UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies

Title: Why clever people can believe in dumb things and how the internet is making us stupider

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the seminar series so we'll be planning some special events and big speakers throughout the session.

Our first seminar of this academic session will be slightly earlier than usual, on Wednesday 17th October. We are very pleased to have as our speaker Craig Cormick (Australian Department of Innovation).

Abstract: Yes Virginia, clever people do believe in stupid things. And you can largely blame it all on evolution. Dr Craig Cormick from the Australian Government's Department of Innovation provides a scientific analysis of non-scientific beliefs, and looks at what drives people's beliefs into not just the paranormal and UFOs, but also infant vaccination and GM crops, showing how our brain functions can favour emotion and beliefs over evidence-based data. He will also look at the changing role our use of the internet has in supporting values-based beliefs over seeking data to form opinions.

The London PUS seminar is an interdisciplinary intercollegiate seminar concerned with the broad range of topics that fall under the headings of public understanding of science, public engagement with science, science communication, and science-in-society.  It has been run jointly between LSE and UCL since 1993 and is open to all. Our participants predominantly come from a wide range of academic disciplines, and the science policy and science communication/public engagement communities. It is currently supported by the Public Understanding of Science journal published by SAGE and the Department of Science and Technology Studies, UCL.

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