# Latest **URL:** https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/latest.md [Latest](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/latest.md) · [Categories](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/categories.md) --- ## [Welcome to Discourse](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/welcome-to-discourse/7)
**Author:** [@system](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/system)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2024, 3:30am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/welcome-to-discourse/7 "2024-09-03T03:30:42Z")
The CFI Forum is operated by the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization. This forum supports the interests of CFI by creating an online community of supporters and interested inquirers into… --- ## [If you're keeping score, the planet is losing](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/if-youre-keeping-score-the-planet-is-losing/12059)
**Author:** [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/if-youre-keeping-score-the-planet-is-losing/12059 "2026-09-23T15:32:51Z")
All those predictions about how much time we had before it was to late, yep… --- ## [Ukraine](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/ukraine/3439)
**Author:** [@garythehuman](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/garythehuman)\ **Replies:** 176\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2026, 10:41am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/ukraine/3439 "2026-09-22T10:41:07Z")
Just a thought - Russia has gone into the Ukraine not only because a large part of the population there is Russian but possibly even more important to them is that they have a major naval base there. The Us would do the … --- ## [What to do when you read stuff you don't understand or have an answer to?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/what-to-do-when-you-read-stuff-you-dont-understand-or-have-an-answer-to/12020)
**Author:** [@inthedarkness](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/inthedarkness)\ **Replies:** 228\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/what-to-do-when-you-read-stuff-you-dont-understand-or-have-an-answer-to/12020 "2026-09-22T00:30:05Z")
I know I’ve ask this before but I wanna know how folks deal with stuff like this, like…you’re not worried about living in delusion or living a lie just because you don’t get something or feel like you have to read every … --- ## [CFI Forum - Reflections on a dying society](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/cfi-forum-reflections-on-a-dying-society/11853)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2026, 9:29am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/cfi-forum-reflections-on-a-dying-society/11853 "2026-09-21T09:29:36Z")
And the question is, --- ## [The Hard Problem of Accepting Physical Reality](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-hard-problem-of-accepting-physical-reality/12057)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 14, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-hard-problem-of-accepting-physical-reality/12057 "2026-09-14T20:59:36Z")
Philosophers are endlessly challenged with the Hard Problem of consciousness: “Why does processing feel like anything?” - “Why should physical processing give rise to a rich inner life at all?” - “Why is any physical st… --- ## [The earlier 9/11 in Chile 1973](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-earlier-9-11-in-chile-1973/12058)
**Author:** [@cutslikeaknife](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cutslikeaknife)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-earlier-9-11-in-chile-1973/12058 "2026-09-12T00:38:00Z")
John Pilger: From 47.55 Pilger focuses on Chile - but the whole film is excellent like all of his work imo, available on johnpilger.com The War On Democracy (Spanish subtitles) Plus Christy Moore dedication song to… --- ## [Palestine Israel debate](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/palestine-israel-debate/7794)
**Author:** [@missinggirl](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/missinggirl)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [September 9, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/palestine-israel-debate/7794 "2026-09-09T10:37:06Z")
Chomsky vs a rookie --- ## [It's not Sci-Fi it's another take over of the commons](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/its-not-sci-fi-its-another-take-over-of-the-commons/12056)
**Author:** [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/its-not-sci-fi-its-another-take-over-of-the-commons/12056 "2026-09-08T15:28:12Z")
I found this on a Facebook sci-fi page. The connection is the analogy to Soylent Green. What is too often called AI is really people, writing stuff, chatting. That is being digested and will eventually be owned and contr… --- ## [Lunatic Israel launches war on Iran](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/lunatic-israel-launches-war-on-iran/11910)
**Author:** [@cutslikeaknife](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cutslikeaknife)\ **Replies:** 77\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/lunatic-israel-launches-war-on-iran/11910 "2026-09-03T20:53:03Z")
Explosions in Tehran: Intelligence ministry bldg, IRGC intelligence bldg, Mehrabad airbase, street where president lives. Israel says this is phase 1, and will be transformative, Iran won’t look same afterwards (ark ark… --- ## [Why don't we stop global warming?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/why-dont-we-stop-global-warming/11958)
**Author:** [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [September 2, 2026, 9:20am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/why-dont-we-stop-global-warming/11958 "2026-09-02T09:20:04Z")
Because we didn’t have the money By that, I mean myself and most the planet don’t have enough money to buy politicians who make the rules that make them more money. Instead we get models that talk about people like th… --- ## [Welcome to all of you](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/welcome-to-all-of-you/11960)
**Author:** [@donald\_secondary](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/donald_secondary)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 30, 2026, 1:09pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/welcome-to-all-of-you/11960 "2026-08-30T13:09:17Z")
I am a secular humanist, and though while I am able to attend Unitarian Universalist churches, I am pas the point of caring to define myself in even those religious terms. I use quite a good deal of differing topics to u… --- ## [The Fundamental Structural Impossibility of Christianity](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-fundamental-structural-impossibility-of-christianity/12050)
**Author:** [@omniaxiomaticity](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/omniaxiomaticity)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-fundamental-structural-impossibility-of-christianity/12050 "2026-08-25T22:36:47Z")
When evaluated against the laws of computational logic, information theory, and a correctly rendered relational ontology, the foundational dogmas of standard Christianity collapse. Because mainstream Christian theology i… --- ## [Pundits seem unusually stupid or timid](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/pundits-seem-unusually-stupid-or-timid/11961)
**Author:** [@cuthbertj](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cuthbertj)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/pundits-seem-unusually-stupid-or-timid/11961 "2026-08-24T18:31:07Z")
I see so many headlines and blurbs saying, in effect, Drumpf and his administration are basically an organized crime outfit. Okay great, then why don’t pundits act like it! What are two basic techniques gangsters, and ot… --- ## [Variable Dimensionality, Everettian Phase Space, and the Resolution of Quantum Measurement](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/variable-dimensionality-everettian-phase-space-and-the-resolution-of-quantum-measurement/12049)
**Author:** [@omniaxiomaticity](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/omniaxiomaticity)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/variable-dimensionality-everettian-phase-space-and-the-resolution-of-quantum-measurement/12049 "2026-08-24T14:03:07Z")
A rigorous physicalist framework requires an uncompromised ontological foundation that rejects both explanatory gaps and untestable descriptive layers. The physical universe does not operate as a fixed three-dimensional… --- ## [It's like W T F . . . . . .](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/its-like-w-t-f/8600)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2026, 7:37am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/its-like-w-t-f/8600 "2026-08-20T07:37:45Z")
After finishing all these reviews, YouTube did me the favor of suggesting a lecture by Professor Mark Solms. Solms’ first talk was like a revelation with all the bells and whistles, then two days of binging on his many … --- ## [Is it Folly Searching for Mind Within the Brain?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/is-it-folly-searching-for-mind-within-the-brain/11777)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/is-it-folly-searching-for-mind-within-the-brain/11777 "2026-08-17T17:27:37Z")
Let me lay out the chain of reasoning that drives this challenge. It starts with accepting the reality of this physically evolving Earth around me. I know I’m not imaginative enough to conjure up this vision of the m… --- ## [Genesis of the (patriarchical?) cosmos](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/genesis-of-the-patriarchical-cosmos/12039)
**Author:** [@vasiazapf](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/vasiazapf)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2026, 10:56am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/genesis-of-the-patriarchical-cosmos/12039 "2026-08-16T10:56:02Z")
Exploring the connection between the Genesis story and the establishment of patriarchy as the leading model of our Christian societies. Other than the obvious like the gender of God, Jesus and the prophets , what intrig… --- ## [Theist, Atheist and Rational](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/theist-atheist-and-rational/10773)
**Author:** [@vanamali](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/vanamali)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/theist-atheist-and-rational/10773 "2026-08-16T00:42:38Z")
I used to call myself an Atheist - Atheist Hindu to be exact, yes one can be a Hindu and also be an Atheist - belief in God is not necessary I mistakenly assumed that Atheists were rational down-to-earth people needing … --- ## [Dr. Mark Solms demystifies Chalmers "Hard Problem " of Consciousness.](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/dr-mark-solms-demystifies-chalmers-hard-problem-of-consciousness/7811)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev3](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev3)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/dr-mark-solms-demystifies-chalmers-hard-problem-of-consciousness/7811 "2026-08-15T22:44:21Z")
Lausten are you familiar with Dr. Mark Solms’ work? It’s weird that after nearly a year of searching out what I could about consciousness and chasing down tangents of the many lofty variations of the ideas smart people … --- ## [If atheism is true](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/if-atheism-is-true/5529)
**Author:** [@adonai888](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/adonai888)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/if-atheism-is-true/5529 "2026-08-15T18:48:28Z")
If atheism is true THEN: life comes from non-life rationality comes from non-rational processes morality from a-moral processes meaning from non-meaning values of life from no-values order from chaos complexity f… --- ## [AI moderator -CFI](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/ai-moderator-cfi/12009)
**Author:** [@cutslikeaknife](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cutslikeaknife)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/ai-moderator-cfi/12009 "2026-08-15T17:32:36Z")
When is the CFI forum going to turn to using an AI mod to eliminate bias, double standards and targeting. I think it would be a great improvement. --- ## [Rational Affirmativisms in Secular Thought](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/rational-affirmativisms-in-secular-thought/12046)
**Author:** [@omniaxiomaticity](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/omniaxiomaticity)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/rational-affirmativisms-in-secular-thought/12046 "2026-08-14T19:29:22Z")
Atheism is best understood with precision rather than as a single, comprehensive philosophy. At its narrowest, atheism concerns only the rejection or absence of belief in gods — it does not, by itself, settle a metaphys… --- ## [Sleep Paralysis and Apparitional Experiences](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/sleep-paralysis-and-apparitional-experiences/7001)
**Author:** [@randy333](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/randy333)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2026, 8:23am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/sleep-paralysis-and-apparitional-experiences/7001 "2026-08-14T08:23:53Z")
I mention sleep paralysis in this post’s title because it’s a title that’s likely to draw more attention than a more specific title tailored to my purposes. I am not strictly interested in sleep paralysis stories. To be … --- ## [Intuition](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/intuition/4828)
**Author:** [@titanomachina](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/titanomachina)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/intuition/4828 "2026-08-13T02:35:35Z")
Or “gut feelings” as most would put it. That sort of knowing but you can’t really explain how or why. The phenomenon that some credit for their major successes in life and breakthroughs in discovery. Yet, when you try th… --- ## [An outsider looks in to CFI](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/an-outsider-looks-in-to-cfi/12042)
**Author:** [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2026, 8:18am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/an-outsider-looks-in-to-cfi/12042 "2026-08-12T08:18:13Z")
I find this posted on the CFI Facebook. Not a comfortable look at themselves, so kudos to them for sharing it. https://www.fastcompany.com/91581838/can-skeptics-survive-the-misinformation-age?fbclid=Iwb21leATpCvRjbGNrBO… --- ## [Do You Believe in God?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/do-you-believe-in-god/12037)
**Author:** [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/do-you-believe-in-god/12037 "2026-08-09T16:55:48Z")
Sagan on God I have been listening to this one on and off for a while. It’s not a fast, hard-hitting knock-down and sometimes just rambles, but the last few minutes are one of the best answers to “do you b… --- ## [Nagel’s: “The Core of ‘Mind and Cosmos’” through an Earth centrist's lens](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/nagel-s-the-core-of-mind-and-cosmos-through-an-earth-centrists-lens/12036)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/nagel-s-the-core-of-mind-and-cosmos-through-an-earth-centrists-lens/12036 "2026-08-01T18:29:28Z")
Lausten, I’ve been moving forward, now with serious feedback from real philosophy types. I’m hoping you might be interested, like two ships passing in the night are curious what’s going on out there. :+1: Cc: In orde… --- ## [Thou art God; and who is he that is not?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thou-art-god-and-who-is-he-that-is-not/12035)
**Author:** [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thou-art-god-and-who-is-he-that-is-not/12035 "2026-08-01T16:25:48Z")
I have read the egg, from Andy Weir… The text And, beyond the text, what if the god of the story is not humanity herself, at last mature, guiding herself to goodness? --- ## [Scientifically speaking; How would you define pseudoscience?](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/scientifically-speaking-how-would-you-define-pseudoscience/6012)
**Author:** [@citizenschallengev3](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev3)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [July 26, 2026, 8:34am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/scientifically-speaking-how-would-you-define-pseudoscience/6012 "2026-07-26T08:34:20Z")
Interesting times at Ridgemont High. Here’s my decidedly unschooled personal thoughts - would love to hear from someone who’s actually studied this sort of thing. It seems to me serious science rests on some fundamenta… [Next page](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/latest.md?page=1)