The Hampshire Skeptics Society

We’re all members of a very strange species. But where lots of human peculiarities – from art to warfare and beyond – have analogues across the animal kingdom, we stand alone as the only religious species.

Yet, within our otherwise religious species, atheism is currently flourishing in large parts of the world.

Will  will discuss research highlighted in his recent book, Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species, showing how people’s intuitions about morality lead them to assume the worst of atheists – with problematic implications for our scientific understanding of atheism, religion, and human nature.

Will Gervais

Will Gervais (Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London) is a cultural evolutionary psychologist and has been a global leader in the scientific study of atheism for over a decade.

Dr. Gervais’s research has been featured in media such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Der Speigel, Psychology Today, Vox, and Scientific American.

His interdisciplinary work, lying at the intersection of cultural evolution, evolutionary psychology, and cognitive science, has garnered international scientific recognition.

He was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science and is the recipient of the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association and the SAGE Young Scholar Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology.

Will likes cooking, camping, and his dog.

Standard Stuff (You’ve probably read this before)

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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.

Science has transformed the quality of human life. But Philosophers have sometimes struggled to define what makes science, science.

In this talk Simon will consider this problem from an ethical perspective to show that rather than a topic of study, science is more an attitude to the world around us.

He will discuss how this attitude is promoted within current scientific processes to emphasise that although we can never be 100% sure about anything, there are things we can do to uncover reliable information and hopefully make better decisions.

Dr Kolstoe

Dr Simon Kolstoe is an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the University of Portsmouth. He chairs Research Ethics Committees for the NHS, Ministry of Defence (MOD), and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

His research looks at ethics, integrity, and governance processes, and how these can be used to ensure high quality research in medicine and healthcare.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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.

Hearing loss is the most prevalent sensory condition, with a large genetic component. In particular, Age-Related Hearing Loss is an ever-growing issue for a steadily ageing population; about 25% of those over 65 years of age suffer from it, and this doubles for every further 10 years of life.

Over the last couple of decades, we have identified a number of genes that condition the development of deafness, but it is clear that the picture is far from complete.

At the Ear Institute, we are working towards identifying genes involved in Age-Related Hearing Loss, and how their dysfunction is linked to the development of brain disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Carlos Aguilar PhD MRSB AHEA

Originally from Mexico City, Carlos did a BSc in Biomedical Research and a MSc in Biochemistry at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Later, he obtained an MPhil Neuroscience from Manchester University and finally a PhD in Genetics from The Open University.

Currently, he works for UCL as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Ear Institute.

His main research interest is the discovery of new deafness genes, particularly those involved in Age-Related Hearing Loss, and their functional link to brain disorders.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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.

What geology and archæology can tell us

After a short discussion of the county’s geography and the types of geological and archæological evidence John will summarise what is known about Hampshire and the geological processes that led to its present structure.

Brief Bio

John Firth has lived in Berkshire, near the border with Hampshire, for thirty-three years. His books on geology and archæology were born during walks round both counties, finding interesting places and trying to tell people how to find them and what to look for.

He is neither a geologist nor an archæologist.

John is the author of “Geology and Archaeology of Hampshire: For People Who Aren’t Geologists or Archaeologists” and is a member of the Newbury Geology Society.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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.

How the basic tools of scientific scepticism should be applied in the post-truth digital era

This talk will start with a quick reminder of the genesis of Winchester Skeptics, followed by an overview of how the skeptical basics of science, reason and critical thinking honed predominately on extraordinary and paranormal claims, are desperately needed in the modern post-truth world to to get a more critical perspective of what the heck is going on.

Profile

Crispian is a semi-retired IT consultant from Cornwall currently taking things relatively easy in a thatched cottage somewhere on Salisbury Plain.

He is the co-founder of The Hampshire Skeptics Society and Winchester Skeptics in the Pub and the author of the satirical sceptical blog, The Reason Stick.

Following his stage 4 kidney cancer diagnosis in 2015 he is also the author of the award winning cancer blog, Incurable Rationalist, in which he describes his nonsense free, evidence based approach to dealing with this most inconvenient affliction.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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.

Thinking Skills for a Complex & Divided World

Today’s complex problems demand we think beyond disciplinary silos, employing nuanced, evidence-based reasoning across different fields. Effectively tackling issues like pandemics or climate change, and bridging societal divides, requires understanding how different groups argue from their distinct worldviews.

A core challenge is educating future generations with these skills.

The Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science (OARS) project addresses this directly by facilitating collaboration between science and religious education teachers in schools. The project aimed to break down subject boundaries and explicitly teach students how to analyse and construct arguments both within and between these different domains – fostering critical thinking applicable far beyond the classroom.

This talk, drawing on this project and other research, explores why such interdisciplinary reasoning and perspective-taking are vital skills for innovation and navigating our shared future.

Bio

Liam Guilfoyle is a Senior Lecturer in Science Education in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, and fellow of Kellogg College. His research interests revolve around epistemic cognition (how individuals think about the nature of knowledge and the nature of knowing) and how this impacts many facets of life and learning.

Liam is particularly interested in epistemic cognition and practices in interdisciplinary contexts. He is also interested in researching and supporting teachers’ engagement with/in research.

He is the Course Director of the MSc in Learning and Teaching, which supports practicing teachers to be become more research engaged in their own school contexts.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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

This talk is offered as an antidote to the doom and gloom that many of us can feel about the climate and ecological emergency, and the terrifying reality of natural disasters we either experience ourselves, or watch live on the news.

In this talk, we aim to show you that a world worth living in is possible, and to provide you with tangible actions you can start taking today, to make that world a reality.

Come and participate in this talk –

• If you want to reclaim your agency from forces outside of yourself that are seemingly controlling your destiny
  • If you are tired of feeling sad or hopeless about the future of our planet and our species
  • If you are motivated to take action, but unsure where to start
  • If you don’t feel ready to be a climate activist, but want to engage with the issue in other ways
  • If you have questions for a climate scientist who is also a climate activist

Our promise: you’ll walk away inspired and reassured, with practical tools in your hands, and clever concepts in your head, that you can immediately put to use.

Bors Bio

Bors trained as a social scientist and later as a climate scientist. For his day job, he runs a small research agency. His evening job is Extinction Rebellion, where he is the editor of XR’s new talk, called ‘The World We Want’ (TWWW).

TWWW is a brand new product, hot off the press in April. Join us and be among the very first to hear the talk, and give us your feedback.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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

Eschewing conspiracy, populism and science denial

How can we encourage individuals to engage with beneficial ideas, while eschewing dark ideas such as science denial, conspiracy theories, or populist rhetoric?

With this talk, we will explore the factors underpinning individuals’ engagement with ideas, proposing a model grounded in education, social networks, and pragmatic prospection (i.e. whether individuals have a forward-looking mindset). Beneficial ideas enhance decision-making, improving individual and societal outcomes, while dark ideas lead to suboptimal consequences, such as diminished trust in institutions and health-related harm.

Using statistical analysis of survey data from 7,000 respondents across seven European countries, we test hypotheses linking critical thinking, network dynamics, and pragmatic prospection to the value individuals ascribe to engaging with ideas, their ability to identify positive and dark ideas effectively and how individuals subsequently engage with ideas and who they engage in them with.

Our findings reveal how interventions in education, network development, and forward-planning could empower individuals to critically evaluate and embrace positive ideas while rejecting those that might be detrimental to themselves and others.

Professor Chris Brown

Professor Chris Brown is Professor of Education (University of Southampton), Head of the Southampton Education School and Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Tübingen.

Chris has a long-standing interest in how people go about harnessing great ideas to improve the human condition. Traditionally Chris’ work has focused on the education system, but more recently Chris has turned his attention to the ‘ideas-informed society’ more generally, and how we can ensure ideas are available and used effectively to the benefit of everyone.

Chris has written or edited some 21 books and nearly 100 journal articles in the broad sphere of research, evidence and ideas-use.

Ruth Luzmore

Ruth Luzmore is a Research Fellow in Southampton Education School, and a lecturer at the National Institute of Teaching and Education, University of Coventry.

Ruth has nearly two decades of experience in England’s state education system, from teaching assistant to headteacher.

Her research focuses on how school leaders design and implement professional development, with current work on the Ideas-Informed Society initiative and the EU Horizon-funded MEGASKILLS project.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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

Fertility is measured and reported in many different ways and each measure provides a different piece of information. Considering these rates and averages together can then provide greater and more nuanced insight into past and unfolding patterns of social and family change in the United Kingdom.

This presentation provides an overview of recent fertility patterns in the UK, drawing comparisons with countries worldwide.

Following this, we show the results of a more in-depth investigation of young people and their family plans. We look in detail at whether economic uncertainty and concerns about the environment are related to young peoples’ plans to have children.

Bio

Dr. Bernice Kuang is a researcher at the University of Southampton, on the Fertility Trends project, studying fertility patterns across the constituent countries of the UK. She completed her PhD in Social Statistics and Demography at the University of Southampton, and her masters in public health, with a concentration in demography, at Johns Hopkins University.

She has worked on various USAID and privately funded population health projects as a technical advisor in reproductive health. Bernice’s main research areas are fertility, partnership formation and dissolution, and family planning.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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

Vegan pet food: a diet change revolution begins

Vegan pet foods use plant, mineral and synthetic sources to supply necessary nutrients, and the vegan food sector is rapidly growing. Very recent, large-scale studies into health outcomes, environmental sustainability and other key consumer concerns are supporting the emergence of a new disruptive vegan pet food industry.

At least 20% of livestock environmental impacts in wealthy nations such as the US and UK appear due to pet food. Global implementation of vegan dog foods alone would spare from slaughter six billion land animals annually, save more greenhouse gases than emitted by the whole of the UK, and would free sufficient food energy to feed the entire EU human population.

Eleven studies now exist in dogs, and three in cats, showing equivalent or superior health outcomes when vegan pet foods are used.

Veterinary Professor Andrew Knight is one of the leading researchers in this field. He will summarise key recent research and developments, which are proving game-changing for the plant-based diet and sustainability sectors.

This is no longer just about human consumption; pet diets are now an important part of this field.

Bio

Prof. Andrew Knight BSc (Vet Biol), BVMS, MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD (Griff.), PhD (Winch.), FRCVS, PFHEA  is a veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare affiliated with the Murdoch University School of Veterinary Medicine and Griffith University, both in Australia, and with the University of Winchester in the UK.

An experienced small animal veterinarian, he s also a UK, European, American and New Zealand Veterinary Specialist in animal welfare.

In 2024 he received a PhD focused on vegan pet food (health, behavioural and environmental implications). He also received a PhD in 2010 critiquing scientific and educational animal use.

He has around 150 academic and 80 popular publications, and an extensive series of social media videos and several websites (including www.sustainablepetfood.info), on vegan companion animal diets, climate change and the livestock sector, invasive animal research, educational animal use, humane clinical and surgical skills training, and other animal welfare issues.

His studies on vegan pet food are regularly reported in news outlets globally. He often works with animal advocacy charities, and is frequently interviewed by the media. He has received over 20 awards and research grants for this work.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) 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