Do ghosts exist? If not, how are we to explain why so many people believe in ghosts with many of them claiming to have personally had a ghostly encounter?
This talk attempts to answer these questions by considering a number of psychological factors that may lead someone to reach for a supernatural explanation when in fact a natural explanation would suffice.
Brief Bio
Chris French is Emeritus Professor and 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 of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of UK Humanists.
He has published well over 150 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics. 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. His most recent book is “Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience” and his next book, to be published in 2024 by MIT Press, will be “The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal.”
Standard Stuff
Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month, at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester. Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.
Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).
The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.
You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.
QED returns, 23rd-24th September 2023 – with Lucky Cooke, Andrew Smyth, Dan Friesen from Knowledge Fight podcast, and more!
The rise of AI is a complicated story about advanced research, emerging data oligopolies like Facebook and Google, and big tech venture capitalism. Until recently, the only people who used AI were boffins in University computer laboratories or characters in Hollywood films.
Lockdown was a tough time for many. For freelancers like Stevyn Colgan it meant loss of work and an uncertain future. And so, with the world on hold, he decided to rethink the way he lived. Over the next two years he fixed his physical and mental health and became the happiest, fittest and healthiest he’d been in decades. But the way he did it was by looking back, not forward. He discovered that many of the ‘old ways’ found within folk tradition, witchcraft and druidism actually had strong foundations in science. There’s no woo woo in this talk – Colgan’s contention is that the best way for society to move forward is to learn from the past. Isn’t that the basis of all good science?
We all want to be well, right? Whether you’re a bit run down and just need a pick me up to get through the next working week, you’re suffering symptoms of a long-standing condition that you just can’t figure out or you’re reaching an age where you want security in your long-term health.
Why can’t we think straight when hungry? What’s the point of nightmares? And why can’t we forget embarrassing memories?
We hope to have the one and only Robin Ince to do a talk at Winchester Skeptics later in the year – but in the meantime, you can find him at our favourite bookseller, 
From an evolutionary perspective, religion presents something of a challenge. It is ubiquitous but in some cases religious cognition and behaviour can be costly and even dangerous while (to some) serving no obvious function. So why is religion found in every corner of the globe? Is it just a collection of highly successful memes or a “mind virus” as some dismissively label it? is it the inevitable but largely benign by-product of minds highly evolved for social living? Or are there some real evolutionary benefits to religious cognition?