MDC is  the original WASH chapter with members or other interested people in the greater Washington area including Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland.

We will celebrate the week of Earth Day with a talk and discussion on “The Evolution of Life in the Universe” lead by Mike Reid.

In February Mike Reid lead a tour  at the Hall of Human Origins in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC as part of our joint MDC/NVC  Darwin Day Commemoration

As part of our monthly discussions we will address the topic of fake news, mis- and dis-information, alt-facts and its impact on trust. While this is not a new problem it seems to be more systematically widespread and impactful. This may be in part to moderns of digital communication, networking and social media.

“We all think we can tell the difference between opinion, advertising and accurate news. But how do we really know?”

Lou Pecora will lead a discussion on the nature of these problems and issues. This will be followed by a discussion lead by Gary Berg-Cross of proposed solutions and initiatives to handle or mitigate the problem.
Dis-information, for example, is challenging to identify and counter. There is a measurement issue because there’s a lack of consensus on how to actually define it or “false news.” There’s a spectrum of content — from intentional or disguised satire to honest or faux opinion to hoaxes intentionally crafted to deceive. Both fake news and misinformation are ever-evolving problem. Its purveyors are continually trying new tactics to seed it, so we’re constantly updating our approach to catching it.
Because it’s evolving, we’ll never be able to catch every instance of false news — though we can learn from the things we do miss.
And there are media initiatives to develop Best Practices that news organizations like WaPo are following. But we need tools to help with this along
with a media savvy citizenry.

As usual some light refreshments will be served.

Note: Remember to come to the DC Chevy Chase Neighborhood library.
The address is 5625 Connecticut Ave NW, DC · Washington, DC

 For a Tribute to WASH Founder George Porter see:

http://wash.org/mdc/remembering-george-porter-a-secular-humanist-life/

For general information about the MDC chapter, contact Gary Berg-Cross via email (gary@wash.org) or via phone (240-426-0770).

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P.O. Box 15319 Washington, DC 20003

General info on WASH MDC mdc@wash.org

Phone: 240-426-0770

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Please remember that WASH is a volunteer organization. Contributions of your time and money are the core of WASH’s ability to serve you, our membership. If you’re not already a member, please consider joining for $35, or at least becoming a friend of WASH for $10. If you have the means to provide financial support for WASH beyond the membership dues, your contributions help WASH engage in projects such as the following:

• Printing of the Ingersoll Walk booklet (estimated cost: $300)
• Upgrades for the next Ingersoll Oratory Contest to include rental of a tent, an improved PA system, and upgraded prizes for contestants (estimated cost: $2,000).
• A project to make WASH generated videos available on YouTube (estimated cost: $500)
• Support for student groups (estimated cost: $500)
• Support for a fee-based speaker, such as professional interpreters of Jefferson (Steve Edenbo) or Madison, book authors, or others at a WASH event (estimated cost: $3,000)
• Advertising campaigns such as billboards (estimated cost: $5,000)

Thank you!

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Past Meetings

For Recent Past meetings see:

http://wash.org/past-mdc-meetings/

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