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30th September 2010 – Professor Chris French
Ever since records began, in every known society, a substantial proportion of the population has reported unusual experiences many of which we would today label as ‘paranormal’. Opinion polls show that the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims. Or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors. This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.
Professor Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. He is the editor of The Skeptic and writes a regular column for the Guardian’s online science pages. http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/chris-french
More coming soon.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
28th January 2010 – Simon Singh
Simon will be the inaugural speaker of the Winchester Skeptics in the Pub and will be introduced by the fearless leader of the Skepchicks and co-host of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Rebecca Watson and the awesome Sid Rodrigues, the organiser of the London Skeptics in the Pub.
Simon Singh is the author of several bestselling science books, including ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ & ‘Big Bang’. Most recently he co-authored ‘Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial’ with Professor Edzard Ernst. His Radio 4 programmes include ‘Five Numbers’, ‘Five Particles’ & ‘The Serendipity of Science’. Recently there have been a series of high profile libel cases brought against scientists, science writers and medical researchers.
Simon Singh, who is currently being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association, will argue that English libel laws crush free speech and block scientific progress. He will explain how our libel laws are notoriously friendly towards claimants and hostile towards defendants, which means that international libel cases are brought to London. Singh will also give his views on how libel laws could be reformed to bring them in line with other democratic countries, and will explain why he is backing a national campaign for libel reform.
25th February 2010 – Richard Wilson
In deepest Febuary we are proud to say that Richard Wilson will be coming to speak. Richard is a blogger and the author of the highly recommended Don’t Get Fooled Again : A Sceptic’s Handbook and is one of the architects of the Trafigura toxic waste dumping scandal exposé that so recently caused such widespread legal shinanegins.
1st April 2010 – Deborah Hyde
As we move into Spring we are delighted to be hosting Deborah Hyde who has been writing about the folklore of the macabre for eighteen years. Her book, ‘Unnatural Predators’ will be published this year. She blogs on belief in the supernatural as ‘Jourdemayne’, but often suffers from mission creep. Her daytime, grown-up job is a makeup effects coordinator in the film industry – more vampires and zombies, then.
29th April 2010 – Martin Robbins
For our April meeting the inestimable Martin Robins, researcher, science writer and author of The Lay Scientist blog will be hosting a panel group giving short talks and then taking questions from the audience.
27th May 2010 – Simon Perry
As the year hopefully begins to warm up a bit we welcome Simon Perry, the founder of Leicester SitP to Winchester. Simon is an active campaigner against nonsense. Using the ASA, Trading Standards, other regulatory bodies and even gaining help from MPs, his campaigns have helped shut down dodgy allergy test services, prevented traditional chinese medicine salesmen from claiming to cure cancer and exposed psychic scams.
His largest involvement in a campaign, coined the “Quacklash” by Jack of Kent involved almost 600 separate letters being sent to trading standards to report claims to treat childhood diseases with a back rub. 60 of the letters gained 500 signatories. Further complaints were issued with the General Chiropractic Council.
Simon will be explaining the techniques he’s used to fight woo, what works and what doesn’t and tell stories about some of the crazy nonsense he’s encountered along the way.
Simon runs Leicester Skeptics in the Pub, blogs at http://adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com and writes a skeptical column in the Leicester Mercury.
You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Simon_Perry.
1st July 2010 – Dr. Andy Russell
From natural cycles to global conspiracies, the climate change “sceptic” uses many arguments to challenge the scientific consensus on climate change. But how well do these arguments stand up and do these people merit the label of skeptics? In this talk we’ll examine some of the most common arguments and assess the level of “scepticism” at work.
Andrew is a weather and climate researcher at the University of Manchester. His work focuses on European extreme events and Antarctic climate change. He runs the North-West branch of the Royal Meteorological Society and often comments on weather and climate issues in the media.
You can read his blog at http://andyrussell.wordpress.com/ and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dr_andy_russell.
29th July 2010 – Andy Lewis
The late eighteenth century was a very creative time for inventing new forms of quackery and some people became wealthy on the back of their creations. Of these creations, it is perhaps only homeopathy that has survived virtually unchanged into the 21st century. The majority of alternative medicines available today have been invented and developed within living memory, despite claims of their origins in antiquity.
What makes an alternative medicine successful? Why should homeopathy survive when the very popular Tractors of Perkins have long since been forgotten? Could you have predicted this in 1800? Today, we have a new industry of quack devices protecting us from mobile phones. Should you invest in such enterprises?
In this talk, Andy will look at the factors that allow patent medicines to thrive, and why consumers and practitioners latch onto them. Importantly, we shall explore the implications of these views for regulation and protecting the public from delusional or fraudulent claims.
Andy Lewis developed the Quackometer website that explores the pseudoscientific claims of alternative medicine websites and their impact on society. Despite his detractors’ claims, he does not own a yacht in the South of France paid for by Big Pharma. He has yet to secure a single penny from such sources for his work.
26th August 2010 – Professor David Colquhoun
Professor Colquhoun works in the Department of Pharmacology at University College London. He has been an outspoken critic of pseudoscience and scientific fraud for many years, writing extensively on the topic, including articles in Nature and The Guardian. He is particularly critical of alternative medicine, and of the decision of a number of UK universities to offer degrees in complementary and alternative medicine, stating that they are “anti-science” and that “universities that run them should be ashamed of themselves.” His interest in inference extends to methods that are used to assess and manage science, and critical assessment of research “metrics”. In December 2009, Colquhoun won a Freedom of Information judgement, after a three-year campaign, requiring the University of Central Lancashire to release details of their BSc course in homeopathy
Colquhoun created his personal website, Improbable Science, devoted to criticism of scientific fraud and quackery, in 2001. It has a particular focus on alternative medicine (AM), including such practices as homeopathy, Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, and others, calling them “pure gobbledygook”. In addition to his outspoken disapproval of AM in academia, Colquhoun frequently speaks out on his website against misrepresentation of AM as science in the media, and governmental support of AM.