The Language of Humanist - Highlights

Dec. 7: The Language of Humanism (w/Pinker, Pinsky, Goldstein & Sweeney)
Sunday, December 7, 1:30pm
Harvard Science Center, Hall D

Human beings are storytelling animals: how does the way we tell our stories shape our lives, our happiness, and the world around us? How can we combine science, philosophy, literature and comedy to help us tell better stories–and live better lives? And how can those of us who are nonreligious (and often independent-minded “non-joiners”) still get the benefits of having a personal life-story that’s also part of the story of a community of like-minded people, working together to make the world better?

On Sunday, Dec. 7, we held a special celebration of the first birthday of the Humanist Hub, Boston’s first ever “Center for Humanist Life”, dedicated to building community for atheists, agnostics, humanists, and allies. Featuring four inspirational guest speakers: Harvard Psychologist Steven Pinker; playwright, author and Saturday Night Live alumna Julia Sweeney; former United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, and novelist/philosopher Rebecca Goldstein.

Collectively, these four speakers represent some of the best work of our generation in many fields: poetry, fiction, drama, science writing, philosophy, psychology, comedy, memoir, and translation. Together they’ll discuss the legacy of language, and how stories from millennia ago still inspire us today.