Can brain-parasites influence human culture on a global level?

A blogpost by Peter Harrison

The claim that parasitic organisms are influencing our culture may initially seem quite far-fetched, and the idea stems from the somewhat worrying claim that brain-parasites are able to control our behaviour. Could any of your actions really be influenced by a microscopic organism living in your brain? Could there be more to this than science fiction? Believe it or not, science says (probably) yes.

The parasite that we are focusing on is Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan species that has intrigued biologists and psychologists all over the world. Everything we know about this parasite is interesting, so deciding where to begin is a challenge. The best place to start is probably by explaining how wildly successful T.gondii really is. Specialised parasites are often very exciting to study as they have evolved incredible abilities, but many parasites become so specialised that they are only effective in a specific host species, or sometimes even a specific organ within a specific host. But T.gondii is able to use many warm-blooded animals as hosts. Another truly amazing thing worth mentioning is that

Some thoughts on Steve Fuller's "If you're pro-science, what are you pro?"

As you’re probably aware, Steve Fuller dropped by Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub last week to do his talk “If you’re pro-science, What should you be pro?”.  It was a lively and confrontational talk and is well worth a listen, it is available here in full.  Here are some thoughts from Birmingham Skeptics regular Tulpesh Patel on the talk.

Last Wednesday, Steve Fuller spoke to the Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub, asking the question ‘If you are pro-science, what are you pro?’. Unfortunately, I missed the first couple of minutes, but I’m glad I made it to the talk because he certainly made for an entertaining evening.

Despite the title, much of Steve’s talk was not actually about science, but rather about the definition of skepticism and why, with regards to everyone in the pub attending a SITP meeting, it was a misnomer.

Podcast - Steve Fuller at Birmingham Skeptics

The Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub Podcast is back, we took an extended vacation over Christmas, but we are back, and wow do we have a bit of a special for you. Instead of the usual interviews, we thought we would bring you an entire SitP talk by the excellent and controversial Professor Steve Fuller!

Here is the full blurb: "Professor Steve Fuller has never shied away from tackling controversial subjects. He is the author of many books that challenge the accepted interpretations and conventions of science and testified on behalf of the “Intelligent Design” protagonists in the Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District trial in 2005. In his book “Science, the Art of Living”, Fuller argues that science

Alpha Skeptic

A Blog Post by Patrick Redmond

A friend invited me to attend the Alpha Course talk he was giving. I’d originally met him after downloading a podcast of a sermon he’d given on why it was more logical to believe in God that not to. I’d sent him a three page response outlining what I thought of his arguments and why. He in turn asked me out for a beer. Damn, somebody must’ve tipped him off as to my weak spot. We met and had a surprisingly enjoyable evening of drink and argument.

Despite being what you might call a solid atheist I tend to avoid starting religious arguments with people that believe. There is often that uncomfortable point when the person tells you that it is only because of their faith that they got over some traumatic event in their life, that without God they would not be there now and that without their friends in the church they would be lost. For all that I believe it I find that saying something along the lines of “oh, but a rational outlook on life free from superstition can be

Humanist Heritage

Hamish MacPherson of www.humanistheritage.org.uk

We often hear how Britain has a Christian heritage. That is certainly true and whether we are Christian or not I think it's important to understand and appreciate that history. But we also have a long tradition of non-religious thinking.  Many people in the United Kingdom and Ireland have made great contributions - as humanists, freethinkers, sceptics and secularists - to the arts, science, philosophy and fighting for democracy, equality and freedom.

That is why I wanted to create http://www.humanistheritage.org.uk/ - a website for people to explore the vital contribution of those people to our collective heritage. Whether it’s mathematician Alan Turing who spent his genius working for Britain during the Second World War despite a lifetime of persecution, or novellist Joseph Conrad (who wrote “Scepticism is the tonic of mind, the tonic of life, the agent of truth. It is the way of art and salvation.)”

With the support of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and a number of knowledgeable volunteers we've tried to

Princess

A blog post by Tulpesh Patel

I started writing a review of “Princess”, a biography of a Saudi princess written by Jean Sasson, but, as the Lord does indeed move in mysterious ways, something happened at work very shortly after that prompted me to also turn this into a blog post.

First the book. Princess recounts the life of Saudi Princess, Sultana, from childhood in the 60s to her own motherhood in the 90s. It was lent to my wife by a friend, I casually started reading the blurb and found it so engrossing I was a couple of hundred pages in before I realised the time. This book is one of the most brutal things I’ve ever read and I can say with complete sincerity, unputdownable.
Sultana tells of ritual and absolute oppression by the men of the household and wider society. The men hold untold wealth and absolute power, able to deny or cover up their own offence or justify any/all behaviour as that sanctioned or encouraged by their faith or tradition. The women are denied education (save for reciting the Koran); forced

Fluence and the Machine

A blog post by James Cole aka @jdc325

At the recent talk by Andy Lewis at Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub, I saw a demonstration of an odd machine.

Here's a picture of Andy's magneto-electric therapy machine:

While looking for more information on this odd machine, I found