S., United States, University Park, War, YouTube

URL: http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/columns/michael-shermer/stephen-hawking%E2%80%99s-radical-philosophy-of-science

The models generated by biochemical processes in our brains constitute “reality.” None of us can ever be completely sure that the world really is as it appears, or if our minds have unconsciously imposed a misleading pattern on the data. I call this belief-dependent realism. In my forthcoming book, The Believing Brain, I demonstrate the myriad ways that our beliefs shape, influence, and even control everything we think, do, and say about the world. The power of belief is so strong that we typically form our beliefs first, then construct a rationale for holding those beliefs after the fact. I claim that the only escape from this epistemological trap is science. Flawed as it may be because it is conducted by scientists who have their own set of beliefs determining their reality, science itself has a set of methods to bypass the cognitive biases that so cripple our grasp of the reality that really does exist out there. ~ Michael Shermer Author of The Believing Brain.

I am very intrigued by many of the ideas put forth in this article. The beginning ties anyone with a seeking mind in with the beautiful description of how we receive and interpret the environment through our senses and brain.  However, I must disagree with the author slightly in that I do not think our brains have the incredible crippling bias that Shermer references.

Science is extraordinary. Yet what runs science but human minds? When I look at reality I have to think that most of what I see is fairly accurate. From a philosophical standpoint we must come to the conclusion that we can never know exactly what reality is without altering that reality or without some degradation of the information we are getting about it. But I choose to assume that what my senses take in are as close to the truth as I may ever come. And in fact I can rely on my senses pretty well. Things behave in patterns that I have learned over my life. Other people can verify for me that there is in fact a computer screen in front of my eyes!

What I am getting at is that I am not a scientist nor are most people. Yet we can use logic and reason along with our senses and memory to make a pretty good working model of the world and that is what people have been doing for millenia. Observing and comparing notes. I am not trying to go on an attack on science. However, scientists study things that may or may not have a direct impact on our daily lives. Yet you and I can study and observe and make some logical conclusions about the world we live in that might make a vast difference in how we view our own realities. I look to science for guidance but I also consult a whole host of sources in order for me to make a a choice and apply it in my life.

It really all comes down to belief. Beliefs have the power to cloud our view of reality or tune us into it even more deeply. Even science has its doctrine. So I believe that it is even more important than science to focus on our own beliefs and realize that they are what inform our reality most yet that we can choose to have our observations shape them. One can either mold reality to their beliefs or allow reality to inform and inspire their thoughts and beliefs.

Tags: Author, Belief, Believe, Bias, Biochemical Processes, Brain, Brains, Cognitive Biases, Degradation, Focus, Forthcoming Book, Human, idea, Ideas, influence, Information, Life, Man, Michael Shermer, People, Philosophical Standpoint, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Science, Question, Questions, Radical Philosophy, Rationale, Religious Belief, Science, Scientist, Scientists, Season Two, Self, Senses, Skeptic, Space, Stephen Hawking, Ted, Topic, Truth, Users, World

Or, at least, this is true if you live in the United States. But outside the States is a major global revolution led by underground humanitarian and ecologically friendly organizations. In his book  Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawkin uses the term “Interdependence Revolution” to describe this movement. Hawkin uses the metaphor of the human body and its interdependent array of various bacteria. This system of bacteria not only relies on each species and member for survival they also “recognize self and non-self, [just as] the movement identifies what is humane and not humane” (Hawken)

The knowledge of this revolution makes me excited because it could truly mean that the drastic change we have been waiting for is literally right around the corner for us. If these organizations can shut down the WTO convention they clearly have some power to affect real progress. It is often said that the revolution is always going on and that we just need to find it and join it in progress. With over 200 million organizations worldwide, it seems like the options to help are nearly endless.

Original Article

Tags: Action, array, bacteria, blessed unrest, Change, drastic change, History, Human, human body, humane, interdependence, interdependent, Man, movement, Organizations, original article, Paul, paul hawkin, Progress, Revolution, Season Two, Self, State, survival, Televised, Underground, United States, Unrest, World, World Trade Organization

Can’t say how many times I have been told that having an opinion is very common, doing something about it was not. This whole time I have been working on FPR, I have been thinking that, getting the ideas that me and my friends mentally spar with, on a regular basis, needed to be shared. Here, is one of the great minds of our world making a compelling argument for world peace, and it’s benifits. So I always think that a world without war is something we all should hope and work for.

Would be nice to live without the fear we all seem to accept as normal.

Tags: Activism and Peace Work, Fear, FPR, Human Interest, Ideas, Jody, Jody Williams, Man, Realistic, Season Two, Thought, United States, Video, Vision, Williams, World peace

Robert McChesney explores the changing relationship between media and politics and the effects of the growing globalization of mass media.  This is a pretty big topic, in my opinion, and we need to pay attention to the money trails.  A lot is rotten in the state of Denmark!  This is from a Series: Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media at UCSB [5/2005] [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 9492]

Tags: And New Media, Carsey-Wolf Center For Film, Culture, Film Television, John Nichols, Man, Mass, Mass Media, Media & Politics, Media And Politics, Politics In The United States, Public, Public Affairs, Robert Mcchesney, Robert W. Mcchesney, Season Two, Social Sciences, State, Television, Topic, United States, University Of California Santa Barbara, Visual Arts, Wolf Center, YouTube

This argument that human-caused carbon emissions are merely a drop in the bucket compared to greenhouse gases generated by volcanoes has been making its way around the rumor mill for years. And while it may sound plausible, the science just doesn’t back it up.

Read more: Valcanoes Release Carbon Dioxide – The Daily Green

Tags: Action on Climate Change, Argument, Carbon, Carbon Cycle, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Finance, Carbon Management, Chemistry, Climate Change, Climatology, Dioxide, drop in the bucket, Environment, Environmental, Global warming, Global warming controversy, Green, Greenhouse, Greenhouse Gas, Greenhouse Gases, House, Human, Man, Mitigation Of Global Warming, News, Release Carbon Dioxide, Reuters, Rumor, Rumor Mill, Science, Season Two, Topic, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Volcano, volcanoes

This is insidious and happens more often than we would like to admit to ourselves in this modern enlightened age. Take a look at some of the terrible facts.

Tags: Abuse, Anti Trafficking, Crimes against humanity, Criminal Law, Ethics, Human, Human Rights Abuses, Human Trafficking, Man, Organized crime, Season Two, Smuggling, Topic, Women, Women's Rights, YouTube

Here is a list of potential topics that we feel are fruitful and relevant to today’s society and each could stand on their own as a show topic  Please use these topics as a guild to choose from when filling out the form below.

• Censorship & Free Speech
• Abortion
• Addiction
• Advertising
• Animal Right
• Apathy
• Art & Saint Louis
• Artificial Intelligence
• Big Business
• Black Markets
• Catastrophe & Change
• CBT & REBT
• Children & Technology
• Class-ism
• Community
• Consumerism
• Cradle to Cradle
• Credit & Debt
• Design vs Utilitarianism
• Divorce
• Economics
• Education vs. Indoctrination
• Efficiency vs. Equity
• Enlightening
• Environmental Issues
• Ethics & Morality
• Euthanasia & Aging
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Extremism & Nationalism
• Food
• Free Trade
• Freedom of Information
• Genetics
• Globalism
• Governmental Roles
• Graphic Design
• Housing
• Human Enrichment
• Human Rights
• Human Trafficking
• Immigration
• Inspiration
• Intellectual Copyrights
• Internet Privacy
• Legalization vs. Prohibition
• Life & Loss
• Mainstream vs. Underground
• Marriage vs. Partnership
• Media & Politics
• Modern Culture Violence
• Modern Day Ritual
• Modern Gender Roles
• Modern Mythology
• Modern New Media
• Modern Publishing
• Money
• Movies & Theater
• Nano-technology
• Narcissism
• Nuclear Weapons
• Obesity
• Opinions vs. Facts
• Parenting
• Permaculture
• Pollution & Big Business
• Pornography
• Privacy
• Psycho-Pharmaceuticals
• Psychology of Design
• Racism
• Real Grass Roots Change
• Recycling
• Relationships & Marriage
• Relationships
• Relationships
• Religion & Government
• Religion vs. Spirituality
• Restorative Justice
• Sex & Media
• Sexism
• Slow Living
• Social Justice
• Social Media
• Social Obligation
• Social Responsibility
• Social Taboos
• Space Exploration
• Sports
• Stereotyping & Profiling
• Technology
• The Tipping Point
• True Altruism
• Truth
• Universal Health-care
• Urban Ecology
• Virtues of Selfishness
• VR vs. RW
• War
• What is a good life?

Tags: Abortion, Addiction, Advertising, Altruism, Animal, Animal Right, Apathy, Application, Art, Art & Saint Louis, Big Business, Black Markets, Business, Care, Catastrophe, CBT, Censorship, Change, Child, Children, Children & Technology, Class-Ism, Community, Consumerism, Copyrights, Cradle, Cradle To Cradle, Credit, Culture, Debt, Design, Design vs Utilitarianism, Details, Divorce, Economics, Education, Efficiency, Enlightening, Environment, Environmental, Environmental Issues, Equity, Ethics, Euthanasia, Evolutionary, Evolutionary Psychology, Extremism, Extremism & Nationalism, Facebook, Food, Form, Free, Freedom, Gender, Genetics, Globalism, Government, Government Media, Government Religion, Governmental, Graphic, Graphic Design, Grass, Grass Roots, Guest, Health, Housing, Human, Human Enrichment, Human Rights And Liberties, Human Trafficking, Immigration, Indoctrination, Information, Information, Inspiration, Intellectual, Intellectual Copyrights, Intelligence, Internet, Internet Privacy, Justice, Legalization, Legalization vs. Prohibition, Life, Life & Loss, Loss, Mainstream, Man, Markets, Marriage, Marriage Relationships, Marriage vs. Partnership, Media, Media & Politics, Media Economics, Modern, Money, Morality, Movies, Movies & Theater, Myspace, Mythology, Nano, Nano Technology, Narcissism, Nationalism, Nuclear, Obesity, Obligation, Opinion, Parenting, Partnership, Permaculture, Personal, Pharmaceuticals, Politics, Poll, Pollution, Pollution & Big Business, Pornography, Prohibition, Psycho, Psychology, Psychology of Design, Publishing, Questionnaire, Racism, Real Grass Roots Change, Rebt, Recycling, Relationships, Relationships & Marriage, Religion, Religion & Government, Request, Responsibility, Restorative, Restorative Justice, Rights, Ritual, Roles, Roots, Saint Louis, Self, Selfishness, Sex, Sex & Media, Sexism, Slow, Social, Social Media, Social Obligation, Social Responsibility, Social Sciences, Social Taboos, Society, Space, Speech, Spirituality, Stereotyping, Taboos, Teaching, Technology, Technology Class, Theater, Tipping, Today, Trade, Trade Freedom, Trafficking, True Altruism, Truth, Twitter, Underground, Universal, Universal Health Care, Urban Ecology, Utilitarianism, Violence, Virtues, War, Weapons