MAST--About Us

Details & Registration Form (scroll to the bottom)

Who we are:

Malayalee Advocacy for Scientific Thought (MAST) is a group of Malayalees (people from Kerala, India) residing in the Greater Toronto Area who are passionate about science and rationality.

Purpose of our group:

To promote a scientific and rational mindset,

To discuss the latest trends in science and technology and their impact on human society,

To extrapolate current scientific and societal trends and imagine possible futures,

To discuss issues hindering scientific thought and propose possible solutions

Plan of action:

We plan to meet at least once a month either in the house of a MAST member or any other convenient location in the GTA. The meetings will be around three hours duration and will be held on a weekend afternoon.

At least a week prior to the meeting, the MAST coordinator shall email the finalised venue and the topic of discussion to all the members to help them prepare for discussions. Members are encouraged to propose topics. The topics shall be in the form of a question. Some examples are:

1. Will Artificial Intelligence be the bane of humanity?
2. Can humans overcome global warming?
3. Is religion causing the decline of scientific thought?
4. Do we need to revise the scientific method?
5. What are the specific problems faced by (a) Canadians, (b) Indians towards building a society based on scientific and secular human values?
6. Is the money spent on particle accelerators/space exploration (etc) justified?
7. Is technology desensitizing us?
8. What is your vision of the future?
9. Will we conquer sickness/cancer/death?
10. Is there racism/sexism in science?
11. Should alternative medicine such as homoeopathy, naturopathy, TCM, Ayurveda, acupuncture be banned in favour of allopathy?
12. Should we be wary of scientism?
13. What constitutes pseudoscience?

Members are required to confirm their participation by return email. This would help the host to prepare the venue.

Meeting Structure:

1. The language of discussions may be English, Malayalam or a mixture of both and shall be informal.
2. Each meeting will have a chairperson whose job is to present the topic question and speak a few minutes on it. Any member may volunteer to chair a meeting once a topic is chosen. In the absence of a volunteer, the MAST coordinator may request a member to chair the meeting.
3. The chairperson's role, besides presenting the topic, includes (a) maintaining order and decorum, (b) ensuring other members speak within their time limits and do not go off-topic.
4. After the chairperson has presented the topic, each member (selected clockwise or anticlockwise) will speak uninterruptedly for not more than five minutes in the first round. In the first round, each member will briefly introduce themselves before presenting their view. 
5. Members may present their own opinions or even play the devil's advocate when it is likely that the discussions may be one-sided. Contrarian/unpopular views are welcome as long as they have a scientific basis.
6. Each member shall have three minutes of uninterrupted time during successive rounds. They may choose to pass if they have nothing to add.
7. All participants will treat each other with the utmost respect & dignity. The discussions shall be objective and no personal attacks will be tolerated.
8. The chair shall conclude the discussion either (a) at the end of three hours or (b) when no one has anything more to add, whichever comes sooner.
9. After the discussions are over, the chair or any other volunteer shall make a concluding statement encapsulating the major points of the discussion. The topic for the next meeting may also be selected.
10. Some socialising over a pot-luck session would follow the discussions.

Register to be a member:

There is no membership fee, however, any contribution is gratefully accepted and would go towards defraying the administrative expenses. If you are interested to become a member, please register using the form below: