Lancashire Science Festival 2015. Ian Turner’s The Science of Star Wars – The Light Side. Introduction. The University of Central Lancashire @docwiththesocs @CarriganGlen #LSF2015
Dilemmas, Decisions, and Brain Function.
Participants needed to take part in a decision making and brain scanning study.
You will be asked to answer written problems, whilst seated in front of a computer screen and having your brain function and emotional arousal monitored. You will also be asked to answer a short personality questionnaire. This will take approximately 1 hour. Participants must be comfortable with English language and be free from known reading / language problems in order to participate.
Contact Glen Carrigan to book a laboratory slot: GACarrigan1@uclan.ac.uk. When emailing, please indicate which times would be most convenient for you between the dates of the 18th and 27th of August if you have a preference.
The laboratory is located in Darwin Building at The University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. We can arrange to meet you at the building or elsewhere on campus if needed, please make us aware of any access issues you may have ahead of time.
Ethical Approval: PSYSOC 159_2nd Phase
Campus Map
The Big Questions Round-Up: Glen Carrigan and Phil Ashburn
The Four Godless Gs of the Apocalypse
We’re back on The Big Questions tomorrow at 1000 for perhaps one of the most important issues of our time – Human Rights.
Last Sunday, Phil Asburn from the AHS Society at UCLan and myself appeared on The BBC’s The Big Questions to discuss some very big questions indeed: Should religion stay out of politics; Is the death penalty ever justified; Should Sex and Relationship Education be Secular? The episode culminated in nothing less than Godless Spell Checker shouting “Dogma” and me being rather polite to a bishop… sort of! Watch the show aired on 03.05.15 here.
One viewer even pointed out that a few of us were the 4 Godless Gs of the Apocalypse, perhaps a good omen for reason? We’d prefer to call it non-divine intervention though.
Tune in on Sunday when Andrew Copson, Maryam Namazie, Peter Tatchell and others discuss the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Religious Rights. Iram Ramzan, Lejla Kurić Godless Spell Checker (Stephen), Phil Ashburn and I are also there!
Also, look forward to our podcast rounding up the two episodes on Monday 11th with Phil Asburn. Iram Ramzan, Lejla Kurić.
Follow us at: @CarriganGlen and @PhilAshburn
@bbcbigquestions #BBCTBQ
Not Happy About The Election? Do Something About It!
So the Tories won, if you’re pissed off about this you have a right to be, I am, but if you’re annoyed and have never lifted a finger to improve the world, then perhaps it’s time to start. Believe me you can make a difference! And even if you feel a bit blue (sorry, but I had to) there are some silver linings: Nigel Farage lost, and George Galloway has finally been given the boot!
A Blue Day For The UK
Remember, we can engage in democracy all year round, and perhaps we should actively do so. Having an idea, meeting people, making new friends and creating a plan is how it all starts. I recently heard a friend when asked “what can we do?” about a particular topic answer: “Get up from your armchair and actually do something.” This was at a conference concerned with Free Thought all over the world, and he was right! Read the rest of this entry
AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER
HOW TO COMMEMORATE A HUMANIST ICON
Original Article: http://ahsstudents.org.uk
Upon hearing about the death of Sir Terry Pratchett I felt the world had lost one of its great minds. I’m a huge Pratchett fan: having read his books since I was a small child, I always found them interesting and sort of knew they were funny, but it took getting a little older and wiser to understand why they were so amusing sometimes. Terry’s humour was clever like that. I also had the privilege to attend the British Humanist Association’s (BHA) conference in Leeds where Terry received the Humanist of the year award in 2013.
When I heard the news I thought, “What better way to send Terry off than to show that humanists can do death too?” After all: “DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING” said Death. “JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.” It occurred to me that this would be an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the good life of a great man. A man who has left behind not only a wealth of literary works and a rich universe containing the Discworld – precariously perched on the back of four elephants, who themselves stand on the back of Great A’Tuin the turtle – that we can all inhabit simply by turning the pages of his books, but also a legacy in ethical and compassionate charitable and social efforts including supporting assisted dying, and raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease.
UCLan to pay tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett
Original Article by Lyndsey Boardman
Students and staff from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) are inviting people to join them as they pay tribute to the late author Sir Terry Pratchett.
Following the death of the award-winning author last week, several UCLan student societies have teamed up with Alzheimer’s Research UK to host an event on Thursday 19 March to celebrate the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett.
Event organiser Glen Carrigan, who is a Masters by Research Student in UCLan’s School of Psychology, will share a reading from Sir Terry’s 2013 humanist of the year acceptance speech which will be followed by the screening of two films; Terry Pratchett:Shaking Hands with Death and The Colour of Magic.
Glen commented: “Sir Terry Pratchett was a fantastic and unique individual, talented and conscientious, as well as a beloved patron of humanism.“He leaves behind not only a wealth of literary works that many of us have enjoyed from childhood through to this present day, but also a legacy in ethical and compassionate charitable and social efforts including supporting assisted dying, and raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease.This event will celebrate the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett as we hope he would have wanted it; with humour, reflection and a feeling of only slight embuggerance.”
The event will take place in UCLan’s Darwin Building Lecture Theatre from 6pm – 8pm. It is free to attend but the organisers welcome donations to Alzheimer’s Research UK. People can book via EventbriteFor more information contact Glen on GACarrigan1@uclan.ac.uk or call 01772 893775. The tribute evening will be run in association with the British Humanist Association, the UCLan Students’ Union Atheist, Humanist, and Secularist Societies and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Call for political action to Free Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu Al-Khair
Many activists including myself have signed this statement (and it isn’t the first time we’ve done so) condemning the treatment of Raif Badawi who is being imprisoned, lashed, and may even be executed for merely founding a website (Free Saudi Liberals), being critical of the regime, and “insulting Islam.” Condemnation of violence and atrocities is never enough. We need to put pressure on our government to take action against Saudi Arabia.
As a member of this electorate, our voices are more effective when we speak together, so if you sympathise with the plight of Raif – as well as many others who are the victims of systemic religious prejudice throughout the world, such as bloggers in Bangladesh – then please put pressure on your local MP to back this statement.
Theocratic nations like Saudi Arabia with its regressive religiously inspired penal code might not care what we think, but that’s only because no consequences for their actions are forthcoming. WE can be the motivators for such action and help to end these practices:
Call for political action to Free Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu Al-Khair.
Charlie Hebdo and Blasphemy: Pick Up Your Pen, Not Your Sword
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo tragedy, January 7, 2015 in Paris, many opinions abound, and it becomes difficult to offer any unique insight of one’s own without being drowned out, or indeed, wondering if you should offer anything at all.
Opinions range from outright disgust and condemnation to stating that the cartoonists deserved it. But there also exists a slightly more insidious view: that of condemning the killers and also condemning the cartoons. I have no doubt that people who say something along the lines of “While I condemn the killing, nobody should insult the Prophet” think they’re protecting all Muslims and their sensibilities. They’re also justifiably protecting themselves from reprisals. But perhaps this view deserves scrutiny in itself, and Tehmina Kazi does an excellent job of simply explaining some of the misconceptions that create such a position.
I would urge us, if we haven’t already, to think before acting, and to consider whether protecting rotten behavioural yardsticks such as blasphemy, even with the best of intentions, is the right thing to do. After all, lampooning religion isn’t done to upset the religious, but to challenge bad ideas.
Continue Reading this article at Atheist Republic.
Extended Materials
Nonreligious Ex-Soldier Denied Chance to Lay Remembrance Sunday Wreath
I was once asked by the Stockport Humanists if I could present a wreath at the official Remembrance civic ceremony. I was extremely happy to help and also honoured to be asked to take part in a day that has particular importance to me and all other serving and non-serving military personnel past and present. Imagine my surprise to be contacted a little later and told that I was not allowed to lay a wreath as an official part of the ceremony to pay my respects. Certain individuals and organisations including The Rt Revd Robert Atwell have the opinion that “we remain clear that this is a religious ceremony and wish it to continue as such” (Jan 14th 2013). This is also particularly galling when bolstered in a recent telephone conversation by the words of one local Councillor who exclaims that there was “no stomach” to take on the church.
Continue reading this article at Atheist Republic.
Grateful to have recieved a response from Mark Hendrick MP with regards to this article.
UK Law Society Withdraws Practice Note on Sharia Succession
“The UK Law Society has rescinded its practice note relating to the drawing up of Sharia compliant wills. Such wills stated that “illegitimate and adopted children are not Sharia heirs. … The male heirs in most cases receive double the amount inherited by a female heir. … Non-Muslims may not inherit at all. … a divorced spouse is no longer a Sharia heir. …” This has been welcomed by many as the UK’s legal sector finally making a statement against the practicing of Sharia in Britain.
The campaign against the guidance included groups such as South Hall Black Sisters, One Law for All, and equality and social justice campaigners across a diverse scope of representation, from LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell to feminist comedienne Kate Smurthwaite”
Continue reading this article at Atheist Republic
Glen Carrigan - Homoscientificus 
