Book Launch At Australian Skeptics Conference – ‘Beyond Belief’ By Dr Martin Bridgstock

You may know that the The Australian Skeptics National Convention, (or as they call it, ‘Briskepticon’, which is how you can find it tagged on Twitter), will be held next weekend at the University of Queensland.

What you may not know is that on Friday, 27th November, before the convention starts – there’s going to be a book launch! Dr Martin Bridgstock, who appears on Skeptic Zone episode #47 at Dragon*Con, has got a new book out via Cambridge University Press.

‘Beyond Belief – Skepticism, Science and the Paranormal‘ is an evidence-based approach to the paranormal, drawing upon various studies and investigations (including the 2008 Australian research mentioned in the podcast) to promote critical thinking skills and analysis.

Whether ghosts, astrology or ESP, up to 80 per cent of the population believes in one or more aspects of the paranormal. Such beliefs are entertaining, and it is tempting to think of them as harmless. However, there is mounting evidence that paranormal beliefs can be dangerous – cases of children dying because parents favoured alternative remedies over conventional medicine, and ‘psychics’ who trade on the grief of the bereaved for personal profit and gain. Expenditure on the paranormal runs into billions of dollars each year.

As the introduction points out, this book has something new to say about modern skepticism, its ethical underpinnings and how it is practiced – particularly noteworthy is how this expands upon ideas and issues previously discussed in articles by Dr Bridgstock, published in the likes of the Skeptical Inquirer (’Skeptical Ethics— What Should We Investigate?‘) and the Australian Skeptic.

Here’s a lecture that Dr Bridgstock presented in 2004 on teaching with a skeptical approach at the university level:

Oh, and I’m in the index because I’m mentioned on page 4 as a co-researcher, which is the first time anything like that has happened, so I’m running around the house going ‘WAHHHHHH!!!!‘ at the moment.

Tagged as: Australian Skeptics, Brisbane, Dr Martin Bridgstock, Education, ethics, Events, Links Elsewhere, moden skepticism, news, Science, skeptic zone, Skepticism, teaching