Caption. Time for “a drink and a think”:  Dr James Meyer and Skeptics In The Pub Convenor Amelia Willmer get set to start the event.

Armidale’s Skeptics In The Pub attracted its biggest ever audience this week, with eighty-eight people packed into The Sports Bar at the Railway Hotel to enjoy the presentation by respected local GP, Dr James Meyer.

Organisers scrambled to fetch extra chairs from the front of the pub.

Dr Meyer’s topic, “So You Think You’re an Expert?”  Skeptical Critical Thinking Vs. Cynical Anti-Intellectualism, was delivered with humour and insight and covered a wide range of ideas, information, and wise advice – such as “pay for good journalism” and “don’t wear jeans to go skiing!”.

He lamented that we live in a Post-Truth era exacerbated by social media where facts and truthfulness take second place to emotions and feelings.

He said social media sites are good for pictures of babies and cats but cited the Dunning-Kruger effect where it causes people to overestimate their abilities. Using social media, they receive a big dopamine hit. This “feel good” factor creates over-confidence in their expertise and their knowledge of a subject.

He warned that misinformation spread by Influencers on social media is often dangerous and has created a “a public health and mental health issue”.

Armidale’s Skeptics In The Pub was launched in April with the monthly meetings attracting up to 75 people.

This week’s attendance was a record for the skeptical movement in Australia, according to Australian Skeptics Inc Executive Officer (and Editor of the Skeptics Magazine), Tim Mendham.