ITT: Enlightened societies & gatherings

The Skeptic Society
TED Conference
Atheist Alliance International
International High IQ Society

Moar

/b/

NAMBLA

you forgot MENSA, unless one of the ones you listed is closely associated with/is it.

You know, 'enlightened' people are very ironic.

>>4
I wouldn't call MENSA "enlightened." The only requirement to join is that you have a high IQ and all they do is play nerdy games.

>>6
The skeptic society only requires a donation. All they do is yell at the mentally ill retards who think they have 'powers'. 

I want to see them confront all religion.

>>6

OP's list sounded like a bunch of circle-jerkers, so I added an additional group of circle-jerkers.  The point.

>>8
Right right. I like TED though.

>>7
oh god i lold.

becuase its fucking true.

I want to see them confront all religion.

>>1
Moar
*Sigh...*

>>7
>>10
>I want to see them confront all religion.

The principle reason these societies may be seen as enlightened is that they share the understanding that the scientific method is the only way we have been able to establish a quantifiable objective reality.  Science does not confront.  It has no need to.  When called upon it examines, hypothesizes, experiments, theorizes, studies, and draws conclusions.  It's just a tool that we use, the only tool we have that's effectiveness is provable, for solving problems.
Religion and other organizations whose members believe things that can't be proven present problems that have been dealt with as much as we have been able.  From Copernicus to Darwin, we amass more and more evidence, incontrovertible to any reasonable person, yet many members of many religions cling to their irrational ignorance.  We have built massive libraries. They burn books.  We develop technologies. They repackage defunct 2000 year old philosophical arguments (intelligent design=teleological argument) and pretend it's Science.  They misinform, dis inform, and prey on ignorance.
We explore and teach.
The big final confrontation between Religion and Science actually happened in the mid to late 19th Century and here's a news flash, Religion lost.  Contemporary conflict between religion and Science is a red herring; a distraction that is a result of poor education.  Societies take time to change, particularly when expected to sacrifice a tool that has been so useful in controlling those societies.  But it's happening.  They're catching on.

>>13

Yeah, those hat emongouring islamic extremists and their gut reaction protests arn't gaining in popularity at all.

>>14
Thank you for the sarcastic and poorly composed response.  Animals breed like animals.  We have the same problem with "those hat emongouring(sic)" christian extremists.  It just means that we have to work harder, and remember, an animal is always at its most dangerous when cornered.

all of these societies are just massive circlejerks where 'intellectuals' go to waste their time

>>16
Agreed.  These people want so badly to be acknowledged as "smart".

>>16
>>17
And where do you go to waste your time?  Why the scorn?  TED is a "massive circle jerk"? 
Y'all sound like ya got some issues thar.  To accuse the members of these organizations if intellectual insecurity is naive.  I suspect that many members suffer from a sense of intellectual isolation brought on by seeing things like your nasty, ignorant little posts.  Make ya feel smarter, does it?  Attacking groups of people trying to do something positive.  Why don't you go do something positive?  Perhaps I've misjudged you.  Maybe you could show me a recent post you've made that's positive.
Maybe not.
I don't belong to any of these groups.  Probably not smart enough, but I'm smarter than you two. And so are the people in these groups.  Go read a book.

>>18
What exactly do these groups contribute to society?

>>19
Many organize community service events.  You would have to contact each organization to learn what sort of programs they have.  More importantly they do exactly what 4chan does.  They provide a forum for interaction between like minded individuals, and more communication is good.  The difference between 4chan and those societies is that while 4chan is a forum wherein the anonymity produces this bizarre manifestation of the human id, interspersed with savant like genius, while  the others are a forum of people with names and agreed upon standards and goals, hopefully facilitating a more cohesive environment, and coordinated effort.
Why all the butthurt about a bunch of smart people wanting to get together and talk?  I'll tell ya why.  'Cause average people are more frightened of intelligence than they are of violence.  They're afraid that there's some intellectual conspiracy to take over their minds and compromise their values.  In the US, where the bullshit egalitarian propaganda has been ingrained in the values of the masses, they're so frightened that they chose to elect a  folksy moron President.  Twice.  Smart people may not always have the best ideas, but they damn sure have a lot of good ones, and people would listen more if they weren't still so easily distracted by bread and circuses.

Actually, it doesn't take an organization (without objective criteria) like Atheism to surpass Christianity (with objective criteria) because of something like scientific method, requirement of proof before belief, and so forth. It is entirely dependent upon the individual practicing objectives keeping his ego out of the equation of his/her life in order to see it through to fruition regardless of affiliation. Such affiliation is bias anyway, it excludes external thinking (never thinking outside the box -what is safe- in order to grow and learn). The purpose of any affiliation is to lessen the burden that you are all alone, that only you think the way you do, only you feel the way you do, so here is some people that think similarly so you can feel comfortable and safe so no need to go beyond and find things out for yourself ever again, and that sets you higher than everyone else so put them down as well if you feel uncomfortable, type of organization.
Exclusionism is the key factor for all affiliatory organizations. If you aren't in, you're out.
Therefore, I don't have any affiliations, I am souly me, practicing my own forms of learning, humility, compassion, and so forth from many sources, practicing new things all the time, finding the beauty in life in all the things that grab my attention and seeking others as well. This is inclusionism at its finest, seek common ground with everyone, build that common ground within myself, that is my goal and for what ends?
To Serve All Mankind by Choice.
Now everything I've done is souly mine, I reap the benefits, I turn all disadvantages to my advantage, for everything that might stop me, I use that motion to cause my ends to happen faster, if God saw this as evil, why am I still doing it, why am I not stoppable?
It is because God permits both Good and Evil to exist and flourish. When this process is seen as good, mistakes others and myself make are beautiful and valuable learning tools.

What the fuck have you done lately?

Ethos:
1.     In Sociology. the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period: In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued. <hi, that's me, cause I made it happen.
2.     the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.
3.     the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion. <being objective rather than subjective in everything. That's me too.

etc, etc, et al ad infinitum, que sera sera, c'est la vie.

And so on and so forth, as with everything, for all time, what Will be Will be, that is life.

Pathos:
1. The quality or character of those emotions, traits, or experiences which are personal, and therefore restricted and evanescent; transitory and idiosyncratic dispositions or feelings as distinguished from those which are universal and deep-seated in character; -- opposed to ethos.
2. Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.
3. A quality, as of an experience or a work of art, that arouses feelings of pity, sympathy, tenderness, or sorrow.
4. The feeling, as of sympathy or pity, so aroused.

Subjectively, playing the victim.
"Oh, woe was me, what a sad life which I live. Whatever can be done for one as forsaken as I? Perhaps, I shall just lay down and die."
The injection of personal feelings, assumptions, prejudices, emotions into a work is known as subjective. In the industry, it is called, "A hack job."

4chan is the common grounds for "hack jobs" attempting to express their "feelings" subjectively. If anonymous would actually follow a criteria for interacting and communicating that promoted quality interaction, this wouldn't be an anonymous board, it would bare your names because that is who you are.

btw, my name is Michael.
Michael "Who is like God."
Look it up. Read and weep. :)
Your master has cometh.
"Bow to me faithfully,
Bow to me splendidly."

Most people live in a misanthropic state (hating all humanity generally), not me though, expressing their pathos (pathetic pleas) for the pain to stop.

I absorb pain. Pain is a motion. I turn that motion to my advantage. Pain is my employee. Now, get to work!
Hyaa, mule, hyaa!

Either absorb or deflect, why resist? That which you resists persists. If you resist, you shall be overwhelmed, you shall be defeated. I will divide you, conquer you.

"Run to the hills! Run for your lives! Run to the hills!
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!"

Deny me at your own peril. From whence I shall come, only your dreams shall tell. Sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite!
BOO!

Wow!  That was some enjoyable psuedointellectual spam.  Thanks.  In the future I thought you should be aware of a few things.  First, your name.  Was your incorrect definition the result of ignorance or deceit?  Either way it was wonderful irony.  For the record the name Michael is from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God.
Second, it's solely, not souly.
Third, initially I was feeling a bit of a non sequitur.  Please be clearer in your introductory remarks.

>affiliation is bias
>The purpose of any affiliation is to lessen the burden that you are all alone...
>4chan is the common grounds for "hack jobs"
>Most people live in a misanthropic state

Through all the posturing and bravado, you still strike me as a glass is half empty kind of guy.  Smile. :-)

>In the industry, it is called, "A hack job."

What industry would that be?

Anyway, lots of fun.  Just be careful with the generalizations.  I've seen some good objectivity here, and I've often seen people aspiring to it.  Anon is fond of referring to itself as legion, and it's true.  /b/ is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get.

Pax

>>18
I'll give ya TED.
That sounds promising.
But TED isn't an "Enlightened Society".
There is no pretense of intelligence necessary. Take note: they granted Bono 100k.
It's an: if you have a good idea well then come tell us.
Now, obviously everyone who comes up with a revolutionary idea worth more than an infomercial by Billy Mays and a price tag of 19.95 is almost definitely going to be of some significant intelligence.
But there is a very clear difference between TED and the others such that I don't even agree it belongs in the same league as the others on OP.
Like the skeptics society. WTF? I need a society in order to aid my skepticism about shit in general? Like you said, these 'intellectuals' feel 'isolated' so they gather in droves to do nothing particularly noteworthy over any other society not necessarily exclusive to 'intellectuals'. This is pretty much the very definition of circle jerk.

Hi, John -meaning: God is gracious-.

I'm glad you liked my generalizations, glad they challenged you, if even somewhat childish.

Here is one question I've yet to find anyone who knows the answer mostly because of its vague origins and true occurrences.

WHO AM I?
I am bold
I am invincible
I am proud
I am famous
I am always right
I am the greatest
I am complicated
I am smooth with ladies
I am absolute
I am merciless
Who Am I John? Who am I?

>>29
RedCream

Hmmm,
God is not proud.
Time is not smooth with ladies.
Man is not always right.
James Bond is not absolute.
Michael is not that arrogant.

Truth is not complicated.
Nor is true love,
or justice.
The Internet, Science, Math, language, and many other ideas I have require too much anthropomorphizing for a fair riddle.
The wind is a weak answer.
So is human potential, Mods, Moot, the ban hammer, and crap like that.
Ego?
I don't see a code.
Power would work if you believe that "might makes right", but I don't.  Integrity trumps power.

So your question remains invincible, at least to me.
Care to share?

P.S.:  At this point we've totally raped the Science/Math board, sorry.  At least it's traffic.