Rationalists of East Tennessee upcoming events

2026 Scholarship Application (05/01/2026)

Fri, 01 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

May First Sunday In-Person Meerting (05/03/2026)

Sun, 03 May 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Tami Wyatt will speak on "How AI Is, and Will Be, Affecting your Health Care"

Dr. Wyatt is the Torchbearer Professor and Associate Dean of Research at the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Nursing. Dr. Wyatt works closely with engineers, graphic designers, and design thinking strategists to create and test innovative solutions in healthcare including, for example, mobile apps to improve patient experiences. She serves on the information technology expert panel for the American Academy of Nursing and is co-leading an initiative to advance precision health research on the UT campus. Dr. Wyatt’s professional goals are to seek opportunities to improve healthcare experiences for health personnel and patients through innovation, technology and artificial intelligence.

Coffee and other hot beverages will be provided. Bring a snack to share if you wish.

We meet in the Cafeteria Annex of the Goins Administration Building. The Annex is located at the back of the building and we ask that you enter from the direct entrance at the rear of the building so as not to disturb another group who uses the rest of the building.

For those joining in via Zoom, the link is provided in the newsletter and the announcement email below.

May RET Book Club (05/10/2026)

Sun, 10 May 2026 20:00:00 GMT

The Age of American Unreason

by Susan Jacoby

Combining historical analysis with contemporary observation, Susan Jacoby dissects a new American cultural phenomenon--one that is at odds with our heritage of Enlightenment reason and with modern, secular knowledge and science. With mordant wit, she surveys an anti-rationalist landscape extending from pop culture to a pseudo-intellectual universe of "junk thought." Disdain for logic and evidence defines a pervasive malaise fostered by the mass media, triumphalist religious fundamentalism, mediocre public education, a dearth of fair-minded public intellectuals on the right and the left, and, above all, a lazy and credulous public. Jacoby offers an unsparing indictment of the American addiction to infotainment--from television to the Web--and cites this toxic dependency as the major element distinguishing our current age of unreason from earlier outbreaks of American anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism. With reading on the decline and scientific and historical illiteracy on the rise, an increasingly ignorant public square is dominated by debased media-driven language and received opinion.

At this critical political juncture, nothing could be more important than recognizing the "overarching crisis of memory and knowledge" described in this impassioned, tough-minded book, which challenges Americans to face the painful truth about what the flights from reason has cost us as individuals and as a nation. 384 pages.

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June RET Book Club (06/14/2026)

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT

In person Book Club Event! Note time and location!

Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results

by Nir Eyal

Behind every endeavor are beliefs that shape outcomes. Most people never question those beliefs, even when they hold them back. Beyond Belief by bestselling author Nir Eyal reveals one counterintuitive truth: these beliefs aren't facts. They're tools. Understand how they work, and you can set them aside when they are unhelpful and replace them with better ones to change what's possible for you. Backed by the latest neuroscience and psychology research, Eyal shows you how your hidden assumptions filter what you see, what you attempt, and what you achieve, and gives you a clear, practical method to change them. Learn how to: See what others miss – Beliefs filter your perception. Shift them, and options that were invisible come into view. Stay grounded under pressure – Change how you respond to uncertainty, so steadiness becomes your default, not something you force. Break costly patterns – Improve your health, relationships, and career by removing interference – not adding more effort. Expand what you think you're capable of – Your limits aren't fixed. They're learned. And what's learned can be relearned. Once you understand how belief really works, you can stop fighting yourself — and start building change that lasts.

June 14, 2026 1:00PM to 2:30PM

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

2931 Kingston Pike

Knoxville, TN 37919

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