{"id":29629,"date":"2015-12-01T11:42:47","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T11:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=29629"},"modified":"2015-12-01T11:42:47","modified_gmt":"2015-12-01T11:42:47","slug":"skepticism-is-not-denialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/12\/01\/skepticism-is-not-denialism\/","title":{"rendered":"Skepticism is not denialism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A sceptics club would usually conjure up images of paranoid tinfoil headgear wearing conspiracy theorists, but <a href=\"http:\/\/cardiff.skepticsinthepub.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Skeptics in the Pub<\/a> is far from it.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in London by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skeptic.org.uk\/events\/skeptics-in-the-pub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr Scott Campbell <\/a>in 1999, the group organises an informal lecture series based on critical thinking.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29652\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 480px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/John-Sweeney.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29652\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/John-Sweeney-480x288.jpg\" alt=\"skeptics\" width=\"480\" height=\"288\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29652\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/John-Sweeney-480x288.jpg\" alt=\"skeptics\" width=\"480\" height=\"288\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Things don&#8217;t really get this heated at Cardiff Skeptics. Philip, one of the regulars, recreates one of John Sweeney&#8217;s infamous Panorama moments and John was happy to play along. Image credit: Philip Dore<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Host of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/123642454331540\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cardiff Skeptics<\/a>,<a href=\"http:\/\/thinkrant.blogspot.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> John Stabler<\/a>, sees it as a \u201cscience club\u201d for people to take a rational approach and examine extraordinary claims. The club meets every month at <a href=\"http:\/\/cardiff.skepticsinthepub.org\/Venue.aspx\/266\/Cathays-Sports--Social-Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cathays Sports &amp; Social Club<\/a> where a speaker is invited to present a topic followed by a discussion. These topics range from science, history, and psychology to philosophy, magic and investigative journalism.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29655\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 480px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/Senedd.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29655\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/Senedd-480x279.jpg\" alt=\"skeptic\" width=\"480\" height=\"279\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29655\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/Senedd-480x279.jpg\" alt=\"skeptic\" width=\"480\" height=\"279\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> John Sweeney, one of Cardiff Skeptics most popular guest speakers, gave his talk in The Senedd on June 17 2013. The following month was Professor David Nutt at the same location. Credit: Amy Stabler<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cSimon\u00a0Singh\u2019s talk about his ordeal with the British Chiropractic Association was an interesting one,\u201d says Stabler, referring to the defamation lawsuit filed against him for citing BCA\u2019s promotion of \u201cbogus treatments\u201d in his <em>Guardian<\/em> column. \u201cSome chiropractors turned up and took part in the Q&amp;A which made for quite a charged atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With current society encouraging conformity, it is refreshing to have a club that celebrates the inquisitive mind from a scientific rationale.<\/p>\n<p>Taking a Christmas break, Cardiff Skeptics will be back with their next talk (to be confirmed shortly) in January.<\/p>\n<p><em>Quick fire with John Stabler<\/em><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29656 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info.jpeg\" alt=\"skeptics\" width=\"480\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info-235x300.jpeg 235w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29656 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info.jpeg\" alt=\"skeptics\" width=\"480\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/12\/info-235x300.jpeg 235w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skeptics approach bizarre claims with scientific reason <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":29652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10],"tags":[5224,5225,5226,5227,5228,1389,5229,5230,5231,5232,5233,5234,5235,5236,1099,5237,5238,5239,5240,5241,5242,5243,5244],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-29629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-active-life","category-uncategorized","tag-alice-sheppard","tag-am","tag-bca","tag-british-chiropractic-association","tag-cardiff-skeptics","tag-dean-burnett","tag-defamation","tag-dr-scott-campbell","tag-james-randi","tag-john-stabler","tag-john-sweeney","tag-national-assembly-building","tag-panorama","tag-peter-popoff","tag-plaid-cymru","tag-professor-david-nutt","tag-scepticism","tag-sceptics","tag-scientology","tag-simon-singh","tag-simon-thomas","tag-skepticism-movement","tag-skeptics-in-the-pub"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Skepticism is not denialism - alt.cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Skeptics in the Pub was founded in London by Dr Scott Campbell in 1999. 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