Category: News

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

We have been inundated with preconceived ideas about the elderly, the middle-aged, and the young: in conversations, in the workplace, at school, in the media, within our families and in social circles.

When we are all grouped together based solely on age, it can feel marginalizing and diminishing. Sometimes it’s hard to feel seen as an individual when immediate assumptions are made based on which age group we fall into.

This Sunday we will watch a TED Talk (found on YouTube) by Ashton Applewhite where she examines ageism: the assumption that older people are alike and that aging impoverishes us. She is an activist and the author of “This Chair Rocks: a manifesto against ageism” and the blog: “Yo, is this ageist?”.

Ashton says “I don’t want to reject my age but the fixed meanings that people assign to it. I claim my age at the same time that I challenge its primacy and its value as a signifier.”

Kristen Gane, a Toronto Oasis participant, will introduce the video and lead the discussion afterwards.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/zgtbgsyccfblc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: (Our guest musician was recorded.)
GMT20210328-153238_Recording_1920x1080.mp4

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

In Western culture including Western feminism, women of colour, women in post-colonial societies and indigenous women are often presented as abstract yet homogeneous (e.g. African women, Arab women, indigenous women, etc.), or as victims. They are regarded as the “other” women. They are rarely considered as real, material subjects, who are geographically, historically and culturally grounded. In this presentation, our featured speaker, Wei Djao, will examine the three descriptors of the other women – Silk, Steel, Sage – in order to foster a different way of understanding women outside of the dominant Western culture.

Wei Djao, a writer and educator, received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Toronto. She taught sociology and Asian/Global Studies in Canada, the United States and Hong Kong. In addition to articles published in scholarly journals, she is the author of the following books: A Blossom Like No Other: Li Qingzhao (2010); Being Chinese: Voices from the Diaspora (2003); Inequality and Social Policy: the Sociology of Welfare (1982); and (co-authored) Choices and Chances: Sociology of Everyday Life (1986). Her forthcoming book is entitled A Humanist Path: Ancient Chinese Wisdom for Curious Walkers.

Wei was the interviewer, narrator, writer or researcher in the production of television documentaries about Asian Americans and Chinese Canadians: American Nurse (an award-winning program about the experiences of New York-born Chinese American veteran of the Vietnam War Lily Lee Adams); Another Day in America; Lily Goes Home; and Chinese Café in Rural Saskatchewan.

Wei enjoys doing botanical illustrations in watercolour.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/zgtbgsyccfbcc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded:
Unedited Part 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1__HhCOpg1TtTM1JpbFAXuV_JE4yoIXXW/view?usp=sharing
Unedited Part 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YECa-Qlbo6kY_oaQrCYd2lPdvkELrV68/view?usp=sharing

We are working on an edited recording to be provided in the next few days.

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Why are ideologies poisoning public discourse? Why is extremism on the rise? How did we get here, and what can we do about it?

It turns out some influential assumptions are suppressing our culture’s “immune response” to dangerous ideas. These assumptions prevent us from normalizing critical thinking, and leave us vulnerable to mind-parasites.

Fortunately, there’s a cure. In this talk, our featured speaker, philosopher Andy Norman, will isolate an idea with a long history of inoculating people against the worst forms of ideological contagion, and argue that we can fashion it into a mind vaccine.

Andy directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. He’s done research on the evolutionary origins of human reasoning and the norms that make dialogue fruitful. He works to clarify the foundations of responsible thinking about what matters, and likes to engage audiences on topics related to science and human values.

Andy is also the author of the upcoming new book Mental Immunity, coming out this May. You can check it out using the following links:

https://andynorman.org/mental-immunity & http://www.harperwave.com/book/9780063002982/Mental-Immunity-Andy-Norman/

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccfbsb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Chat Log

From Tania Akon to Everyone: 11:01 AM -Links to core values & code of conduct: Core Values: https://torontooasis.org/about-us/ Code of Conduct: https://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct/ -Email address for Toronto Oasis – to let us know if & how you want to contribute to our programming: 416oasis@gmail.com From Tania Akon to Everyone: 11:28 AM -Link to music video on YouTube “Have The New Jab” – “Hallelujah” adapted by the Marsh Family Jan 10, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnbOKH9Oe9s\ From Tania Akon to Everyone: 11:34 AM Links to Andy Norman’s upcoming new book, Mental Immunity, coming out this May: https://andynorman.org/mental-immunity & http://www.harperwave.com/book/9780063002982/Mental-Immunity-Andy-Norman/ From Tania Akon to Everyone: 12:28 PM -For upcoming events check out our Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/ Toronto Oasis Website: https://torontooasis.org/ -Email address for providing feedback & suggestions 416oasis@gmail.com

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

What can archeology and social science tell us about how religion came to be so prominent in human life? Social psychology suggests that religion builds on many traits that were crucial in forming our species. Archeology suggests that some religious practices go back tens of thousands of years or more. However religious practices or beliefs among hunter-gatherers bear little resemblance to organized religion today, and have little to do with morality. Moralizing religions emerged in early large-scale farming societies, and the leading hypothesis is that such religions enabled cooperation in large groups. Our featured speaker, Dr. Mark Reimers, will discuss the evidence for this hypothesis and then consider how priests and kings coopted religious authority, and the many attempts at reforms. He will conclude by considering the rapidly evolving roles of religion in modern societies and the prospects of religion for the future.

Dr. Mark Reimers works as a computational neuroscientist: he studies brain function by applying statistical methods to look for patterns in large-scale and high-resolution recordings of brain activity and behavior. He applies these methods to understand normal brain function in memory and to shed light on mental illness. Dr. Reimers has worked at the US National Institutes of Health, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics in Richmond, and now does research and teaches at Michigan State University. His broader aim is to ground our understanding of feeling and thought in the facts of biology.

Dr. Reimers was the leader of the Richmond Humanists in Virginia for five years, and now leads the UU Forum in Lansing, and speaks frequently at humanist and science outreach events in Michigan.

People may also be interested in Dr. Reimers’ recent talk for the AHA: How America Lost its Mind: The Neuropsychology of Dogmatic Delusion. Here’s a link to the recording of that talk: https://youtu.be/7zZ1mSP2ZgA

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccfbkb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting was recorded:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XMN0kqu9Cog4779vFMB-5k8LAOlsON1j/view?usp=sharing

Chat Log

11:02:27 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Links to core values & code of conduct: Core Values: https://torontooasis.org/about-us/ Code of Conduct: https://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct/ 11:03:18 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Email address for Toronto Oasis – to let us know if & how you want to contribute to our programming: 416oasis@gmail.com 11:04:39 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Link to online meeting info: Important online meeting Info: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions/ 11:14:54 From Ryan Zhang to Everyone : For mobile devices: To disable closed captions during a meeting, tap on More -> Meeting Settings and toggle the option for Closed Captioning to off. 11:34:34 From Tania Akon to Everyone : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSpv8S1zaM LYRICS: I’m not sitting down No I’m not sitting down I’ve been silent for too long now So I’m not sitting down We are just the same But skin gets in the way We will all lose our breath some day Cause we are just the same When it’s rigged before the game’s begun We should question every hand Until the deal’s the same for everyone You know we gotta make a stand If we wait here for the wind to change That ship’ll sail on by If we really wanna see that day It’s up to you and me to try So I’m not sitting down No I’m not sitting down Yeah I’ve been silent for too long now So I’m not sitting down I’m not sitting down No I’m not sitting down I will stand here beside you now And I’m not sitting down 11:40:37 From Tania Akon to Everyone : Featured speaker: Mark Reimers: you may be interested in his recent talk for the AHA: How America Lost its Mind: The Neuropsychology of Dogmatic Delusion. Here’s a link to the recording of that talk: https://youtu.be/7zZ1mSP2ZgA 12:16:02 From Dan Cooperstock to Everyone : I’ve been asked where the recordings go. They go to our main website, www.torontooasis.org, and then you select RECORDED MEETINGS from the left-hand menu. 12:16:40 From Mark Reimers to Everyone : Ara Norenzayan, Big Gods Robert Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution Robert Wright, The Evolution of God 12:31:44 From Tania Akon to Everyone : Sunday March 14th: Our featured speaker will be Andy Norman, author of the upcoming book: Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think (https://andynorman.org/mental-immunity ). The link to Andy’s website is provided on the screen and will also be provided in the chat. 12:32:18 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -For upcoming events check out our Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/ 12:32:34 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Toronto Oasis Website: https://torontooasis.org/ 12:33:11 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Toronto Oasis Contributions: https://torontooasis.org/donate/ Financial Report – Toronto Oasis, Secular Community https://torontooasis.org/financial-report/ 12:33:37 From Tania Akon to Everyone : -Email address for providing feedback & suggestions 416oasis@gmail.com

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

For our featured presentation this Sunday we will watch a video clip (found on YouTube) from the Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer, will introduce the video and lead the discussion after we watch the video together.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccdblc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

The Long-Term Care sector in Ontario has been made an exemplar of a failing health care system that focuses in narrowly on the elderly population. This Sunday, our featured speaker, Tim Mt. Pleasant, will present on some of the key challenges that the Long-Term Care sector faces and will adapt his presentation based on the feedback you provide using the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8VBNWBW

Tim Mt. Pleasant has 18 years of experience in the health care sector, with 10 of those years spent in Long-Term Care. He is certified by the Ontario Association of Not-for-Profit Housing and Services for Seniors as a Long-Term Care Administrator and has spent the last four years completing his Philosophy degree at Ryerson University. He spent nine months working in the Bioethics division of University Health Network as a student mainly focused on Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He has a keen interest in the right to choose Medical Assistance in Dying and has spent time completing research in this area.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccdbcc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zXH28v7ZEH65W8szaVtxZY2G7YU1mpSJ/view?usp=sharing

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: http://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

In case you’re wondering, an algorithm is a set of mathematical instructions and rules that a computer needs to complete a task. For our featured presentation this Sunday, we will view a TED talk by Joy Buolamwini on her campaign to fight racist bias in machine learning, especially problems associated with facial recognition, as well as a short talk by one of the authors of The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design (2019), Michael Kearns. Helen Lenskyj will introduce the topic and moderate the question time. She is hoping that our resident IT experts will lead the way 🙂

Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_X_7g63rY
Video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4YrSEHaBSc

Helen Lenskyj is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, where she taught sociology. Helen grew up in Australia and has lived in Toronto since 1966. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 1983, and was a professor from 1986 until retiring in 2007. As well as writing books, she enjoys swimming and kayaking. Her website is www.helenlenskyj.ca; TWITTER: https://twitter.com/helenje63185798

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccdbsb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

For our featured presentation this Sunday we will watch a TED talk (found on YouTube) by Yuval Noah Harari: Why Humans Run the World. Harari is the author of many popular science bestsellers including Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer, will introduce the video and lead the discussion after we watch the video together.\

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/dtjqdsyccdbkb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Our featured speakers will be Laval Martin and Peri Matthew, co-authors of the book: Isolation and Depression: The Little Black Book of Depression (https://www.amazon.ca/Isolation-Depression-Reversing-Situational-Resulting-ebook/dp/B086WD2YP8/) about transforming our experience of depression from negative to natural. This will be part 2 of their two-part talk about their book. The recording of part 1 of their talk last Sunday, Jan 24th can be downloaded and viewed using the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbNkfKXopgdXj7EqF_Emji1AKrRmlepH/view?usp=sharing

Laval Martin is a corporate trainer on topics such as resilience, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness (https://www.lavalmartinconsulting.com/). Holding a Master of Social Work degree, he also provides psychotherapy and relationship therapy (http://www.wisemindtoronto.com/). Additionally, Laval has practiced various martial arts and self-defence systems since 2001, with a focus on avoiding and de-escalating conflict. He is a full-instructor of Senshido and also holds an instructor certification with Safe International. Laval has been hosting a monthly Beer and Philosophy Night since May, 2014.

Peri Matthew has suffered from chronic depression since she was 14 years old. In her late twenties she went into a treatment centre for drug addiction. Soon after that she completed her 3-year BA – it took her 15 years. She also obtained her Teaching English As A Second Language Certification. Peri worked in brief stints with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, The Institute of Self Healing and Authentic Relating Toronto. She’s learned and practiced mindfulness meditation, Vipassana meditation and has recently discovered Heartwork – the heart meditation that can be found in Chapter 5 of their book. She co-founded and ran an intentional community out of her home for 9 years. In addition to co-authoring the book Isolation and Depression, she’s written a young adult fantasy novel, Into Me See. Peri spends most of her time and energy being a mother to her 2 boys.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jclldsycccbpc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CXm_4L9jJ7jTTQnZpM94Oh9jgGvG3QRB/view?usp=sharing

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

Our featured speakers will be Laval Martin and Peri Matthew, co-authors of the book: Isolation and Depression: The Little Black Book of Depression (https://www.amazon.ca/Isolation-Depression-Reversing-Situational-Resulting-ebook/dp/B086WD2YP8/) about transforming our experience of depression from negative to natural. This will be part 1 of their two-part talk about their book.

Laval Martin is a corporate trainer on topics such as resilience, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness (https://www.lavalmartinconsulting.com/). Holding a Master of Social Work degree, he also provides psychotherapy and relationship therapy (http://www.wisemindtoronto.com/). Additionally, Laval has practiced various martial arts and self-defence systems since 2001, with a focus on avoiding and de-escalating conflict. He is a full-instructor of Senshido and also holds an instructor certification with Safe International. Laval has been hosting a monthly Beer and Philosophy Night since May, 2014.

Peri Matthew has suffered from chronic depression since she was 14 years old. In her late twenties she went into a treatment centre for drug addiction. Soon after that she completed her 3-year BA – it took her 15 years. She also obtained her Teaching English As A Second Language Certification. Peri worked in brief stints with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, The Institute of Self Healing and Authentic Relating Toronto. She’s learned and practiced mindfulness meditation, Vipassana meditation and has recently discovered Heartwork – the heart meditation that can be found in Chapter 5 of their book. She co-founded and ran an intentional community out of her home for 9 years. In addition to co-authoring the book Isolation and Depression, she’s written a young adult fantasy novel, Into Me See. Peri spends most of her time and energy being a mother to her 2 boys.

Please RSVP on meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/mtkqxrycccbgc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meetings has been recorded:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbNkfKXopgdXj7EqF_Emji1AKrRmlepH/view?usp=sharing

The chat info was captured from this meeting:

11:02:15 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

 -Links to core values & code of conduct:

Core Values: https://torontooasis.org/about-us/

Code of Conduct: https://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct/

11:03:13 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

-Email address for Toronto Oasis – to let us know if & how you want to contribute to our programming:

416oasis@gmail.com

11:04:11 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

-Link to online meeting info:

Important online meeting Info: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions/

11:07:41 From  Dan Cooperstock  to  Everyone : To answer Tim, Helen Lenskyj co-authored the “No” part of a Toronto Star Yes/No pair of articles yesterday about whether the Olympics can be held safely this summer. I posted a link to it on our Facebook page.

11:33:27 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

Music video on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzNvk80XY9s

Sleeping At Last’s website: http://www.sleepingatlast.com/about

11:40:26 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

The Amazon link to the book: Isolation & Depression: https://www.amazon.ca/Isolation-Depression-Reversing-Situational-Resulting-ebook/dp/B086WD2YP8/

11:40:38 From  Tania Akon  to  Everyone :

Link to Laval’s consulting business: https://www.lavalmartinconsulting.com/

Link to Laval’s psychotherapy practice: http://www.wisemindtoronto.com/

11:44:42 From  Dan Cooperstock  to  Everyone :

One of us has made a good suggestion that if we want to buy their book, we do it from a local bookstore rather than Amazon. 🙂

12:32:15 From  Dan Cooperstock  to  Everyone :

Contact info for Laval:

Laval Martin

416-826-4919 (be persistent!)

laval@lavalmartinconsulting.com