Skeptics "The Idiot Brain-What Your Head is up to"

Science & Technology enthusiasts from Basingstoke Cafe Sci are invited to another Reading Skeptics event at the RYND Bar and Kitchen at 11 Castle Street, Reading titled  "The Idiot Brain; What Your Head Is Really Up To".  

Admission is free but the organizers ask for a voluntary contribution of about £2. It can be very crowded, so it's advisable to get there early for the talk which will start at about 7:30pm.

Speaker: Dean Burnett

What's the talk about?

Dr Dean Burnett, author of the Guardian's hugely popular Brain Flapping science blog, returns to Reading SITP to talk about his new book The Idiot Brain, a surprising, funny and mind-bending examination of how and why the brain sabotages our behaviour.

Dean Burnett has spent nearly two decades studying the human brain, the most complex, mysterious object in the known universe. In the same way that flaws begin to show when you spend too much time with one person, over time Burnett has come to learn that the human brain can be quite unreliable.

The Idiot Brain explores the many ways in which the brain does things inefficiently, illogically or just plain stupidly, and how these regularly end up influencing our everyday lives and the world around us.

From attention mechanisms to memory processing, the neuroscience of sleep and the psychology of superstition, The Idiot Brain highlights all manner of ways in which the brain is flawed or shoddy, how these impact on our lives in countless ways, and how it’s OK to laugh at all this regardless.

Reading Skeptics in the Pub are about "Thinking and drinking, humour and debate.  Monthly talks and challenging discussions for people interested in science, skepticism, rationalism and critical thinking." 

They organise talks, often given by scientists, followed by questions from the audience and discussion in the second half.  You don't need to be a scientist or expert in the subject to enjoy the evening, everyone is welcome to ask a question or make a comment.