London Skeptics in the Pub

London Skeptics in the Pub - June Events

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:16:00 GMT

Hi All, We have another two events at the Penderel's Oak this month. Firstly, on Tuesday 17th we have Steve Parsons & Ciaran O'Keeffe from Living TV's "Most Haunted" on "How NOT to Investigate the Paranormal". This talk has only been cancelled at short notice twice. So I hope the third time's a charm. Then, on the 24th, we have Fred Singer on "Global Warming: What Al Gore never told You". I will be winging my way back from the James Randi Educational Foundation's "Amaz!ng Meeting" on that day, so past long-standing Skeptics in the Pub Chair, Nick Pullar, will be commanding that meeting on this occasion. Just to warn everyone that we'll be moving our regular Tuesday spot to a Monday from July onwards. The new management at the Penderel's have had a few other plans in the pipeline for Tuesdays, so will no longer be available for us to use from then onwards. I've also been asked very nicely (by Chris French) to ask anyone who does/doesn't read The Skeptic magazine if they can fill out a quick 2 minute online survey (it will literally take no more than a couple of minutes). <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/survey/">http://skeptic.org.uk/survey/</a> As always, there are a few other events over the next month you may find interesting: Mind-reading magician & skeptic, Philip Escoffey, will be giving a preview of his Edinburgh show "6 Impossible Things Before Dinner" in London on the 30th June. It's a bargain at £5 a ticket. More details can be found here: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/1149">http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/1149</a> On the 12th June, the Society for Psychical Research will hold a lecture on "A 5-Year Clinical Study of NDEs in a Welsh Intensive Therapy Unit" by Penny Sartori. (<a href="http://www.spr.ac.uk/expcms/index.php?section=4">http://www.spr.ac.uk/expcms/index.php?section=4</a>) If you're not in London and are missing out on all the fun, Rebecca at Skepchick has an events calendar for the rest of the world: <a href="http://skepchick.org/blog/?page_id=1062/">http://skepchick.org/blog/?page_id=1062/</a> Hope to see you all soon. Sid Rodrigues Tuesday 17th June - How not to investigate the Paranormal Steve and Ciarán amuse with their horror stories from the world of paranormal investigation. They discuss equipment faux-pas, television investigations and unusual cases. As well as discussing ethics, and presenting the most extreme unethical stories, Steve and Ciarán candidly discuss hilarious cases brought to their attention and their most embarrassing moments investigating in the dark! Tuesday 24th June - Global Warming: Science, Economics, and some Moral Issues: What Al Gore Never Told You The science is settled: Evidence clearly demonstrates that carbon dioxide contributes insignificantly to Global Warming and is therefore not a 'pollutant.' This fact has not yet been widely recognized, and irrational Global Warming fears continue to distort energy policies and foreign policy. All efforts to curtail CO2 emissions, whether global, federal, or at the state level, are pointless - and in any case, ineffective and very costly. On the whole, a warmer climate is beneficial. Fred Singer will comment on the vast number of implications. 7pm@ The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Tel: 020 7242 5669

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London Skeptics in the Pub - 20th May and other interesting events

Sun, 11 May 2008 11:04:00 GMT

Hi All, A bit of an early reminder this month. Not only do we have Prof Richard J Evans at SitP on Tuesday 20th, Prof Chris French will be giving a lecture for the London branch of Mensa on the 13th and at the snappily titled, Society for Psychical Research, on the 15th (Details can be found here: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/05/04/yet-more-events-in-may/">http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/05/04/yet-more-events-in-may/</a>). If you missed An Evening with James Randi & Friends last month, you may be pleased to know that two of the Doctor doctors (Ben Goldacre and Simon Singh) will be showing off at the excellent Robin Ince's "The School for Gifted Children" @ The Albany, Great Portland St, on 28th May at 7:45pm (Tel: 020 7387 5706), along with a stellar cast of comedians, musicians and others, including: Stewart Lee, popular atheist co-writer of Jerry Springer the Opera and award winning stand up. Jo Neary, the brilliant character actress from BBC3s Ideal. Gavin Osborn, the indie folk strummer and on-stage composer for Daniel Kitson Andrew Collins, the published diarist and former NME journo. Last time there was music and stand-up about Jean Charcots ideas of hysteria, the man who tried to attain the biggest ball of twine, how a glass eye proved the bigfoot film was fake, what scientists should do if they really wanted to play god and that sort of thing (for about three hours). Tickets are £10/ £7 concession It will be sure to sell out, so get your tickets asap (other details can be found here: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/05/08/robbie-jon-ronson-on-ufosand-stuff/">http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2008/05/08/robbie-jon-ronson-on-ufosand-stuff/</a>). TTFN Sid Rodrigues Tuesday, 20th May 2008 - 7:00 pm Holocaust Denial and Freedom of Speech - Prof. Richard J Evans Conspiracy theories about recent and even more distant historical events have become ever more widespread, especially with the growth of the Internet. One such theory, generally known as "Holocaust denial", claims that professional historians, the mass media, and governments have conspired to suppress the truth about the Nazi extermination of the Jews during the Second World War - which is that it never happened. How has this theory come about? Who supports it , and why? How do its proponents deal with their critics? What, if anything, could or should be done to combat Holocaust denial? This talk draws on the speaker's experiences as an expert witness in a High Court libel case to suggest some answers. Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His books include "The Coming of the Third Reich" and "The Third Reich in Power". He has taught at Birkbeck, and Gresham College, contributes occasionally to radio and television, most recently to Radio 4's "In Our Time" and Channel 5's "Hitler Speaks". The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Tel: 020 7242 5669 www.skeptic/org/uk/pub www.skeptic.org.uk/leicester

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Skeptics in the Pub, London & Leicester - May Outings

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:44:00 GMT

Hi All, Sorry for the slightly late mailing this month. I'm still recovering from the three SitP's last month and the Evening with James Randi & Friends. And there will be another three this month!!? But not all in London, thank the beegeesus. There is now a brand-spanking new Skeptics in the Pub, Leicester, so if you have friends in the Midlands who would be interested in a talk by Simon Singh. Now would be a good time to forward this message to them. Here's the list of events for this month. Skeptics in the Pub, London Date: Tuesday 6th May 2008 Time: 7.00pm Title: Chiropractic - A 113 year Struggle from Pseudoscience to Legitimacy Speaker: Prof Mahlon Wagner In the US, Chiropractic is the second largest of the health-care professions with close to 50,000 practitioners (Doctors of Chiropractic). Significant numbers of chiropractors also exist in the UK and Europe as well as Australia. Mahlon will examine the origins of Chiropractic (a healer in 1895), the questionable diagnostic and treatments used, reasons for their success, and public attitudes toward (and satisfaction with) chiropractic as compared to traditional medicine. Mahlon Wagner (Professor Emeritus of Psychology - State University of New York) taught experimental psychology, statistics, research design, history of psychology and parapsychology for 30 years at Oswego. He has been a visiting professor at the University of the Saarland in Saarbruecken and the Justus-Liebig University, Giessen in Germany Date: Tuesday 20th May 2008 Time: 7.00pm Title: Holocaust Denial and Freedom of Speech Speaker: Prof Richard J. Evans Conspiracy theories about recent and even more distant historical events have become ever more widespread, especially with the growth of the Internet. One such theory, generally known as "Holocaust denial", claims that professional historians, the mass media, and governments have conspired to suppress the truth about the Nazi extermination of the Jews during the Second World War - which is that it never happened. How has this theory come about? Who supports it , and why? How do its proponents deal with their critics? What, if anything, could or should be done to combat Holocaust denial? This talk draws on the speaker's experiences as an expert witness in a High Court libel case to suggest some answers. Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His books include "The Coming of the Third Reich" and "The Third Reich in Power", both published by Penguin. He has taught in adult education at Birkbeck, and at Gresham College, and contributes occasionally to radio and television, most recently to Radio 4's "In Our Time" and Channel 5 television's "Hitler Speaks". Location: The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Web: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/pub/">http://skeptic.org.uk/pub/</a> Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381060970">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381060970</a> Skeptics in the Pub, Leicester Date: Tuesday 20th May 2008 Time: 7.30pm Title: Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial Speaker: Dr Simon Singh 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. Welcome to the world of alternative medicine. Join Simon Singh, as he brings his considerable scientific knowledge and scrupulous impartiality to this most controversial subject and an honest examination of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as Acupuncture, Homoeopathy, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Chiropractic and Herbal medicines. After completing a PhD in particle physics, Simon Singh joined the BBC and worked as a director and producer on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Horizon (NOVA in the US). 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 and Big Bang. Location: The Rutland & Derby Arms 23 Millstone Lane Leicester LE1 5JN Pub Tel: 0116 262 3299 Web: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/leicester/">http://skeptic.org.uk/leicester/</a> email: <a href="mailto:leicesterskeptics@googlemail.com">leicesterskeptics@googlemail.com</a> Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12736582903">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12736582903</a> We also have the Skeptics in the Pub, London Outing! - Saturday, May 10th 2008 A day-trip to the Mystic Arts psychic fair at Olympia (<a href="http://www.themysticarts.co.uk/">http://www.themysticarts.co.uk/</a>). We haven't done one of these in a while so, email Jon, turn up and buy the t-shirt. It should all be good fun. There are a limited number of tickets at a discounted price of £5.50 (instead of £7.50) are available, and if you'd like to come, you can secure your ticket by contacting Jon Cohen at <a href="mailto:jon_cohen@mac.com">jon_cohen@mac.com</a>. We'll also plan a meeting place before hand (possibly a pub), so when we get an idea of numbers, you'll be the first to know where and when. You can also purchase a souvenir "[James Randi is] our Guru/We value the enlightenment" t-shirt from Jon for the additional, low, low cost price of £4.00 by letting him know your size in the email. We expect to have a fun afternoon asking psychics questions, having our auras read and having our chakras aligned. CFI London has a week of evening lectures from the May Day bank holiday onwards (5th - 10th May). Details here: <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/events/the_sources_of_the_book/">http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/events/the_sources_of_the_book/</a> Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone you think would be interested in coming to any of these events. See you all soon. Sid Rodrigues

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Today! - Simon Singh book signing @ The Science Museum, London

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:30:00 GMT

Hi All, Just a quick one to tell you that our excellent past speaker, Simon will be signing copies of 'Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial' at Waterstones at the Science Museum today. Other details can be found in his newsletter, which I've posted here: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/news/?p=1115">http://skeptic.org.uk/news/?p=1115</a> Hope to see some of you there. Best, Sid Rodrigues Science Museum Signing & Lectures It is very short notice, but if you are in London today then I will be signing books at Waterstones bookshop at the Science Museum (020-7942 4481, London SW7) from 3.30pm until 4pm. Please come along and say hello if you are in the neighbourhood. And, of course, the museum has free admission, so you can check out the Making of the Modern World gallery or explore the revamped Launch Pad, which is full of interactive exhibits. In particular, if you are an alternative therapist who has been annoyed by Trick or Treatment or any of my recent articles, then please come along for a chat and we can talk about the evidence for and against alternative medicine. I will provide more information soon, but I will be speaking at the Hay Book Festival on May 24, the Bristol Festival of Ideas on May 21 and at the Edinburgh Book Festival on August 10. In the first two lectures, I will be speaking with my co-author Professor Ernst.

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Skeptics in the Pub - Just one last thing...Quirkology tonight!

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:47:00 GMT

Hi All, Just a quick update. The last month has been a busy one, with Simon Singh's April Fools special ( an article in today's Independent here: <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/features/complementary-therapies-the-big-con-813248.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/features/complementary-therapies-the-big-con-813248.html</a> ), David Allen Green's legal predictions for mediums, alternative medicine practitioners and psychics in 2008 on the 15th, James Randi & Friends at Conway Hall on the 19th being a massive sell-out success and the fabulous Phil Plait giving a stunning (and impromptu) lecture on the Moon Hoax Hoax last night. It was so full, there wasn't even enough room to swing a herded cat. Many apologies, but unfortunately James Randi couldn't make it for the evening. I think he was seeing many old and new faces at the Magic Circle that night -- He is a busy man, after all. I hope to grab him for a talk the next time he comes to blighty - James has expressed his enthusiasm for giving a talk at SitP on many an occasion and I'll see to it that he does. One thing that slipped my mind last night. Prof Richard Wiseman is looking for eligible men to take part in a fun experiment examining the psychology of speed dating at Borders on Oxford Street tonight. During the study, people will meet others who either do, or do not, share their taste in books, and the results will reveal whether speed dating can be made more effective by matching people on the basis of the books they love. The study will start at 7pm and will last about 2 hours. Sounds like a fun evening! If you wish to participate, please click <a href="http://www.borderslocal.co.uk/oxford-street/events">http://www.borderslocal.co.uk/oxford-street/events</a> And lastly. Our next speaker will be Prof Mahlon Wagner from the State University of New York. He'll be giving us the lowdown on chiropractic in the US and Europe on 6 May. More details can be found on our homepage <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub">http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub</a> TTFN, Sid

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Septics in the Pub? Very Important News!

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:03:00 GMT

Hi All, No. That wasn't a misspelling in the title. We have one last Skeptics in the Pub Special this month - it would have been a shame to miss the opportunity. Bad Astronomy and The Amaz!ng meeting regular Phil Plait and James Randi WILL be down on Monday 21st April to give us Brits two fantastic talks. Phil has promised a comprehensive dissection of Moon-landing hoaxes and conspiracies and James will be giving another of his Amaz!ng lectures. Lets make this a deserving send-off for two deserving visitors. As mentioned on Tuesday, here are the details of the sceptical outings from Nick Pullar: ----------------- Hi Sid SWA (Spiritual Worker's Association - www.swa.org.uk) are having their demo this Friday 18th April in Trafalgar Square at noon. Our big outing will be on 10 May 2008 to the Mystic Arts fair at Olympia (<a href="http://www.themysticarts.co.uk/">http://www.themysticarts.co.uk/</a>). Tell them that they can order a tee-shirt if they want, which will be at cost. There will be a photo of Randi with "He is my guru", and the slogan - "I believe in (the) Enlightenment" on the back. We have secured discounted tickets (The discounted tickets are £5.50; normal price, £7.50), and people will need to contact Jon (<a href="mailto:jon_cohen@mac.com">jon_cohen@mac.com</a>) to request them. Cheers Nick P.S. Didn't Mr Green do well? ---------------------- Thanks Nick. Mr Green did very well, indeed. I'll be having some birthday drinks tonight (and the event will be having a belated 1st birthday party) at the Nature Network London meetup at 6.30pm upstairs at the Rugby Tavern, 19 Great James Street, Holborn, WC1N 3ES. It will promise to be a science celebrity shin-dig, with Phil Plait, Nature podcast/science blogger Adam Rutherford, TV presenter/ tech geek Gia Milinovich, James "The Amaz!ng" Randi and rock-star/physicist Brian Cox (N.B. not Brian May) will possibly be there too. Hope to see you all tonight or Saturday or Monday. Best, Sid <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk">http://www.skeptic.org.uk</a>

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Skeptics in the Pub & Others

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:55:00 GMT

Hi All, This is a long one as there's lots on in April... Firstly, we're all happy to announce that we've had successful year so far. SitP has had an article in both Nature and the Londonist's websites and have also been awarded "Top 50 best London websites" and "Top 10 best London communities" by Time Out magazine. Thanks to everyone who has helped us over the last 9 years, 100 Skeptics in the Pubs and have lent support by coming each month to make us one of the best communities in all Ye Olde London towne. On the 15th April, our resident lawyer and skeptic, David Green, will be giving us the lowdown on how the law handles the issues of belief and non-belief through the courts. It will range from The repeal of The Fraudulent Mediums Act to blasphemy. Full details below. Date: 15th April Time: 7.00pm Location: The Penderels Oak (Cellar Bar), Holborn Title: The Skeptic in the Courtroom This talk will address, in an objective and balanced manner, how the law deals with certain controversial issues of belief and non-belief. Prompted by recent developments, the talk wil explore whether the courtroom is really the appropriate forum for settling disputes that relate to controversial issues of belief and non-belief. For example, the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, the last remnant of the old witchcraft legislation, is to be repealed in April 2008. Mediums and psychics will now be under a new and modern legal regime in respect of any unfair commercial practices. But how will these new sanctions work in practice? Will mediums and psychics who adopt questionable practices be more or less likely to face legal action? The ancient common law offence of blasphemy may also soon be abolished. A recent High Court decision has effectively narrowed its scope in any case. There is the new offence of incitement to religious hatred. But can the legal process really deal with what can be questions of religious dispute? Other examples of where the law grapples with issues of belief and non-belief include the "Evolution" trials in United States, the Holocaust denial trials, and when religious groups seek to incorporate aspects of religious law into more general legal systems. The talk will describe and assess these and other legal developments, using practical examples. It will also offer practical suggestions for both skeptics and non-skeptics on how legal regimes may affect them. David is a solicitor in London with wide experience of the communications, media and public sector fields. He is the author of the chapters on the restrictions that criminal law places on free speech in the current edition of Law and the Media. ------------------------- As I mentioned at our April Fools' special, James Randi will be giving a lecture at Conway Hall on the 19th April. Details and tickets can be booked from here: <a href="http://skeptic.org.uk/randi/">http://skeptic.org.uk/randi/</a> ------------ Last, but not least; TAM regular, Phil Plait - otherwise know as the "Bad Astronomer" - will be having a get together in London while he's over here filming about the particle accelerator at CERN (LHC) with Prof. Brian Cox of the University of Manchester. When I get details of the meeting place I'll post them on The Skeptic Magazine News page. Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone who would be interested in coming to any of these events. You can always subscribe and unsubscribe from our website: <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub">http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub</a> See you all soon. Sid Rodrigues

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Skeptics in the Pub, London. 1st April 2008 - Dr Simon Singh

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:01:00 GMT

Hi All, I hope everyone enjoyed Andy Lewis and David Colquhoun's presentations last week-ish. Those who were there will remember that Andy mentioned that the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council is looking for members for their lay panel. I emailed them asking for application details and they replied thus: --------------- Stuart Bold <<a href="mailto:stuart.bold@cnhc.org.uk&gt">stuart.bold@cnhc.org.uk&gt</a>; Hi Sid, The Board are currently considering person spec's etc. As soon as this process is finished, I will be contacting all those who have expressed interest and will note your own interest. Kind regards, Stuart ---------------- I encourage members of SitP show their interest too by asking Stuart for application details. We'd be just the type of people they'd be looking for...I hope to think. We're having a Skeptics in the Pub special on the 1st of April as it is our 100th meeting and thought you deserved an extra helping of cake. Yes, I said cake! It is a special occasion after all. Next weeks speaker is a BAFTA winning documentary maker and popular science author. Simon Singh started out studying physics at Imperial College then particle physics at Cambridge University. He then spent some time smashing very small things up at high speed at CERN, Geneva. He's best known as a producer of BBC science programming and authoring several best-selling books, including Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang. His next book (with Prof Edzard Ernst), is Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, and will be published at the end of April. Title: Science and the Media - Can we trust TV? TV producers have to entertain, inform and grab large audiences in an increasingly competitive media market. How do they balance accuracy with excitement? Simon discusses various science documentaries and gives his opinion on where things went right, and where they went horribly wrong. Time: 7.00pm Location: The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Tel: 020 7242 5669 All other details and a list of upcoming and past speakers can be found on our webpage: <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub">http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub</a> You can also find other events of interest and an occasional bun-fight in the comments on the Skeptic Magazine news page. Hope to see you next Tuesday, Sid Rodrigues Tel: 020 8943 7540 email: <a href="mailto:pub@skeptic.org.uk">pub@skeptic.org.uk</a> Please feel free to pass this email to anyone you think would be interested in attending. You can always join our Facecloth group to keep up to date with SitP activities as they happen: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381060970">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381060970</a>

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Skeptics in the Pub - March 18th 2008

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:10:00 GMT

Hi All, Next weeks speakers are two science and anti-quackery bloggers of the highest order. They're both active and highly visible people in the fight against quackery and they have both suffered attempted censorship at the hands of quacks. Andy Lewis is the creator and writer of <a href="http://www.quackometer.net/" class="snap_shots">The Quackometer</a> blog and Prof. David Colquhoun is a pharmacologist at University College London who writes the Improbable Science blog at <a href="http://dcscience.net/" class="snap_shots">DC Science</a>. As this is science week, I'll spare you all the events going on and leave it to just three in this announcement, the first one being today. All other events of interest will be on <a href="http://ukskeptic.livejournal.com/">The Skeptic Magazine News blog</a>. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in this, or any of these events. Hope to see you all next Tuesday. The Skeptics in the Pub Kabal --------------------------------------- APRU Invited Speaker Series 2008@Goldsmiths Title: The Truth About Mediums Date: Tuesday 11th March 2008 Time: 4.10pm Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe Research Associate, Université de Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale <a href="http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru/speakers.php" class="snap_shots">More details</a>. --------------------------------------- <h3>Skeptics in the Pub</h3> Title: Regulating Alternative Medicine: Are the Quacks Ducking the Issues? Date: Tuesday 18th March 2008 Time: 7.00 pm Description: 2008 is going to see a big battle between various groups as to who gets to pretend to regulate alternative therapists. The Government, through Prince Charles' Foundation for Integrated Health, is setting up The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, a voluntary federal register. The problem is, no one appears to want to join. Various homoeopaths' Membership Groups are setting up their own 'Single Registers'. More fundamentally, no group looking at this issue appears to want to tackle the inconvenient problem that most alternative therapies do no work and their practitioners hold strange and sometimes dangerous beliefs. Two sceptical bloggers will explore the issues. Location: The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Tel: 020 7242 5669 <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub">www.skeptic.org.uk/pub</a> ---------------------------------------------------- For those who didn't make it to the Center for Inquiry Grand Opening on the 18th January and feel they are missing out on all the fun, they are having a few more lectures in May: <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/events/the_sources_of_the_book/">THE SOURCES OF THE BOOK</a>: An Anatomy of the Literary Beginnings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam Starts: Monday, May 5th Ends: Saturday, May 10th Lecturers: Professor R. Joseph Hoffmann, Senior Vice President of the Center for Inquiry and Head of The CFI Institute; Adjunct Professor of History at the State University of New York, Buffalo. Ibn Warraq, MA, distinguished author of Why I am Not a Muslim, and Whose Koran? Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry, Amherst, New York. This six day course is an intensive exploration of the literary origins of the books that define the Jewish, Christian and Islamic world-views. It is sometimes thought that the sacred scriptures of the book religions emerged from the pages of history as a fully developed canon. In fact, the materials themselves were the product of disagreement, heresy, rivalry between sectarian perspectives, and attempts to glorify their founders and beliefs. Join R. Joseph Hoffmann and Ibn Warraq for an unusual tour of the “origins” of the books and learn what critical modern scholarship has to tell us about the dating, origin, and purposes of the Bible and the Qur’an. Registration fee: £30.00 for all six classes; £7 for individual classes. Registration is limited. Advance booking and payment preferred, but payment at the door is acceptable. 7-9 PM at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1 tel. 020 7242 8037 fax 020 7242 8036 <a href="http://www.conwayhall.org.uk/" class="snap_shots">http://www.conwayhall.org.uk</a>

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The Curse of Skeptics in the Pub Strikes Again!-19th February 2008

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:03:00 GMT

Hi All, I am afraid the curse has struck again! There was a misunderstanding over the booking of next Tuesday's creationist speaker and he will now have to talk at a later date. Fortunately, Dr Matthew Smith has very kindly offered to do a talk at SitP straight after he's done one for APRU @ Goldsmiths - you can't have too much of a good thing! The title of Matthew's talk to SitP is "Confessions of a Spiritual Junkie: A Psychologist's Search for Enlightenment". There may be a little overlap with the APRU talk but also some new stuff - so it's worth going to both if you can! --------------------------------------- Title: Confessions of a Spiritual Junkie: A Psychologist's Search for Enlightenment Date: Tuesday 19th February 2008 Time: 7.00 pm Location: The Penderel's Oak 283-288 High Holborn London WC1V 7HP Tel: 020 7242 5669 What do the Loch Ness Monster, Noel Edmonds, magic-eye pictures, butterflies, forgiveness, and the number 42 all have in common? Could it be they all have something to do with the meaning of life? Or are they simply the not so random thoughts of a man going through a mid-life crisis? Join psychologist Matthew Smith on his search for spiritual enlightenment and the meaning of life. Dr Matthew Smith is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Liverpool Hope University. He has conducted research on replication issues in parapsychology and psychological variables associated with paranormal belief. Dr Smith was awarded his PhD on the psychology and parapsychology of luck from the University of Hertfordshire in 1998. Matthew was awarded the Gertrude Schmeidler Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Parapsychology by the Parapsychological Association. Dr Matthew Smiths current research is examining the role of experimenter variables in ganzfeld-ESP research. He has also received funding from the Perrott-Warrick Fund, the Parapsychology Foundation, and the Society for Psychical Research and has made several television appearances as a Resident Parapsychologist for Living TV's Most Haunted. ---------------------------------------------------- For those who didn't make it to the Center for Inquiry Grand Opening on the 18th January, here are a couple of reports of the event: <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/news/london_opening/">http://www.centerforinquiry.net/london/news/london_opening/</a> <a href="http://freethinkingblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/cfi-london-opening-ceremony.html">http://freethinkingblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/cfi-london-opening-ceremony.html</a> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you're based in Birmingham and are missing out on the Skeptical goodness in London this Tuesday, don't worry, because I found this event on Thursday, just for you. Title: Did we really land on the Moon? Speaker: Dr Martin Hendry Date: Thursday 21 February 2008 Time: 7:00 pm Venue: University of Birmingham Astronomical Society School of Physics and Astronomy University of Birmingham Birmingham B15 2TT Did Neil Armstrong really walk on the Moon? Almost 40 years on from Apollo 11 a surprising number of people believe that Armstrong's famous "One small step" was an elaborate hoax, filmed in secret here on Earth. Conspiracy theorists point to a range of "evidence" to support their claim: waving flags, strange shadows, no stars in the sky, deadly solar radiation. In this talk, using real Apollo video footage and a series of simple demonstrations, we will take a closer look at the science behind "moon hoax" claims, and ask whether we really did land on the Moon. Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes More at University of Birmingham Astronomical Society... <a href="http://www.astrosoc.org.uk">http://www.astrosoc.org.uk</a> Entry is FREE Additional Information: <a href="http://www.talkandtelescope.org.uk">http://www.talkandtelescope.org.uk</a> Hope to see you on Tuesday. Details of future (and past) meetings can be found on <a href="http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub">http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub</a> . We're listed in upcoming.org, lecturelist.org and BBC Focus magazine.

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Skeptics in the Pub - Tuesday 19th Feb 2008 - Why don�t creationists just shut up?

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:00:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Archives</title> <style type="text/css">  </style> </head> <body> Hi All! Sorry for the slightly late mailing. We're changing list servers and wanted to warn you that you may want to check in your junk mail folder for our mailouts if you have very stern filter settings on your email account. Please place pub@skeptic.org.uk in your "white list" to avoid any problems in the near future. Feel free to forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in attending these events.  As always, there are a few events of interest along  side SitP. So here goes!   <hr /> Date:  Tuesday 19th Feb 2008 Time: 7:00 pm  Location:  The Penderel's Oak, High Holborn, London Title: Why don’t creationists just shut up? Why do creationists believe what they believe? Is it, to quote Richard Dawkins, just “blind faith in the absence, or even in the teeth, of evidence”? The illustrated talk will argue that even those who don’t accept their conclusions should recognise that there is a solid logic to a young earth creationist position. Paul Taylor joined the staff of Answers in Genesis (AiG)(UK/Europe) in August 2005 as a writer and speaker. He is now Head of Media and Publications and editor for Answers Update. Paul graduated from Nottingham with a BSc in Chemistry in 1982. After becoming a Christian in his late teens Paul had a Saturday job in a Christian bookshop in Ashton. It was there that he first noticed a booklet by a group of Christians who did not believe in the theory of evolution! This was a complete shock to Paul, because he could not conceive how people could fail to believe in what he thought was established scientific fact. However, the bookshop manager persuaded him that it made scientific sense to believe the Bible's account of creation in Genesis, and sent Paul home with such books as Evolution or Creation by Professor Enoch, The Genesis Flood by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris, and Morris' The Genesis Record. Now convinced of the truth of Genesis, and, therefore, of the whole Bible, Paul began to propagate these views, writing articles for his church magazine. As a schoolteacher, Paul frequently challenged pupils to think through the issue of origins for themselves, rather than accept evolutionary orthodoxy. These teaching methods, particularly as Paul began developing curricula, frequently brought him into conflict with more evolutionary-minded staff. He is the author of two books: The Six Days of Genesis and Truth, Lies and Science Education. <hr />   Date:  Tuesday 19th Februaury Time: 4:10 pm Location: Room 308, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths. Dr Matthew Smith: "Chance, Luck and Destiny: A Psychological Perspective" Have you ever noticed that some of the most important things that happen in our lives, such as relationships or careers, are often influenced by a chance encounter, or a fortuitous occurrence? How much are we really in control of our lives? Does each of us have a destiny that we are supposed to fulfill? It is questions like these that have inspired Matthew Smith to re-examine the role that luck plays in our lives and explore the notion of destiny. Is destiny something we can control or is it something that simply helps us to make sense of life’s ups and downs? Matthew Smith is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Liverpool Hope University. He studied for his PhD with Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire researching the psychology of luck. Since then, he has conducted research on such varied topics as experimenter effects in parapsychology, offender profiling, and lie detection. He returns to the subject of his PhD research to explore the notion of ‘destiny’. All talks in the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Invited Speaker Series are open to staff, students and members of the public. Attendance is free and there is no need to book in advance. For further information, visit <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" target="_blank" href="http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru/speakers.php">http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru/speakers.php</a> or contact Sally Marlow (email: <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:ps604sm@gold.ac.uk">ps604sm@gold.ac.uk</a>).   <hr /> And then, one week later, come and listen to some amazing auditory illusions... Date: Tuesday 26th February Time: 4:10 pm Location: Room 308, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths. A lecture and demonstration by Joe Banks: "Rorschach Audio: Implications for the Electronic Voice Phenomenon and Art" The subject of research into allegedly supernatural "Electronic Voice Phenomena" is considered in the light of both anecdotal reports and formal experimental studies of related aspects of human auditory perception. "Rorschach Audio" offers the primary hypothesis that an understanding of the relevant aspects of psychoacoustics provides a complete explanation for most EVP recordings; and a secondary hypothesis that an informed understanding of these processes is as relevant to the emergent field of sound art as studies of optical illusions have been to the study of visual art.   <hr /> Date:Wednesday 20th February Time:  7:00 pm Location: LSE (London School of Economics) Room S75 St Clements Building, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE Central London Humanist Groups and 21st Century Network present: The Authorities Are Always Right - Special Needs & Human Rights A film presentation by film-maker Sapna Ramani about a boy's experiences of special needs education. For more info, including details of location, go to: <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" target="_blank" href="http://crosscultural.meetup.com/39/calendar/7150419/">http://crosscultural.meetup.com/39/calendar/7150419/</a>  SitP sneak preview: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8263070741">The Skeptic in the Courtroom</a> Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00pm</li> <li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8647554146">Chiropractic - A 113 year struggle from pseudoscience to legitimacy</a> Tuesday, May 6 at 7:00pm</li> <li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10008242588">Holocaust denial and freedom of speech</a> Tuesday, May 20 at 7:00pm</li> </ul>  See you all soon,   The Skeptics in the Pub Kabal

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