The Science Network

''Beyond Belief'' conference series

TSN's signature series Beyond Belief was conceived to bring together a community of scientists, philosophers, scholars from the humanities, and social commentators. Speakers at these meetings have included Steven Weinberg, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Harry Kroto, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Stuart Kauffman. So far, the following three Beyond Belief conferences were organized:

2006: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival

Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival, the first of The Science Network's annual Beyond Belief symposia, held from November 5 to November 7, 2006, was described by The New York Times, as "a free-for-all on science and religion," which seemed at times like "the founding convention for a political party built on a single plank: in a world dangerously charged with ideology, science needs to take on an evangelical role, vying with religion as teller of the greatest story ever told." According to participant Melvin Konner, however, the event came to resemble a "den of vipers” debating the issue, "Should we bash religion with a crowbar or only with a baseball bat?”

New Scientist summed up the topics to be discussed as a list of three questions:

• Can science help us create a new rational narrative as poetic and powerful as those that have traditionally sustained societies?
• Can we treat religion as a natural phenomenon?
• Can we be good without God? And if not God, then what?

Speakers included physicists Steven Weinberg, Lawrence Krauss, Philosopher/author Sam Harris, biologist Joan Roughgarden, Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine, anthropologist Scott Atran and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

2007: Enlightenment 2.0

Beyond Belief: Enlightenment 2.0 was the second annual symposium and was held from 31 October to 2 November 2007 at the Frederic de Hoffmann Auditorium of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

The conference was released on a five-disc DVD series in 2007.{{cite book

2008: Candles in the Dark

Beyond Belief: Candles in the Dark was the third annual Beyond Belief symposium. This event was organized by The Science Network and held from 3 October to 6 October 2008 in San Diego, CA.

References

References

1. Philipowski, Kristen. (December 18, 2003). "Are You Ready for Some Science?".
2. Shermer, Michael. (November 1, 2003). "Candle in the Dark: Instead of cursing the darkness of pseudoscience on television, light a candle with Cable Science Network". Scientific American.
3. [http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/stem-cells-science-ethics-and-politics-at-the-crossroads Stem Cells: Science, Ethics and Politics at the Crossroads]
4. [http://www.salk.edu/insidesalk/pdf/InsideSalkNov04.pdf Inside Salk 11 04]
5. [http://thesciencenetwork.org/programgroup/beyond-belief ''Beyond Belief'' conference series]
6. [http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-science-religion-reason-and-survival ''Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival'']
7. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/science/21belief.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/T/Tyson,%20Neil%20DeGrasse&_r=2&pagewanted=all ''A Free-for-All on Science and Religion'', George Johnson, New York Times, Section F, Page 1, November 21, 2006]
8. [https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225780.142-beyond-belief-in-place-of-god.html Michael Brooks and Helen Phillips, New Scientist, November 20, 2006]
9. [http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-enlightenment-2-0 ''Beyond Belief: Enlightenment 2.0'']
10. "2008 Official Website". The Science Network.