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Daniel Dennet |
I had the delightful fortune to discover the Salk Institute’s Beyond Belief Conference online about this same time last year. I ended up spending an entire weekend hanging out near my computer, soaking up every single lecture in order while sipping hot chocolate in my pajamas.
2006’s Beyond Belief program was Science, Religion, Reason and Survival, which included such greats as Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Ann Druyan, all offering their perspectives on Religion and Science, followed with academic discussion of each lecture. Watching the conference in its entirety was like watching a concert video of Lolapaloza (or whatever the big concert is for kids today), but instead of the monsters of rock, these were the Titans of Science.
Because it’s science, it’s all online for free. Beyond Belief Enlightenment 2.0 features presentations from Daniel Dennett, David Brin and an interview with PZ Meyers, and focuses on Enlightenment ideas and values. It takes a much more progressive and positive tone than last year’s content; although, last year’s content had several very inspiring talks.
You can view the full program of presentations here.