Home » An “Illusions Shattering” Conference to Disprove Ghosts?

An “Illusions Shattering” Conference to Disprove Ghosts?

I was scouring Google news for new articles to write about and I came upon this press release. It seems to be a British conference being held in January with the intention of disproving (or at the very least, questioning) a lot of what current paranormal teams/investigators assume to be true. I am both insanely curious and ridiculously excited to hear how this goes…

Introduced by Dr Stephen Law, editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s journal Think: Philosophy For Everyone and Provost of Centre for Inquiry UK, the day will prove to be a thought-provoking event for a wide audience. Speakers include Dr Chris French, Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths University of London;  best-selling author Richard Wiseman; Ian Rowland, the writer and entertainer who taught Derren Brown to read fortunes; professional trickster Paul Zenon; and ghost-hunter Hayley Stevens.

Stephen Law, Provost of Centre for Inquiry UK, commented, ‘the day will dispel a number of urban myths associated with the paranormal and provide many interesting insights into the scams and tricks used by some performers claiming paranormal abilities. With world-renowned speakers who will provide a colourful ‘inside look’ at a multimillion pound industry, the day will leave everyone questioning much more than just what they see in front of them.’

After reading this I had to check out the link to the conference registration, which gave an entire run down of the agenda. And, not gonna lie, I wish I could go when I see things like this listed:

2.00 – RICHARD WISEMAN – Parnormality

Richard Wiseman is the Professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He has been active in the skeptical movement for many a year, does Twitter stuff, has recently written ‘Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there’, and likes dogs.

Do ghosts really exist?  What actually happens at seances?  How do you go about testing mediums?  Why do these sorts of paragraphs often involve a long list of questions?  All of this and more will be revealed in an exciting talk that will dig deep into the psychology of belief. Free packet of peanuts for the best question.