Related to Brainwashed! A Cult Survivor's Tale

1. 

   Widening the View: Looking at the limits of Human Perception

   After the success of his SiTP talk, the award-winning "You know less than you think", Paul Hopwood is back for the sequel! Based around his Cognitive Psychology studies, the first talk focussed on the different stages of information processing in the human brain. By looking at research into the brain's ability to acquire, store, retrieve and use information; the talk highlighted that humans have a tendency to severely overestimate their ability to perform these tasks.

2. 

   Oi! Scientology!

   John Sweeney is 'psychotic, a bigot and a liar', and also the reporter who made the BBC Panorama programmes about the Church of Scientology.

3. 

   How Do People Lose Religion?

   Millions of people have lost religion in the western world since the 1960. How does this happen? At what ages? What are the triggers? Is there a difference between men and women? Professor Callum Brown draws on the accounts of those he has interviewed in North America and Britain.

4. 

   Going Soul-o: Lessons from an Atheist's time at Christian Camp

   Alex Gabriel, former chair of Oxford Atheist Society, recently attended Soul Survivor - the largest evangelical Christian festival for young people in the UK. In this talk, he discusses his experiences at the event.

5. 

   Neuroscience for the Soul

   Dr. Craig Aaen-Stockdale (Optometry, Bradford) will give an introduction to the field of neurotheology, which attempts to relate religious behaviour and experience to the workings of the brain. He will review the current literature and give his own thoughts on what, if anything, this tells us.

6. 

   Neuroscience for the Soul

   Dr. Craig Aaen Stockdale (Optometry, Bradford) will give an introduction to the field of neurotheology, which attempts to relate religious behaviour and experience to the workings of the brain. He will review the current literature and give his own thoughts on what, if anything, this tells us.

7. 

   Inside the Evangelists' Lair

   In 2006, Chris Worfolk founded Leeds Atheist Society while studying at the University of Leeds. During his time running the society, he had a great deal of interaction with the other faith societies on campus.

8. 

   Why do People do Weird Things?

   Human behaviour often appears to be maladaptive, pointless, ineffective for its expressed purpose, and even completely absurd. In this talk Michael Heap will examine, with the aid of demonstrations and videos, some examples of odd behaviour that is based on unusual and paranormal ideas and beliefs. These will include healing practices, dowsing, hypnosis, and communication with "the spirit world."