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In this episode, Dr. Peter Dalmaris and Marcus Schappi talk with Tim Mendham.
Tim is a Freelance journalist, editor, and executive officer for Australian Skeptics Inc.
In 2000, he was a joint winner of the Australian Business Publishers “Bell” Award for Best Analytical Writing of the Year. In 2006 Fast Thinking was named Best B2B publication in the same awards.
He has written extensively on IT, technology, R&D, business finance, management, and marketing issues. During his career he has edited a number of publications, including Lab News, a technical journal for the R&D community; CFO, the then premier professional magazine for senior finance executives; Fast Thinking, a quarterly publication devoted to innovation issues; and most recently CIO, Australia’s leading magazine for senior IT management.
In this interview, Tim talks about skepticism, critical thinking and how we can help our students and children develop life skills that will help them navigate their way through a confusing and often deceiving world.
This is Stemiverse Podcast episode 33.
Stemiverse podcast is brought to you by Tech Explorations, a leading provider of educational resources for Makers, STEM students, and teachers. Go to techexplorations.com to see a complete list of our books and courses covering the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and electronics.
Show Notes
- [spp-timestamp time=”00:00″] Introduction – Introducing Tim Mendham
- [spp-timestamp time=”03:03″] Tim talks about his background in journalism as Editor of Skeptics magazine and as an English & History teacher
- [spp-timestamp time=”04:23″] What is Critical Thinking?
- [spp-timestamp time=”07:44″] As a society do we do more or less critical thinking?
- [spp-timestamp time=”09:34″] Methods skeptics apply to everyday situations, especially high-stakes situations and how to become like a Vulcan!
- [spp-timestamp time=”13:46″] Darwin Awards
- [spp-timestamp time=”14:49″] How to raise more sceptical people: Scientific investigation
- [spp-timestamp time=”19:11″] Is being a skeptic a core skill necessary to survive present and future situations?
- [spp-timestamp time=”22:47″] What is something that the society has investigated that Tim thought was quite improbable but turned out to be true?
- [spp-timestamp time=”23:57″] “But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” ― Carl Sagan, Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
- [spp-timestamp time=”24:54″] Extraordinary claims need to be tested
- [spp-timestamp time=”30:21″] Advice to a young person who wants to know how to detect highly-unlikely-to-be-true claims effectively
- [spp-timestamp time=”35:37″] The Santa Claus test and assessing improbable claims
- [spp-timestamp time=”36:35″] Is too much skepticism taking the fun out of life?
- [spp-timestamp time=”37:03″] Quantum mechanics and pseudoscience
- [spp-timestamp time=”38:55″] A sceptic is like a detective
- [spp-timestamp time=”39:51″] Should teachers try to apply skeptical principles in their day-to-day teaching and how to do that?
- [spp-timestamp time=”41:59″] What do you do when you can’t test something in a school environment?
- [spp-timestamp time=”42:40″] The Skeptic’s position regarding teaching creationism in science classes
- [spp-timestamp time=”45:27″] What is creationism?
- [spp-timestamp time=”48:37″] Regarding the anti-vaccination propaganda
- [spp-timestamp time=”49:01″] Does a deep understanding of science make us better people?
- [spp-timestamp time=”50:34″] Ethics as a way of distinguishing between what is right and what is wrong especially in a social environment
- [spp-timestamp time=”52:07″] Upcoming Skeptics magazine vol 38 no 1, March 2018: Philosophy
- [spp-timestamp time=”54:28″] Rapid Fire Questions
- [spp-timestamp time=”54:36″] Recommended Books: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, Flim-Flam!, by James Randi, Science: Good Bad, and Bogus, by Martin Gardner, Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre, Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine, by Simon Singh, Edzard Ernst
- [spp-timestamp time=”55:31″] Advice to teachers that want to apply critical thinking in their class
- [spp-timestamp time=”57:07″] How can teachers be a part of Australian Skeptics/Skeptics in the Pu