Humanism is a non-religious and values-based worldview. Humanists aim to promote reason and science, free thought and free speech, tolerance and understanding, kindness and compassion. Humanistically Speaking, launched in the UK in 2020, is an online magazine for humanists, atheists, rationalists, agnostics, sceptics, and everyone who wants to make the world a better place through human effort and endeavour. We are an independent monthly publication but we see ourselves as very much part of the global humanist community. In January 2023, we said a fond farewell to our PDF format and went fully digital. You can now comment on our articles - just sign up using the 'log in' tab top right. Thanks for visiting!
This Month's Issue
Welcome to the April Edition of Humanistically Speaking.
We were stunned to hear about Donald Trump’s surprise conversion to humanism in the early hours of this morning (see News). But now that HumSpeak Towers has its own skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in New York City, adjacent to Trump Tower, it was perhaps not surprising that we were the first to hear the story. We hope you'll be rushing out to buy your “Make Humanity Great Again” baseball cap!
​
Our main theme this month is whether we should try to “cheat death” by adopting healthy lifestyles, by abolishing ageing altogether, by freezing our bodies, or by converting to a religion which promises eternal life. Barry Newman argues that true value lies not in longevity itself, but in enhancing the capacity for flourishing well into our later years. In a similar vein, John Coss presents the idea that we should be aiming to extend our “healthspan” – with health and vigour into our eighties and nineties – rather than just our “lifespan”. On other pages, Anthony speculates on our transhuman and psychonautical future, Aaron delves into the mind-boggling idea of head transplants, and Maggie investigates whether cryonics is science or pseudoscience. We hope you will enjoy their contributions this month.
​
Humanistically Speaking has had a special relationship with Africa from the outset, and so I'm very pleased to be able to publish two new articles by Steve Hurd about the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust. Please do read them, especially the one about whether to add another humanist school to the UHST roster. Just imagine what Africa could be like 100 years from now if the humanist schools planted today spread across the continent. Please support the schools if you can with a regular monthly donation.
​
If you like our articles, we hope you will share them on social media. You are also free to republish our articles in your own humanist newsletters and elsewhere, as long as you credit the author and provide a link to Humanistically Speaking. For more details, refer to our Creative Commons licence by following the links at the bottom of every page.
Humanistically Speaking is a volunteer-produced, passion-fuelled, grassroots humanist magazine and we'd love to reach as many people around the world as possible. Thank you for your encouragement and support. And Happy April Fools' Day.
​
David Warden
Editor
Last Month's Issue
We have a wide mix of writers - please contact the Editor if you want to write an article for us