Fellow skeptics,

I trust that you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to 2021.

As discussed late last year, Canberra Skeptics was planning to restart the Skeptics in the Pub. I am delighted to say that the first one has been announced and will be held on Sunday, 31 January, at King O’Malley’s Irish Pub. The start time is 2pm and further details can be found here – https://www.meetup.com/SocialSkepticsCanberra/events/275422014/.

The SiTP is a great way to relax and talk with your fellow skeptics over a beverage or two.

The monthly talks will resume in February. Unfortunately, COVID-19 venue restrictions have made it difficult to get a venue. Consequently, the talks will continue to take place over Zoom for the foreseeable future. The details of the February talk are presented below.

Overview of RAND’s Truth Decay initiative

Date: Monday, 15 February 2021

Time: 6:00 to 7:00pm

Speaker: Dr Carl Rhodes

Register via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h1VgY2vFQ362KbMHzTL8bQ

Over the past two decades, national political and civil discourse in the United States has been characterized by “Truth Decay,” defined as a set of four interrelated trends: an increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact; and lowered trust in formerly respected sources of factual information. The causes and consequences of Truth Decay will be examined along with past eras of U.S. history to identify evidence of Truth Decay’s four trends and observe similarities with and differences from the current period.

Carl will provide an overview of Jennifer Kavanaugh’s and Michael Rich’s 2018 report defining and examining Truth Decay and provide information about continuing work on the topic.

Carl Rhodes is director of RAND Australia. In this role, he identifies policy research opportunities for Australian clients at the commonwealth and state levels, delivers and disseminates high quality research and analysis on Australian policy issues, and leads the RAND Australia office in Canberra. During his tenure at RAND, Carl has also performed work for U.S. clients including the Air Force, Army, Joint Staff, and Joint Forces Command. He participated and led recent efforts examining intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; the employment and modernization of unmanned aircraft systems and nuclear force modernization. Carl received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Questions can be sent via Zoom or emailed to canberraskeptics@gmail.com.

Canberra Skeptics Inc. is a non-profit association incorporated in the Australian Capital Territory for the purpose of promoting critical thinking. For further information about Canberra Skeptics, please visit our website: http://www.canberraskeptics.org

Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CanberraSkeptics/
Twitter: @cbrskeptics

Event announcements: 
Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/SocialSkepticsCanberra/
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/canberra-skeptics-18628458762

Canberra Skeptics looks forward to seeing you at all our upcoming events.

Stay Skeptical,

Kevin Davies

President – Canberra Skeptics’