Complete links to my TAM London 2010 posts

TAM London — day one summary

TAM London — day two summary

How relevant to skepticism was TAM London 2010?

Sue Blackmore at TAM London 2010

Richard Dawkins at TAM London 2010

Cory Doctorow at TAM London 2010

Adam Rutherford at TAM London 2010

Andy Nyman at TAM London 2010

Karen James at TAM London 2010 

Paula Kirby at TAM London 2010

Skeptical Activism panel at TAM London 2010 

James Randi at TAM London 2010

Marcus chown at TAM London 2010 

D. J. Grothe at TAM London 2010

Technology and New Media panel — TAM London 2010 

Melinda Gebbie at TAM London 2010

Graham Linehan at TAM London 2010 (plus Fry and Minchin on video) 

P. Z. Myers at TAM London 2010

Alan Moore at TAM London 2010

Alan Moore at TAM London 2010

I'm not a fan of comic books. Not that I have anything against graphic novels as such — it's just that I never really got into them. I've read Watchmen, seen the film, and enjoyed both, despite a certain ambivalence towards the superhero genre. I also have a couple of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series which I've yet to get to.

I didn't know what to expect of Alan Moore, though I was aware he is revered by many. I have to admit that the twenty-minute poem he proceeded to read to us on Sunday afternoon at TAM London 2010 left me cold. Maybe if I'd been more attuned to his oeuvre, or even his voice, I would have got something out of it. (I should point out that for me poetry in general is a bit of a blind spot, so I'm not qualified to assess its worth, and my comments in this regard are probably worthless.)




After the poem we were back to the discussion format, with Alan Moore in conversation with Neil Denny and Josie Long. My overall impression was of an expectation that the audience would be at least partially familiar with the subjects discussed, which I was not.

But you win some, you lose some. I know that there were people attending TAM London for whom Alan Moore's appearance was the highlight of the weekend. Alas, I'm not one of them.

The 2010 TAM London was a different animal from its predecessor. I've already mentioned the preponderance of discussion panels — a format that's fine in moderation (excuse the pun), but I would have preferred fewer of them and more of the structured talk format. I also noticed a shift towards an atheistic emphasis. This isn't something I'm against, because it fits with my own skepticism, of which my atheism is merely a subset. I suspect, however, that there will be some who feel that skepticism should not necessarily imply or assume atheism.

On the whole TAM London 2010 was highly successful and I'm glad I went. I look forward to the DVDs and to the announcement of the speaker line-up for TAM London 2011. And I'll finish with a couple of shots of the man himself wrapping up the weekend:

P. Z. Myers at TAM London 2010

For many attendees of TAM London 2010 the appearance of "godless liberal" P. Z. Myers would have been one of the anticipated highlights of the weekend. For those who had not previously heard him speak (on podcasts or via YouTube), his relatively mild manner would have been at odds with the surgical invective of his well-trafficked blog Pharyngula. He may have a reputation as the world's most aggressive atheist, but in person he is calm and reasonable. The media tend to focus on specific actions of his that they deem incendiary (the episode known as Crackergate is an example), but they usually — and wilfully — miss the point he's making. (Read his Pharyngula post on the culmination of Crackergate to see an example of such a point.)

We now know that P. Z. is writing a book, and those of us who consider ourselves his fans are eagerly awaiting its publication. His TAM talk was a rallying call to all atheists: he advocates ridicule appropriate to ridiculous beliefs, followed by constructive criticism — purposeful (rather than gratuitous) obnoxiousness.

Graham Linehan at TAM London 2010 (plus Fry and Minchin on video)

Richard Wiseman introduced the last thing before lunch on Sunday: a video conversation between Tim Minchin and Stephen Fry. This was interesting, if fairly relaxed and rambling, and was a substitute for Stephen Fry appearing in person as billed (though his appearance had always been "commitments permitting"). The discussion was philosophical, and — because it was Stephen Fry — also philological.

After lunch Graham Linehan joined Jon Ronson (who was making yet another unscheduled appearance) on stage for a discussion ranging from Linehan's TV writing work (among them Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd), to his use of Twitter and other internet social media.

There were quite a few of these on-stage discussions and panels at TAM London 2010. Frankly I could have done with fewer of them. Too often the discussion format seems to allow the person scheduled not to prepare anything, and unless the "interviewer" is extremely skilled in the chat-show format the whole thing can become a bit unfocussed.

Melinda Gebbie at TAM London 2010

After her skilful moderation of the Technology and New Media panel, Rebecca Watson was on stage again in discussion with writer and artist Melinda Gebbie, who talked about her collaboration with Alan Moore in the production of erotic comic-book Lost Girls. One might reasonably ask what a discussion about an erotic comic-book has to do with skepticism, but there were issues of free speech and censorship involved, so it was as relevant as one wanted it to be. (For a discussion of TAM London's skeptical relevance in general, including an approximate way to quantify it, see my blogpost of 19 October 2010, plus the ensuing comments.)

Technology and New Media panel — TAM London 2010

The first panel of the second day of TAM London 2010 was a discussion between TV reporter Kate Russell, writer Gia Milinovich, blogger and journalist Martin Robbins (aka the Lay Scientist), and Little Atoms host Neil Denny. The panel was expertly moderated by Skepchick Rebecca Watson.

Technology and new media don't have special relevance exclusive to skepticism — they're relevant to everyone who interacts with others in the modern world, and for that reason they're worth discussing at an event such as TAM London. Subjects covered (in a fairly roundabout manner) included social media, podcasting and interaction with media consumers. If there was a single thread, it was that the new media are much more responsive than old media — instantaneous in some cases. As if to demonstrate this an impromptu competition on Twitter, instigated from the audience, decided the most significant feature of one of the panellists. It may have been frivolous, but its spontaneity perfectly illustrated the main thrust of the discussion.

D. J. Grothe at TAM London 2010

JREF president D. J. Grothe's talk at TAM London 2010 was a bit like a State of the Union address, focussing on the moral imperatives of skepticism (briefly referencing Sam Harris's new book just published) and on how he sees the skeptical movement in general, both globally and locally. As for locally, he announced that the fund-raising of TAM London would be channelled to JREF projects in the UK, and mentioned the grass-roots, loosely affiliated Skeptics in the Pub gatherings that seem to be burgeoning nationwide. Some of these appear to be a direct result of unofficial arrangements made at TAM London itself.



I was looking forward to hearing the new JREF president, and DJ's rallying cry to "the troops" didn't disappoint.

Marcus chown at TAM London 2010

Into the second day of TAM London with Marcus Chown and his Ten Bonkers Things About The Universe:

Among these bonkers things were the fact that the entire human race would fit in the volume of a sugar cube; if the sun were made of bananas it would be equally hot; 98% of the universe is invisible; and you age more slowly on the ground floor of a building than on the top floor.

Marcus went through his ten items at some speed, perhaps mindful of the necessity of engaging his audience on a Sunday morning after a possibly late night, and he therefore didn't go into much detail. Probably he could have done a complete presentation on each item. He paced the stage rather than standing at the lectern, and his slides were varied — though naturally had a cosmological emphasis. He book-ended his talk with audio-visuals that included music from Elton John and David Bowie. This was a good start to the second day.