After the pilot event in Milan last week, IHEU announces a new Café Humaniste in Guatemala City on 8 July on the theme “Mind games. Illusionism and beliefs”, organised by the IHEU and the Guatemalan Humanists.
The very first “Café Humaniste” successfully took place on 16 June in Milan, organized by the IHEU and the Circle UAAR of Milan on the theme “What we talk about when we talk about vaccination?“. The event started with a greeting from Alessandra Stevan, coordinator of the Circle of Milan of UAAR, the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics, and a video introduction on the IHEU from Giovanni Gaetani, IHEU Growth and Development Officer. There followed a video message from prof. Roberto Burioni, well-known in Italy for his activism against “fake news” and conspiracy theories on vaccines, who said these are times we need reason and truth more than ever!
The video message of prof. Burioni
Giovanni introducing the IHEU
After the two videos Alessandra Vitullo, sociologist and journalist for Reset DOC (Dialogue on Civilizations) and moderator of the event, introduced the two main speakers of the Café Humaniste: prof. Nicasio Mancini, who showed why “vaccination is not an opinion”, and prof. Silvia Mari, who talked about “scientific disinformation and conspiracy theories in the social media era”. Both speeches were detailed, engaging, and well-received, as you can see in the full video of the live streaming. The two speeches raised a lively and interesting discussion among participants, as you can see in the photos by Andrea Martella capturing the spirit of Café Humaniste which is to let people share and discuss a variety of humanist themes in an informal way in a friendly environment.
Prof. Mari during her speech: “Scientific disinformation and conspiracy theories in the social media era”
Prof. Mancini during his speech: “Why vaccination is not an opinion”
From Italy to Guatemala
After the success of Milan, IHEU announces now a new Café Humaniste in Guatemala which promises to be no less interesting. The Spanish title of this Café Humaniste is “Juegos de mentes. Mentalismo y creencias” (“Mind games. Illusionism and beliefs”).
The main speaker for this event is Roberto Rimola, Guatemalan mentalist already famous in Guatemala for his shows on the “psicología del engaño” – “psychology of deception” – which recall the shows of the English illusionist Derren Brown. For a preview of Roberto’s show, you can watch his previous TEDx talk on a similar topic.
The idea of this Café Humaniste is the following: as a normal illusionist, Roberto Rimola will perform some illusions with the help of the public but then later will reveal its tricks and explain what psychological dynamics brought the public to believe in those illusions.
David Pineda, President of Guatemalan Humanists and organizer of the event, said: 
Revealing how the human mind is easily exposed to deception we aim to understand why many strange beliefs are still strongly established in our society and, moreover, why many charlatans and manipulators continue to take advantage of our cognitive biases to make us believe things inexplicable from any rational and scientific point of view.
The Guatemalan Café Humaniste will be held 8 July in Guatemala City, from 5 pm on, at Condominio Villalbosque, zona 14. For any further information, you can contact Guatemalan Humanists at [email protected]. If you cannot participate live, please click on “I’m interested” on the Facebook event, so that we will update you when we will upload photos and videos of the event.
Apply yourself for organizing a Café Humaniste
As already announced on the occasion of the first event in Milan, the IHEU is encouraging Member Organizations, especially in regions where Humanism is under-represented or where the organization is relatively new and developing, to find more details on how to get involved in Café Humaniste via the dedicated page on our website. Here you can find and download the guide “How to organize a Café Humaniste in six steps” which includes a link to the online form to apply for official Café Humaniste status and a modest grant budget. Giovanni Gaetani, IHEU Growth and Development Officer, said:
This is a thrilling moment for IHEU and for all its Member Organizations worldwide. With the Café Humaniste project we aim to reach new humanist groups and individuals around the world, organizing different events in different places and building a strong humanist network beyond all national and cultural barriers. That is why I renew the invitation to our Member Organizations to apply for a Café Humaniste funding. Check out the guide and send us your proposal and ideas at [email protected]!