Welcome to the Academy
Offline The Rational Response Squad Academy is a new effort for us here at the Squad (2-07). We're proud to announce that we will be dedicating some energy into bringing you college level courses for free (thanks to those who donate for enabling us) in one of our webcam rooms. The format of these lectures/lessons will be that we will expect "students" to register and the classes will be geared towards registered students so that discussions will start with a particular topic and go through a logical progression from start to finish, registered "students" will not be sidetracked by onlookers who ask questions that have already been covered. In other words if you miss part of a series, you're likely to not have your questions addressed in these rooms if your question deals with an area covered in a past discussion from that specific "teacher." Registering for a class will be as easy as responding in the thread describing that course.
We hope to have a varying selection of experts ranging from fields in evolutionary biology to astrophysics to philosophy. If you have a professor or know of an expert who would be willing to give a few lectures/classes please inform him/her of this and have them contact us (or help arrange the discussion yourself).
Look in this forum for the RRS Academy Admins to post course information, and get ready to learn, discussions are on the way. A large portion of these discussions will be recorded via audio or video and available for later download or viewing.
Your Academy Leaders:
Fyre86, Tomcat, Rook_Hawkins, and Sapient
Atheist, Atheism, Agnostic, Rational Response Squad
Interseting idea. I'd like to offer what help I can give - I tutored in Philosophy and Psychology classes while I was in college for about a year - maybe I could sit in and answer some of the more basic questions of this type (or the basic atheist ones we all know) to take a load off the instructors? Only thing is working 3rd shift I'm only available in the morning or when I'm off - still I'm willing to do it whenever I have time with permission.
Science works whether you believe in it or not.
That's an awesome idea!
I had a critical thinking class when I was a freshman in college that I really really enjoyed, even though the professor was more boring than Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I would live to have that class again, and bring some theist friends with me.
Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?...
Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.
Thomas Jefferson
Sounds like a freaking awesome idea to me..!
*Contemplates*
I am happy to see this it is a great opputunity to get my brain some exercise before I get back in to school.
I am also delighted because this is an organization that promots learning and an action like this shows it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Brian and Rook I could not be happier that you guys decided to take this route.
Let the mind expanding begin!
Operation Spread Eagle, Kent Hovind, Creation Science, Evange
Seriously, guys? What a fucking great idea. This is just the kind of thing I need right now. Something to keep the gears turning while I'm saving up money for graduate school
"It is interesting to ... reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and so dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us." --Charles Darwin
Good stuff, let me know if you need any help.
Cheers.
Rational Response Squad homepage
If you have to pay to go to graduate school, you're going to the wrong school. Go to one that will give you a stipend. You'll have to be a TA, but that's a good experience (for the most part).
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -- George Orwell
Or, go directly into a PhD program.... they also give you a stipend.
Rational Response Squad homepage
this whole "expert" thing seems a little to american to me, where your only as smart as the length of ya fancy title.
my view is we are organic computers, and like unorganic computers the more we connect to together the more powerfull it becomes.
having experts is great by why stop there.
I say it would be good to have a wiki style video. have someone make a video with there webcam, and if someone notices mistakes in the data they present, then that person remakes the vid and pretty much does the same show but with the error's fixed.
or kindly points them out to the person who made it then they re-do it.
this way anyone can make an expert quality vid, as all the vids are peer reviewed.
Cheers
http://www.evolutionsgate.org
As to the wiki thing - that's ok in theory, however most people simply aren't up to the rigour of thought necessary, and neither do they have the wide base knowledge.
That's why we have experts - people who have devoted their lives to a complex subject. You'd get a lowbrow shambles by allowing any old Joe to present material - it'd be a laughing stock.
A "little to american"? No, a fancy title doesn't make you smart, but if you want to master something, it's good to study with other experts, and to get some proof that you did these studies.
Ah, wiki true believer.
A scientist's peers are those who also study the same subject. When a scientist's work is peer reviewed, it is reviewed by other expert's in the scientist's field.
What happens in a wiki is not necessarily the same sort of peer review. Using that term about wikis is misleading. I can go edit Wikipedia's entries about African elephants (to use Stephen Colbert's example), but I'm not peers with zoologists who study African elephants. So my "review" wouldn't be a peer review.
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -- George Orwell
Sorry I think either you got me wrong or I didn't explain enough.
this wouldn't be to a live audience but recordings that are available for people to view.
there is plenty of people out there who have an expert knowledge of a field but have no degree in that field. they have simply been a hobbiest of it for 30 years or what ever.
expert uni lecturers are good for fee paying uni students who want to sit there for 2 hours straight to get there money's worth.
not every expert has the ability to be able to capture a new audience, people who didn't really seek it out, surely there is some young (or old) vibrant energetic people out there who can put accross a reall good explanation of stuff and capture someone's attention who isn't really searching into anything deeply.
some young adult who has just stepped out into the real world and who has been grown up to believe athiests are the devils isn't going to sit down and watch a 1 hour lecture of some old guy talking away for in ther 10 minute internet browsing. anyone that "enrols" into the RRS academy would already have a very solid understanding of atheists and evolution etc.
what I'm suggesting is people who have the natural Flair to grab peoples attention/curiosity and has a keen interest/understanding in the topics but doesn't have a piece of paper but how ever has made a very good video would be better at getting the job done then some old codger who is boring and talking for a long while.
not saying all lecturers are boring, but people have preconcieved views, some young nut would be more likely to listen to some young enthusiatic person of similar demographics to them self.
http://www.evolutionsgate.org
I can't thank you enough on this MAGNIFICENT idea!!!
I look forward to joining the first course with Rook and many others to follow. I did see that you mentioned you needed some experts in the sciences to teach some of the other courses you guys have planned. I am a graduate student in Math and also have a B.S. in Physics with 12 graduate credits in Physics. If I can be of any assistance, I would gladly do it.
Thanks again for everything you've done for Humanism and Rationality.
. . . I can't figure out how to get into the class I tried to enroll in at the thread yesterday. Do I have to wait for a PM or what? Is there a link?
I've signed up for that thingy that allows some other thingy that I think is related (Chat stuff), but I can't locate any assistance in getting to the class. I missed the 4 p.m. and hope to attend the 11 p.m. instead.
Any help for the hopelessly technologically obtuse here?
Also, why do I keep getting this message every time I post:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: comment_last_page() in /home/rrcom/public_html/modules/comment.module on line 1454
It doesn't seem to interfere with my posting, but it's annoying and there's no link back.
Thanks!
God's only excuse is that he doesn't exist.
let me know if you need my help.
If this thing is still going how do I register?
Be a part of the problem or a part of the FUNK.
Are there any classes coming up anytime soon? I though Rook was gonna have a class about the bible, did it get canceled? does anyone know what happened?
Helly
I haven't heard a thing. How have you been Helly?
"Tell you once you had better listen because tell you twice and I have spent one more breath closer to death. ."
Renee!! oh, so nice to hear from you
Well, last night Rook was on stickam for a while and he said that his class "introduction to the bible" is gonna be starting rather soon. I forget how soon though... I'm a very excited about it. Hopefully the schedule he picks is this time is similar to what he had before because now days I have a much much more strict schedule.
Helly
I'd like to take part in this new class, must remember to keep an eye out!