Welcome to the home page of Skeptics in the Pub - Brighton: A group for those who enjoy listening & talking to, and sharing beverages with others of a skeptical nature.
Come all ye skeptics†, rationalists, scientists, naturalists‡, materialists‡, freethinkers, clearthinkers, atheists, agnostics and brights; drink ale with those similarly enlightened‡, and join us in our mission to promote and foster the use of reason and science to further lifekind, while drinking beer.
We'll be launching on Feb 16th 2010 as part of the Brighton Science Festival. This event is now unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether it was you investing the cash on it or not) SOLD OUT!
The venue for the events is The Caroline of Brunswick on Ditchling Road, opposite The Level.
Entry to the talks will cost £2 to cover speaker expenses, and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Advance tickets are available (for the first event at least) from the venue's website.
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Check out other events in the Brighton Science Festival
Want to discuss these events? Why not pop over the UK Skeptics Forum?
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† and indeed sceptics
‡ in the philosophical sense
When?
Tuesday, April 13 at 8:00PM
Where?
Who?
Professor Zoltán Dienes
What's the talk about?
An exploration of the facts and an explosion of the myths around the
topic of hypnosis. Topics covered may include: the history of hypnosis
and mesmerism; hypnotherapy; stage hypnosis; the nature of the
conscious mind, the unconscious and the so-called "trance" state;
hypnosis and memory recall; past life regression; whether hypnosis can
really make people believe things they would not otherwise believe or
do things they may not otherwise do, or anything that takes his fancy.
Zoltán Dienes is Professor of Experimental Psychology at The
University of Sussex. His primary interests are the distinction
between conscious and unconscious mental states, both states of
knowing and intending. For example, much of the knowledge we acquire
for dealing with the world appears to be unconscious. We can learn to
use certain linguistic structures, to appreciate certain styles of
music, to obey cultural rules, or to gain perceptual motor mastery of
a domain without consciously knowing the underlying regularities. How
is such knowledge acquired? By what methods can know whether knowledge
is conscious or unconscious? What type of structures can be learnt
unconsciously? How can such learning be computationally modelled? He
is also interested in hypnosis, a way of acting which he argues is
intentional but the person is strategically unaware of those
intentions.
Entry £2.
Advance tickets available from the venue's website, and include a voucher giving £2 off any main meal in the pub on the day of the event. Here's the menu.
Sold Out!
When?
Tuesday, May 11 at 8:00PM
Where?
Who?
Dr Simon Singh
What's the talk about?
Summary
Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. But how do you know which treatments really heal and which are potentially harmful? Simon Singh and his co-author Professor Edzard Ernst investigated the evidence for and against alternative therapies and published their conclusions in “Trick or Treatment?”, an honest, impartial and hard-hitting examination and judgement of more than 30 of the most popular treatments. Singh, who has also authored “Fermat’s Last Theorem” and “Big Bang”, will discuss how and why he got involved in writing about alternative medicine. In particular, he will discuss the origins, philosophy and testing of acupuncture and homeopathy, two of the most popular forms of alternative medicine. Singh, who is currently being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association, will also comment on his ongoing legal battle and the impact of libel laws on scientific journalism.
Biography
After completing a PhD in particle physics, Simon Singh MBE joined the BBC and worked as a director and producer on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He has also presented programmes on Radio 4, BBC4 and Channel 4. He is best known as the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book, Big Bang and Trick or Treatment?.
Sold Out, Sorry.
Advance tickets available from the venue's website, and include a voucher giving £2 off any main meal in the pub on the day of the event. Here's the menu.
When?
Tuesday, July 13 at 8:00PM
Where?
Who?
Prof. Chris French
What's the talk about?
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.
Chris French is a Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths. 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.
Entry £2.
Advance tickets available from the venue's website, and include a voucher giving £2 off any main meal in the pub on the day of the event. Here's the menu.