UofT Study: Brain differences between believers and non-believers

A recent study led by UofT’s own Assistant Psychology Professor Michael Inzlicht has shown brain activity differences between believers and non-believers.

Results indicate that believers show markedly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that helps modify behavior by signaling when attention and control are needed. For instance, a believer will show less stress and anxiety (and brain activity) when making a mistake or error, as compared to a non-believer. An increase in the belief of God was shown to correlate to decreased ACC activity.

Although this calming effect is considered to be beneficial to some, it is a “double edged sword” says Inzlicht. “Obviously, anxiety can be negative because if you have too much, you’re paralyzed with fear. However, it also serves a very useful function in that it alerts us when we’re making mistakes. If you don’t experience anxiety when you make an error, what impetus do you have to change or improve your behaviour so you don’t make the same mistakes again and again?”

Read the full article at Physorg.com.
The study will be published in Psychological Science.

Darwin Day ‘09 Recap

I am pleased to inform everyone that our February 12th Darwin Day event, held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, was a success! More than fifty UTM students, faculty and local supporters came to hear Dr. Vincent Di Norcia give an interesting and enlightening discussion on Darwin’s lesser known views on social ethics. The hour long talk was followed by a lengthy and interesting question and answer period.

I would like to thank everyone who came out to support the event, the MFA, and of course one of science’s greatest minds! We will be putting on one more event before the school year is done, so stay tuned!

- Tom Ulanowski, President

Darwin Day at UTM - February 12

We are pleased to announce another lecture to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday!

Thursday, February 12, 2009
5:30 pm
SE 2072 - South Building, UTM
FREE ADMISSION

We are celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth in 1809, a man who is on any account one of greatest scientists since Newton. The aim of the talk will be to celebrate Darwin by describing his wide-ranging mind, his extraordinarily observant and meticulous work in geology, botany, and biology. Darwin is deservedly renown for his epochal achievement in developing the revolutionary notion of the origin and evolution of species through natural selection. Less well known, however, is his equally innovative and revolutionary, if largely unacknowledged, view of the intimate relations between the ‘social instinct’ and the ‘moral sense’ both in humans and in animals, as his words above indicate. Dr. Di Norcia will communicate the grandeur and beauty of Darwin’s view of social ethics as well as of evolution. In both the matters of natural history and social ethics, he suggests that Charles Darwin’s scientific work to this day represents a ground-breaking intellectual and scientific achievement. And, unfortunately, still largely ignored or ignorantly opposed.

Darwin Day Lecture - February 10, 2008

In celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, the Halton-Peel Humanist Community with the Mississauga Freethought Association, will be hosting a talk by Dr. Jason R Wiles on the state of evolution education in Canada and the United States.

The event will be held at the Central Library in Mississauga, ON on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, starting at 6:30 pm.

This event is open to anyone and everyone - so bring your friends, family, school mates and co-workers, and come celebrate the birth of one of the greatest minds in science!

New Events Coming Soon…

Hello freethinkers,

We are going to be featuring the following events in the new year:

- Bi-Weekly Bullshit (Movie Screenings)
- Darwin Day Event (Guest Speaker)
- Public Lectures (TBA)

Many more details to appear in the coming weeks! Check back for any updates.

Wishing everyone a happy new year,
Tom Ulanowski
President

Upcoming Event: Public talk by author Larry Beinhart

We are pleased to announce another great event - a public talk by author Larry Beinhart.

Larry Beinhart is best known as the author of the political and detective novel “American Hero”, which was adapted for the political-parody film “Wag the Dog”. His novel “No One Rides for Free” (1986) received the 1987 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Larry has also been a Fulbright Fellow and lecturer at Oxford, and has won the Gold Dagger from the Crime Writers Association (UK).

His more recent book “Salvation Boulevard” is about the intersection of faith and politics. It is a page-turning thriller in the tradition of John Grisham and Richard Condon that grapples with the ecstatic and entropic nature of religious faith in contemporary America. It pulls off one of the toughest tricks in modern literature: a sharp, high-energy whodunit that will disturb you with how closely it is based on real life.

We would like to thank the Centre for Inquiry (Ontario) for their support in this event. If you like what the MFA stands for, then I suggest you check out their website for more interesting events.

Additional information:

Larry Beinhart’s Website
Centre for Inquiry Ontario

Details:
Thursday, November 20, 2008
7:30 pm
Kaneff Building, Room 137 (Large Lecture Hall)
FREE ADMISSION!

MFA Survey

Fellow Freethinkers,

Please take 5 minutes of your time, and fill out our quick survey at:
SurveyMonkey

It’s only eight questions, but allows us to collect valuable information about what we are doing wrong, and what we are doing right. All results are confidential, and will only be used to plan future events more efficiently.

Also, a heads up… A guest speaker might be visiting UTM within the next 2 weeks… Keep your eyes pealed!

Upcoming Event: Bi-Weekly Bullshit - Alternative Medicine

The MFA will be hosting another one of it’s bi-weekly bullshit meet-ups on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 7 PM.

The screening will feature a short (45 min) documentary produced by the Discovery Science Channel and CSI-COP. It is entitled “Critical Eye: Alternative Medicine” and focuses on the efficacy of new-age medicine (herbal remedies, homeopathy, magnet therapy, therapeutic touch, refloxology, etc…).

This is a great opportunity for people to come together and discuss the pro’s and con’s of these treatments.

Download PDF poster here

As always, ADMISSION IS FREE! So, come to the Student Centre (Board Room, Upstairs) and let us know what you think about this subject. Refreshments will be provided.

October 16 Meeting CANCELLED

Due to changes in our program, we have cancelled the October 16 (7:00 pm) screening of our regular documentary.
We will be changing the format for next time and we hope that you can come out on October 30 for our next gathering. More news on this soon!

Thanks,
Tom Ulanowski, President

Upcoming Events: “Bi-Weekly Bullsh!t”

Calling all Skeptics!

The Mississauga Freethought Association (MFA), an on-campus club promoting science, reason and skepticism, will begin hosting open discussion’s on a variety of relevant and controversial topics. Entitled “Bi-Weekly Bullsh!t”, the MFA will put on an informal,
open forum centered around a short documentary or film, followed by a lively discussion on the chosen topic.

Topics include: Alternative/New Age Medicine, Religion, Politics, Morality, Science and Technology, Paranormal Events, Conspiracy Theories and The War on Drugs.

Everyone is welcome to participate - just bring an open mind, and a skeptical eye!

Download PDF poster here

Thursday, September 25
Thursday, October 16 - CANCELLED!
Thursday, October 30
Thursday, November 13
Thursday, November 27