Michael Daw
From 19:30 until 21:30
At The Adelphi
1-3 Hunslet Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS10 1JQ
Pseudoscience is cloaked in the language of science but falls way short of scientific ideals. This can be dangerous, such as when ‘evidence’ is presented for health treatments that harm rather than heal; or when claims are made that climate change is not happening. Parapsychology aims to use the tools of science to explore topics such as whether people can see the future, read each other’s thoughts, or demonstrate mind over matter. But Wikipedia and other sources state that the discipline is pseudoscientific and therefore any evidence that might suggest such phenomena are real can safely be dismissed. Who is right? Is parapsychology a real science at all? Or can psychic phenomena be tested in the laboratory? Mike will be attempting to define pseudoscience (which is surprisingly difficult), explaining what parapsychology is (including some of his own research), and asking whether the campaign for open science might provide a way forward.”
Mike is a doctoral researcher at the University of Northampton. He has worked for twenty years in senior management and research support roles at the Universities of Leeds, Manchester, and Manchester Metropolitan. He’s been a software engineer and a Maths teacher, and has served on the boards of local environmental charities. He’s lived in Ilkley since 2018 and hobbies include chess, playing keyboards, and walks in the countryside
Image
“Psychic” by Cane Kong is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.