Skeptics in the Pub Winchester hosts a guest speaker on the last Thursday of every month. Skeptics in the Pub exists to provide an opportunity for people who are interested in science, skepticism, rationalism and critical thinking to socialise and discuss matters of interest.
The meetings are open to all regardless of beliefs and each month’s talk will be followed up with a challenging Q&A session. Winchester SitP is part of a national and global network of SitP events and is organised by the Hampshire Skeptics Society. The Hampshire Skeptics Society is a non-profit organisation for the promotion of science, reason and critical thinking, humanism and a secular life.
When?
Thursday, September 30 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Roebuck Inn57 Stockbridge Road,
Winchester,
SO22 6RP
http://www.roebuckwinchester.com/about_reobuck.php
Who?
Professor 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.
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