CFI UK: Science and Pseudo-Science. Chris French, Andy Lewis, James Ladyman, Stephen Law. Sat 30th November.

 
Centre for Inquiry UK and Conway Hall present:

Science and Pseudo-Science:

Chris French, Andy Lewis (Quackometer), James Ladyman and Stephen Law

Sat 30th November 2013

What distinguishes real science from pseudo-science, flim-flam and bullshit? Is parapsychology a science? Is Young Earth Creationism science? Is pseudo-science on the rise in British schools? Tickets here or on door.

 

11am Prof. Chris French (Goldsmiths Dept. of Anomolistic Psychology).

“Parapsychology and Science”

12.00 Prof. James Ladyman. Former editor of the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science and author of Understanding Philosophy of Science (Routledge 2002) and (with Don Ross) Every Thing Must Go (Oxford University Press 2007).

“Pseudo-science and Bullshit” Bullshitting, according to Harry Frankfurt, is very different from lying. Pseudoscience is similarly different from science fraud. The pseudoscientist, like the bullshitter, is less in touch with the truth and less concerned with it than either the fraudster or the liar.

1.30pm Dr. Stephen Law (Heythrop College University of London)

“But it Fits!” (looking at Young Earth Creationism)

How to make a ludicrous belief system look not unreasonable.

2.30pm Andy Lewis (Quackometer)

“Educational Imposters: The Rise of Pseudoscience in UK Free Schools”

Michael Gove has stated that Free Schools will not be allowed to teach pseudoscience. But can we trust some of the cult-like organisations running these schools to teach good science and to refrain from letting their own alternative reality influence classrooms? Maharishi and Steiner schools both have occult and pseudoscientific beliefs at their core and so we should ask "What are they teaching children?"

3.30 END

Saturday November 30th 2013

Conway Hall

25 Red Lion Square

Holborn

London

WC1R 4RL

£10 (£5 students) Free to friends of CFI UK. Tickets here.

CENTRE FOR INQUIRY EVENTS AT OXFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL 2013

To buy tickets go to the website here: http://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/

Wed 20th March 2013, 10am

Alternative Medicine: Facts And Fallacies

Edzard Ernst

Professor Edzard Ernst explores to what extent our love affair with alternative medicine is based on good evidence and to what degree it is due to fallacious thinking and misunderstandings.  Ernst has conducted two decades of research into alternative medicines and published a number of books on the subject, including Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial.  

His life-long interest in this area started while working in a homeopathic hospital. As a clinician, he admits to have been impressed with several alternative treatments he employed. After becoming a scientist, his attitude gradually became more self-critical. When he was appointed in 1993 as chair of complementary medicine, he decided to critically evaluate alternative medicine with the tools of science. The results of his research and his outspoken comments often generate public attention and controversy.

Presented by the Centre for Inquiry.

Thursday 21st March 2013, 4pm

Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology

Chris French

Professor Christopher French explains how anomalistic psychology attempts to provide psychological explanations for reports of paranormal phenomena that have been made throughout history. He will illustrate his talk with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena. French is head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. He frequently appears on radio and television, casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. He writes for the Guardian and The Skeptic magazine. His most recent books are Why Statues Weep: The Best of The Skeptic and Anomalistic Psychology.

Presented by the Centre for Inquiry.

Saturday 16th March 2013,12.00

The God Argument

AC Grayling 

Humanist, writer and academic A C Grayling deals with all the arguments against religion and puts forward the alternative, humanism, in The God Argument, published on the eve of the festival. Grayling calmly examines all the points in support of religious belief. He does so from an understanding of all the reasons and motives people have for belief, and asks whether the arguments stand up to scrutiny.  Grayling goes on to ask what the alternative is to religion as a view of the world and foundation for morality.

Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, London, and a vice-president of the British Humanist Association. He has written and edited more than 30 books on philosophy and other subjects including The Good Book; Ideas That Matter; Liberty in the Age of Terror; and To Set Prometheus Free. He is a frequent contributor to national newspapers and BBC radio.

Presented by the Centre for Inquiry.

Thursday 21st March 2013, 12.00

Are We being Watched? The Search for Life in The Cosmos

Paul Murdin

Leading astronomer professor Paul Murdin assesses whether life really could exist outside our planet. If it does, what form might it take, and could it be as advanced as life on Earth? Or, are we simply alone in the universe? He approaches his subject in an accessible way, assuming no scientific knowledge on the part of the reader.

Murdin is former president of the European Astronomical Society. He has been director of the British National Space Centre and is a fellow of the Institute of Astrononmy at Cambridge University and visiting professor at Liverpool John Moores University. His works include Catalogue of the Universe and Secrets of the Universe.

Presented by the Centre for Inquiry.

To buy tickets for these events go to the website here: http://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/

Journalism, Churnalism and Media Bias - December 15th PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

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CFI UK and Conway Hall present

JOURNALISM, CHURNALISM AND MEDIA BIAS

Ben Goldacre, Rich Peppiatt, Michael Marshall, Greg Philo

How much journalism is churnalism- the uncritical regurgitation of press releases? To what extent can we trust what we read in the press about medical and other scientific discoveries and breakthroughs? How impartial is mainstream media coverage of key political and economic issues? And just how much of tabloid news is just, well, made up?

Saturday, 15^th December 2012

Conway Hall

25 Red Lion Square

London WC1R 4RL

11am-5.15pm (10.30am registration)

£10 (£5 students concessions). Free entry for Friends of CFI UK.

Bookshop and signings.

Tickets on the door and from the BHA website here:http://www.humanism.org.uk/meet-up/events/view/196

Introduced by Stephen Law

Speakers include:

Ben Goldacre (Guardian columnist, doctor and author of Bad Science)

Michael Marshall (expert on press-release-based churnalism)

Rich Peppiatt (a former tabloid journalist, now touring a show based on his experiences)

Greg Philo (Research Director of the Glagsow University Media Group). Greg will be speaking about the role of the media in the production of public confusion and consent.