It’s early January. That time when other people’s New Year’s resolutions mean that you get lots of emails. About really important stuff that you simply must deal with, like, immediately. These folks need a reply because they only have stamina for a few days’ frantic emailing. After the New Year energy burst, they lose all energy and then you don’t hear from them again until next year. It’s like the Monarch Butterfly migration — all flapping and fluttering and in-your-face attention-grabbing and suddenly…well suddenly it’s all over and off they disappear for another twelve months.
This year I avoided posting about science at Christmas or reviewing what amazing science-related things happened in the year gone by. Daringly, I felt compelled to ignore the clichés. (That, and I was busy, trying to finish a book no less (more on which coming soon…)).
So in tidy-up mode I was going to post something about a forthcoming public talk. But before I did that I felt it would be good etiquette to post the slides from my last public talk, from Science Week back in November. So here they are:
Like the Pony Express, I always deliver.
Happy New you-know-what!

Brian Hughes is an academic psychologist and university professor in Galway, Ireland, specialising in stress, health, and the application of psychology to social issues. He writes widely on the psychology of empiricism and of empirically disputable claims, especially as they pertain to science, health, medicine, and politics.