On Saturday 20th September we are hosting Danny Strickland, co-founder of Newcastle Skeptics, who will deliver a first-hand critical examination of the 12-Step Programme of addiction counselling.
With millions of members and over 200 organisations world wide, the 12-step programme of recovery has been used to help people recover from addiction and dependence since 1935. The most well known of the 12-step groups is Alcoholics Anonymous, which claims to have in excess of 2 million members.
In his talk, Danny will discuss what exactly the 12 steps are, what they really mean and just how effective they are in tackling addiction. He will also explore questions such as are 12-step groups cults, is a belief in “God” central to the 12-step programme and if so, can atheists really use the 12-steps?
Danny spent almost three years as a member of a 12-step fellowship. Six years after attending his last 12-step meeting, Danny remains free from addiction. Just for today.
Danny was co-founder of Newcastle Skeptics and helped run it for four years. You can follow him on Twitter: @dts1970
This talk will begin at 8:00pm on Saturday 20 September. The venue is Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork. It is free to attend and all are welcome.
Did you know that the most popular sporting figure among Twitter followers of Youth Defence is the former American footballer Tim Tebow? Or that the majority of followers of @Women4Shariah are men? Or that most @ProLifeAtheists describe themselves as Catholic?
In this talkGeoff Lillis will show how most “Irish” pro life groups are supported from the States, how most Intelligent Design fans are more interested in apologetics than science, how you can hack Twitter, and why skeptics should look at the metadata, not just the data.
Geoff Lillis is a programmer and blogger whose work has been featured in print media like the Independent (UK), the Atlantic, and discussed in books such as Savita: The Tragedy That Shook A Nation (Kitty Holland, 2013) and Everyday Sexism (Laura Bates, 2014). He specialises in pulling hard to find information from Twitter accounts and presenting it in a manner that can reveal some surprising trends.
This talk will begin at 8:00pm on Saturday 14 June. The venue is Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork. It is free to attend and all are welcome.
Are there gender differences in attraction? Can you really find true love on the Internet? How do people actually portray themselves online? Can you have a virtual affair?
In this talk, Dr Martin Graff will examine all of these issues and will draw on current empirical studies on online relationships. He will cover some of the major research work on the online disinhibition effect, which suggest that we disclose more personal information, and do this more quickly in online environments.
Dr Graff will also give some factual advice on how to construct dating site profiles, and the way to approach an online liaison with a potential dating partner. With the explosion in the provision of online dating sites, including those dedicated to finding partners for affairs, this will also draw on some of the speaker’s own research on online infidelity, asking whether it is possible to have a virtual affair.
About The Speaker:
Dr Martin Graff is Reader in Psychology at the University of South Wales. He is an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Chartered Psychologist.
Over the years he has carried out research in the areas of cognitive processes in web-based learning, individual differences in website navigation, online interaction and the formation and dissolution of romantic relationships online and offline. He has also carried out research in the areas of online persuasion, and online disinhibition, and has supervised several doctoral degrees in this area.
He is a member of the British Psychological Society Undergraduate Education Committee, which oversees the running of Psychology degree programmes at British Universities. In April 2013, he was invited as a visiting research professor to Cortland University, New York, USA April 2013.
Dr Graff has published widely in the field of Internet behaviour, and has also written for The Psychologist in the area of Online Infidelity. He has also presented this work at numerous International Conferences.
This talk will take place at Blackrock Castle Observatory at 8pm — directions can be found on our information page. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers, and all are welcome at this free event. We hope to see you there!
Most people at some time or other—usually on the doorstep—have had a brief conversation with one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It probably went something like this: “Isn’t the world in a mess? Do you think things will ever get better? Do you know that the Bible promises that God will make it possible for good people to live forever right here, on an earth that will be transformed into a paradise?” Then often some literature is left that cites Bible texts to support this belief.
The Witness worldview that underpins this theology is quite surprising. What is Armageddon and what will happen to most of the world’s population when it comes? How do Witnesses view other religions? How do members regard higher education? What is wrong with having a birthday party, celebrating Christmas or voting in elections?
Our speaker for this event was for many years a devout member of the Jehovah’s Witness community in Cork. In this talk, he will briefly outline the history of the religion, summarise the key beliefs and recount his own experience as a member.
There will be plenty of time for questions and answers, and all are welcome at this free event. This talk takes place at Blackrock Castle Observatory at 8pm — directions can be found on our information page. We hope to see you there!
Last night, Dr. Marcin Szczerbinski gave a talk on genes and the role that they play in determining our personalities, our mental faculties and the quality of our lives. It was a fascinating lecture that brings the “Nature vs Nurture” debate right up to date. Marcin presents his talk as a hypothesis, but in doing so he brought us on a tour of the key research that tells us something about the influence of genes in our lives. The various strands of research – via twin studies, animal studies and genetic studies – show a strong linkage between our genes and our traits. They also show that genes do not necessarily impose limits on our abilities, and that “inherited” does not mean “immutable”. The environment, as it were, raises (or lowers) all boats, providing the means to correct, improve or impose restrictions on our natural talents and inclinations.
Using Google Hangout, we broadcasted this talk live to YouTube, and the full recording of the meeting is presented below. Marcin’s talk begins at the 29 minute mark. We’d love to hear some feedback from you on what you taught about the talk, whether this format works for you, and any improvements you would like to see.
Our next meeting will take place on Saturday 17th November at Blackrock Castle Observatory, starting at 8.00pm. The talk is by Dr. Andrew Sneddon, lecturer in International History at the University of Ulster.
This talk will re-examine Ireland’s last prosecution for witchcraft at Carrickfergus Assize Court in Co. Antrim in March 1711. It will explore the reasons why eight women found themselves in the dock accused of causing the possession, by means of witchcraft, of a young woman, Mary Dunbar. It will also explore why, in a period of increasing scepticism towards ‘proving’ the crime of witchcraft all over Europe, the women were found guilty under the sixteenth-century, Irish Witchcraft Act. This will all be placed in its theological, intellectual and legal context by exploring the European ‘witch-craze’ of the early modern period.
About the speaker: Dr Andrew Sneddon is lecturer in history at the University of Ulster, specialising in social and intellectual history, exploring through this the religious, legal, medical, and ‘supernatural’ histories of Britain, Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Europe. He has published widely in these fields and in 2008 published a biography of the sceptical witchcraft theorist and bishop of Down and Connor, Francis Hutchinson (1660-1739). He is currently writing an account of the Islandmagee trial, to be published in early 2013 and entitled, Possessed by the Devil, as well as a tome that will explore witchcraft and magic in Ireland, 1586-1949, which is due to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014.
On Saturday 20th September we are hosting Danny Strickland, co-founder of Newcastle Skeptics, who will deliver a first-hand critical examination of the 12-Step Programme of addiction counselling.
Cork Skeptics 