Lecture: “Thomas Durand – Skepticism & Cognitive Biases”

Montpellier National School of Chemistry, Mousseron Lecture Hall, 240 Avenue du Professeur Émile Jeanbrau, 34090 Montpellier.

Zeteticism examines discourse in the fields of belief and pseudoscience in order to develop the intellectual tools needed to assess the validity of discourse in general.

The first step in skepticism is to become aware of our own biases, the blind spots in our reasoning, and the unintended consequences that result: the persistence of debunked beliefs. No one is immune to clinging to false beliefs, because certain beliefs turn our intelligence against us.
Fortunately, there are ways to limit the damage, identify situations where error is likely, suspend our judgment, and ask ourselves the right questions. This allows us to avoid falling into the traps set before us, but also to outwit the greatest manipulator of all: ourselves.

This conference is organized by ED GAIA and the Montpellier Geosciences Laboratory.

About Thomas Durand

A science communicator, host of *La Tronche en Biais*, and author of books on science and critical thinking (*The Irony of Evolution*, Seuil, 2018; *Do You Know Homeopathy?*, Editions Matériologiques, 2019; *When Do We Get It Wrong?*, Humenscience, 2019; Pyramidologie, 2021), and director of the Association for Science and the Transmission of Critical Thinking (ASTEC), Thomas Durand is also a novelist and playwright.

• Registration is free but required ; click here to register .