The 11th European Skeptics Congress London, September 5-7, 2003
ASKE The Association for Skeptical Enquiry
THE SKEPTIC ukskeptic@compuserve
ECSO The European Council of Skeptical Organisations
CSICOP The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
Congress Advisory Board Prof. Willem Betz, University of Brussels; Dr. Scott Campbell, University of Nottingham; Prof. Cornelis de Jager, Universities of Utrecht and Brussels;
Prof. Steven Donnelly, University of Salford; Prof. Christopher French, Goldsmiths College, University of London; Dr. Toby Howard, University of Manchester; Mr. Mike Hutchinson, The Skeptic; Mr. Barry Karr, CSICOP; Dr.
Martin Mahner, GWUP/ECSO; Prof. David Marks, City University; Mr.
Amardeo Sarma, GWUP/ECSO; Dr. Graham Wagstaff, University of Liverpool; Dr. Richard Wiseman, University of Herts.
***
PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME and EARLY CALL FOR PAPERS
This is a preliminary outline of the programme for the 11th European Skeptics Congress in 2003 and an early first call for papers to enable potential speakers plenty of time to consider what they would like to contribute to the congress.
The congress will be divided into symposia. Some will include one or more presentations from invited speakers. The remaining time will be devoted to shorter presentations by participants and audience discussion of these presentations.
Provisional titles of the symposia are given in this brochure. Under each title are examples of possible topics for volunteered presentations. There will be at least two types of non-invited presentation:
1. Presentations of 20 minutes + 10 minutes for question and discussion 2. 'Make you point' sessions. These will be of 1 hours duration, with 4 speakers. Each speaker will be allowed no more than 7 minutes to make his or her point. Following the 4 presentations there will be comments and questions from the audience to any of the speakers, thus allowing each speaker to develop his or her theme.
N.B. The programme organisers will give preference to presentations of the second type, in order to encourage audience participation and debate.
The congress is open to anyone, and indeed we hope that people from all walks of life will come and listen and participate in the debates and discussions.
It is the intention of the organisers that costs will be kept to a minimum to encourage a good attendance. The exact venue and costs will be announced as soon as possible.
SYMPOSIUM 1: SCIENCE, HEALTH AND MEDICINE
This symposium addresses contemporary controversies in health, illness and treatment. As well as the traditional conflict between conventional science-based medicine and alternative medicine, participants and audience are invited to take a skeptical stance on a range of matters pertaining to modern medicine in general, including orthodox approaches.
There will be two invited addresses, one on the current state of alternative medicine, the other on cancer treatment. Further contributions are invited, suggested themes and titles being as follows:
· The current state of alternative medicine · Alternative medicine: Free market, regulation or prohibition? · Health scares · Is there a voice for Skepticism in modern medicine? · Modern medicine: friend or tyrant? · The medicalisation of everyday life · Are there real alternatives to orthodox medical practice? · Evidence-based medicine: Fad or the way forward? · Is medicine bad for our health? · Gene therapy: Salvation or false dawn? · Can prevention work better than cure? · Mental illness: The medical model wrongly applied? · Medical ethics · Does medical research give value for money? · Animal research: For whose benefit?
SYMPOSIUM 2: ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
This symposium deals with the area of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those that are often labelled "paranormal".
It is directed towards understanding bizarre experiences that many people have without assuming a priori that there is anything paranormal involved. It entails attempting to explain paranormal and related beliefs and ostensibly paranormal experiences in terms of known (or knowable) psychological and physical factors and presenting empirical evidence to support such explanations.
The paranormal is here defined as "alleged phenomena that cannot be accounted for in terms of conventional scientific theories". The definition of the paranormal adopted by those working in this area typically goes beyond the core phenomena of ESP, PK, and life after death. There will be a keynote address presenting an overview of the area. Contributions are invited on such topics as:
· Cognitive biases related to ostensibly paranormal experiences · Personality characteristics associated with paranormal belief and experience · The development and maintenance of paranormal and related beliefs · The functions of paranormal and related beliefs · Altered states of consciousness (Symposium 2, continued)
· Hypnosis · Dissociative states, including dissociative identity disorder · The relevance of false memories and reality monitoring errors to paranormal claims · The psychology of deception and self-deception · Placebo effects · The psychology of psychic readings · The psychology of superstition · The psychology of coincidences · Hallucinations · Sleep-related disorders, including sleep paralysis · Religious experiences and religious beliefs · Non-paranormal accounts for a range of ostensibly paranormal experiences including:
· Extrasensory perception · Psychokinesis · Psychic readings · Psychic healing · Alternative and complementary medicine · Out-of-body and near-death experiences · Astrology and other divinatory techniques · Reincarnation · UFOs and alien abduction · Ghosts and poltergeists · Crystal power · Dowsing
SYMPOSIUM 3: PARAPSYCHOLOGY
This symposium assesses the current status and future prospects of parapsychology. Parapsychology attempts to study alleged paranormal phenomena using the tools of experimental science. Proponents claim that it is only prejudice on the part of the wider scientific community that prevents the general acceptance that the existence of paranormal forces has been established beyond all reasonable doubt. Critics allege that parapsychology is dogged by the problems of failure to replicate, sloppy methodology, and occasional fraud by experimenters or participants.
There will be an invited address by a leading parapsychologist outlining the current state of the field. Further contributions are invited, arguing both for and against the psi hypothesis, dealing with such topics as:
· Ganzfeld studies · Remote viewing · Precognition · Psychokinesis (Symposium 3, continued)
· Mental interactions with living organisms · Field consciousness · Reincarnation · Ghosts and poltergeists · Near-death and out-of-body experiences · The scientific status of parapsychology
SYMPOSIUM 4: (to be decided, or 'miscellany')
This is reserved either for a miscellany of topics or a single theme that may emerge from the 'call for papers'. Apart from the usual topics, talks on more radical, iconoclastic and even political themes will also be considered, provided they present a reasoned and informed skeptical analysis.
DEBATE: 'SCIENTISTS ON THE DEFENSIVE'
This 90-minute debate will consist in the main of 5-minute 'make your point'
presentations plus spontaneous contributions from the audience.
Examples of points for the debate are as follows:
· Public conceptions of science · The teaching of science in schools · Science and the media: What's wrong? · Do scientists have too much power? · Science and ethics · Science and religion · Should we trust scientists?
ASKE The Association for Skeptical Enquiry
THE SKEPTIC ukskeptic@compuserve
ECSO The European Council of Skeptical Organisations
CSICOP The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
Congress Advisory Board Prof. Willem Betz, University of Brussels; Dr. Scott Campbell, University of Nottingham; Prof. Cornelis de Jager, Universities of Utrecht and Brussels;
Prof. Steven Donnelly, University of Salford; Prof. Christopher French, Goldsmiths College, University of London; Dr. Toby Howard, University of Manchester; Mr. Mike Hutchinson, The Skeptic; Mr. Barry Karr, CSICOP; Dr.
Martin Mahner, GWUP/ECSO; Prof. David Marks, City University; Mr.
Amardeo Sarma, GWUP/ECSO; Dr. Graham Wagstaff, University of Liverpool; Dr. Richard Wiseman, University of Herts.
***
PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME and EARLY CALL FOR PAPERS
This is a preliminary outline of the programme for the 11th European Skeptics Congress in 2003 and an early first call for papers to enable potential speakers plenty of time to consider what they would like to contribute to the congress.
The congress will be divided into symposia. Some will include one or more presentations from invited speakers. The remaining time will be devoted to shorter presentations by participants and audience discussion of these presentations.
Provisional titles of the symposia are given in this brochure. Under each title are examples of possible topics for volunteered presentations. There will be at least two types of non-invited presentation:
1. Presentations of 20 minutes + 10 minutes for question and discussion 2. 'Make you point' sessions. These will be of 1 hours duration, with 4 speakers. Each speaker will be allowed no more than 7 minutes to make his or her point. Following the 4 presentations there will be comments and questions from the audience to any of the speakers, thus allowing each speaker to develop his or her theme.
N.B. The programme organisers will give preference to presentations of the second type, in order to encourage audience participation and debate.
The congress is open to anyone, and indeed we hope that people from all walks of life will come and listen and participate in the debates and discussions.
It is the intention of the organisers that costs will be kept to a minimum to encourage a good attendance. The exact venue and costs will be announced as soon as possible.
SYMPOSIUM 1: SCIENCE, HEALTH AND MEDICINE
This symposium addresses contemporary controversies in health, illness and treatment. As well as the traditional conflict between conventional science-based medicine and alternative medicine, participants and audience are invited to take a skeptical stance on a range of matters pertaining to modern medicine in general, including orthodox approaches.
There will be two invited addresses, one on the current state of alternative medicine, the other on cancer treatment. Further contributions are invited, suggested themes and titles being as follows:
· The current state of alternative medicine · Alternative medicine: Free market, regulation or prohibition? · Health scares · Is there a voice for Skepticism in modern medicine? · Modern medicine: friend or tyrant? · The medicalisation of everyday life · Are there real alternatives to orthodox medical practice? · Evidence-based medicine: Fad or the way forward? · Is medicine bad for our health? · Gene therapy: Salvation or false dawn? · Can prevention work better than cure? · Mental illness: The medical model wrongly applied? · Medical ethics · Does medical research give value for money? · Animal research: For whose benefit?
SYMPOSIUM 2: ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
This symposium deals with the area of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those that are often labelled "paranormal".
It is directed towards understanding bizarre experiences that many people have without assuming a priori that there is anything paranormal involved. It entails attempting to explain paranormal and related beliefs and ostensibly paranormal experiences in terms of known (or knowable) psychological and physical factors and presenting empirical evidence to support such explanations.
The paranormal is here defined as "alleged phenomena that cannot be accounted for in terms of conventional scientific theories". The definition of the paranormal adopted by those working in this area typically goes beyond the core phenomena of ESP, PK, and life after death. There will be a keynote address presenting an overview of the area. Contributions are invited on such topics as:
· Cognitive biases related to ostensibly paranormal experiences · Personality characteristics associated with paranormal belief and experience · The development and maintenance of paranormal and related beliefs · The functions of paranormal and related beliefs · Altered states of consciousness (Symposium 2, continued)
· Hypnosis · Dissociative states, including dissociative identity disorder · The relevance of false memories and reality monitoring errors to paranormal claims · The psychology of deception and self-deception · Placebo effects · The psychology of psychic readings · The psychology of superstition · The psychology of coincidences · Hallucinations · Sleep-related disorders, including sleep paralysis · Religious experiences and religious beliefs · Non-paranormal accounts for a range of ostensibly paranormal experiences including:
· Extrasensory perception · Psychokinesis · Psychic readings · Psychic healing · Alternative and complementary medicine · Out-of-body and near-death experiences · Astrology and other divinatory techniques · Reincarnation · UFOs and alien abduction · Ghosts and poltergeists · Crystal power · Dowsing
SYMPOSIUM 3: PARAPSYCHOLOGY
This symposium assesses the current status and future prospects of parapsychology. Parapsychology attempts to study alleged paranormal phenomena using the tools of experimental science. Proponents claim that it is only prejudice on the part of the wider scientific community that prevents the general acceptance that the existence of paranormal forces has been established beyond all reasonable doubt. Critics allege that parapsychology is dogged by the problems of failure to replicate, sloppy methodology, and occasional fraud by experimenters or participants.
There will be an invited address by a leading parapsychologist outlining the current state of the field. Further contributions are invited, arguing both for and against the psi hypothesis, dealing with such topics as:
· Ganzfeld studies · Remote viewing · Precognition · Psychokinesis (Symposium 3, continued)
· Mental interactions with living organisms · Field consciousness · Reincarnation · Ghosts and poltergeists · Near-death and out-of-body experiences · The scientific status of parapsychology
SYMPOSIUM 4: (to be decided, or 'miscellany')
This is reserved either for a miscellany of topics or a single theme that may emerge from the 'call for papers'. Apart from the usual topics, talks on more radical, iconoclastic and even political themes will also be considered, provided they present a reasoned and informed skeptical analysis.
DEBATE: 'SCIENTISTS ON THE DEFENSIVE'
This 90-minute debate will consist in the main of 5-minute 'make your point'
presentations plus spontaneous contributions from the audience.
Examples of points for the debate are as follows:
· Public conceptions of science · The teaching of science in schools · Science and the media: What's wrong? · Do scientists have too much power? · Science and ethics · Science and religion · Should we trust scientists?