In this presentation Abby looks at the evolution of sexual reproduction and some common misunderstandings about sex, including misconceptions about the gender binary. Using examples from the animal kingdom, she debunks many ideas about what is “natural” or “unnatural” regarding both sex and gender roles. Having debunked the religious “argument from nature”, she then goes on to discuss the problems of a morality that is based on reference to the supernatural, including the idea of using holy books as an excuse for bad behavior.
Abby Hafer is an author, scientist, educator and public speaker. Her book debunking Intelligent Design, "The Not-So-Intelligent Designer—Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent Design Does Not" became a #1 bestseller on Amazon in the category of Theism. (Abby Hafer is not averse to irony.)
Her second book, "Darwin’s Apostles—The Men Who Fought to Have Evolution Accepted, Their Times, and How the Battle Continues" (co-written with Dr. David Orenstein) describes the scientists who came together during Darwin’s time in order to get evolution accepted, the science they did, and the sometimes colorful techniques that they used for persuasion.
Her public speaking has taken her all over the United States and she has given many television and radio interviews, including appearing on NPR and WBAI.
Her scientific career includes a doctorate in zoology from Oxford University, many research projects in physiology, and a stint monitoring fish populations on the Bering Sea. More recently, she has published chapters on evolution, physiology, and sex in a number of different books, including a chapter titled “Humanism, Sex, and Sexuality” for the Oxford Handbook in Humanism, published by Oxford University Press.
She has also published her original research in “No Data Required: Why Intelligent Design Is Not Science”, in The American Biology Teacher. She has also contributed articles to The Humanist and The American Rationalist.
She teaches human anatomy and physiology at Curry College and lives in Massachusetts with her husband, the astronomy writer Alan MacRobert.
Please join us on Zoom or YouTube:
1) Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/535462070?pwd=UGJBOXRYcTF2SXJMb01RNTdvM2Y2QT09
2) YOUTUBE: You can watch live (15 second delay), or you can watch later. Here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOw8Sl1yofrwRuGUYS_OOOA
Need help? Email ron.russell@hsgp.org before the day of this meeting.
The Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix presents its Sunday Speaker meetings twice a month on Sunday mornings. For now our meetings are on Zoom and YouTube. We look forward to seeing you at the Humanist Community Center when it's safe to meet in person!
Meetings are free and open to the public.
Go to our YouTube channel to see past meetings, presentations and and interviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOw8Sl1yofrwRuGUYS_OOOA
We invite you to become a dues-paying member of HSGP. To become a member or make a donation, go to www.hsgp.org
Thank you!
Mesa, AZ 85211
United States