Come to the Center for Inquiry, 216 Beverley Street at College, just south of the University of Toronto, in the heart of downtown.
In honour of Barry Beyerstein (1947-2007), author, Professor of Psychology at Simon Frasier University, Chair of the Society of B.C. Skeptics and Fellow of the CFI Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly CSICOP).
- FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER DINNER $5 (FREE for Friends of the Centre) Thurs, July 12, 7pm
Featuring screening & debunking of the paranormal-plugging What the Bleep do We Know? with physics PhD candidate Edward Ackad. - SUPERSTITION BASH, Friday, July 13
Featuring a full day of activities, including a presentation by world famous skeptical investigator Joe Nickell at 6pm and a haunted walk at 8:30pm
$5 (Joe Nickell talk), $15 (Full Day, with haunted walk) - $10 full day for Friends of the Centre.
FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER DINNER–Thurs, July 12
Come have all the spaghetti and salad you can eat in honor of his noodly goodness. Afterwards we will be showing some great films and documentaries that will be bound to spark a great conversation.Film: What the Bleep do we Know??
SUMMARY (from what the bleep.com):WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW?! is a new type of film. It is part documentary, part story, and part elaborate and inspiring visual effects and animations. The protagonist, Amanda, played by Marlee Matlin, finds herself in a fantastic Alice in Wonderland experience when her daily, uninspired life literally begins to unravel, revealing the uncertain world of the quantum field hidden behind what we consider to be our normal, waking reality…The chorus members act as hosts who live outside of the story, and from this Olympian view, comment on the actions of the characters below. They are also there to introduce the Great Questions framed by both science and religion, which divides the film into a series of acts. Through the course of the film, the distinction between science and religion becomes increasingly blurred, since we realize that, in essence, both science and religion describe the same phenomena.THE FRIDAY, JULY 13TH SUPERSTITION BASH
- Featuring our "in house" physics Ph.D candidate Eddie Ackad to critically examine the documentary.
A day long event, featuring 3 components
- The morning (9:00am - 12:30pm), with a Superstition obstacle course and related activities designed for children aged 7-9.
- The afternoon (2:00pm - 5:00pm), with similar interactive activities designed for an older audience.
- The evening (5:00pm - 9:30pm), with presentations and a haunted walk!
- 9:00am: Introductions
- 9:15 – 10:15: Superstition Obstacle Course - 13 stations with interactive activities and educational information
- 10:15am – 10:45am: Jeopardy-style trivia game
- 10:45 – 11:00 minutes “Failed prediction listing” and snack
- 11:00 Р11:30: Fake s̩ance (sceptics)
- 11:30 – 12:00: "Magic for sceptics", with Jennie Fiddes (see info below on this program)
- 12:00: Concluding Mirror smash, featuring Joe Nickell
Similar activities as above, but with the following additional activities:
- "Misfortune" telling
- Homeopathic beer chugging contest
- Voodoo Doll activity
- Open mike setting for people to tell their own superstitions and ghost stories and for debunking opportunities
- Evening Presentations and Events (5:00pm - 9:30pm)
- 5:00pm - 6:00pm: "Superstitions: A Critical Look" - presentation by Justin Trottier
- 6:00pm - 7:30pm: "Investigating Paranormal Claims" with Joe Nickell (see info below)
- 8:30pm: University of Toronto haunted walk, with Muddy York Walking Tours, the longest running haunted walk group in Toronto
Cost
The cost for participating in the July 13 Superstition Bash, which includes all activities, is $15. The cost for Dr. Nickell's talk only is $5. Friends of the Centre get in to all activities for $10
SPECIAL OFFER: Join now as a CFI Friend of the Centre and get into all two day Summer Skeptics Bash activities entirely free of charge!
Contact Information: Email: justin.trottier@gmail.com Phone: 416-971-5676
"Magic for Skeptics", with Jennie Fiddes
Jennie Fiddes is a recent graduate of U of T, earning a BA in Anthropology and Archaeology. She is currently employed as a field archaeologist in the GTA and is an amateur close-up magician. She recently completed an undergraduate thesis project on magic and magician culture in Toronto and is interested in all things magic related.
Jennie will be discussing why magic appeals to people and how this can be both entertaining and dangerous. By demonstrating a few tricks, she will take you through different styles of magic and show the effects they can have on the average thinker and how people can be readily fooled and the impact this can have on their emotions.
"Investigating Paranormal Claims", with Joe Nickell
As a highlight of the event, we are proud to present the world famous Dr. Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and investigative columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. A former professional stage magician and private investigator for a world-famous detective agency, Dr. Nickell utilizes his varied background as an investigator of myths and mysteries, frauds, forgeries, and hoaxes. He has been called "the modern Sherlock Holmes," "the original ghost buster," and "the real-life Scully”. He has investigated scores of haunted-house cases, including the Amityville Horror and the Mackenzie House in Toronto, Canada.The Obstacle Course
Dr. Nickell will be discussing his long history of skeptical inquiry including investigating superstitious claims, alien encounters, haunting, and the like. Dr. Nickell stories always entertain.
Thirteen interactive superstition stations will be setup for your enjoyment and educational enrichment:
- Station 1: The Ladder
- Station 2: Lucky Charms
- Station 3: Mirrors
- Station 4: Horseshoes
- Station 5: Black Cats
- Station 6: Cracks
- Station 7: Touch Wood
- Station 8: Four-Leaf Clover
- Station 9: Split Milk
- Station 10: The Salt Bowl
- Station 11: Pennies
- Station 12: Umbrellas
- Station 13: Hats
Yikes. They would have to pay for my flight to Toronto and my room and give me free admission in order to get me to sit through "What the bleep do we know" again. That was an awful movie -- quantum idiocy, "you create your own reality", and incoherent film making, all at once.
ReplyDeleteI like how they worked in the number thirteen (which I thought they had otherwise missed) into their number of stations.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watching What the Bleep yet. I'm a little afraid to do so, since it seems like there's likely to be a big chunk of quantum woo in it. Then again, I ought to take the Jason Rosenhouse approach of suffering through it so I can tear it to shreds ;)
I am steadfastly opposed to the "human consciousness required" version of quantum reality - in particular since decoherence is a phenomenon that can be investigated, and human consciousness is an emergent, not a primary, phenomenon. Also, it's an approach that prevents us from asking the right questions that could give us some real progress on understanding quantum processes.
I am pretty envious of all the activities going on after that. I mean, it may not be Randi's Amazing Meeting, but it sounds like a lot of fun, and I haven't seen anything like that pop up here in the prairies at all.
Maybe I'll go spill some salt now in protest, or something equally inefficaceous :)
I'd dismissed the notion of ever seeing 'What the @#$%' (as I have commented elsewhere, I find a certain delicious hypocrisy in the fact that they're too delicate to actually put the word 'fuck' or 'hell', or whatever it was supposed to be on their DVD cover, but they're quite okay with spewing utter bullshit for the length of a feature film) purely on the bases that (i) I spotted a really embarrassing bit of 'oh yes I must have one of those' marketing in a video store by one of the film's adherent/promoters, and (ii) geez, man, it's got that 'Ramtha' schmuck in it.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow. Have fun. I'd love to go to the bash, but I guess it ain't gonna happen (Shuffles morosely back to grindstone).