The Great Richard Wiseman

Well, I'm surprised. Went to Richard Wiseman's "How to be Great" yesterday evening in Winchester. The second half was about sleep research, and he promised the best night's sleep for the audience that night.

Got back home after midnight (after a curry with friends), and followed just a couple of the points he mentioned in his talk. Results: woke up once during the night, and then slept through till morning (no alarm), knowing that I'd slept well, even if only five and a half hours. And so far I've not even opened his book (signed, of course).

After my disappointment with the Dream:On iPhone App this is a refreshing improvement.

Here are some pics of the event:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskkhDqqX

Am I Normal? - Spirituality (BBC2)

The third episode of BBC2's four-part "Am I Normal?" series was broadcast on 28 April, entitled "Spirituality."

From the Radio Times listing:

Britain is statistically a more secular nation than ever before, but while some have lost faith with traditional organised religion, many of us still foster some belief in spiritual or supernatural forces. But is there any way that empirical science can validate or debunk issues of pure faith? Here, psychologist Dr Tanya Byron explores the scientific analysis of religious phenomena such as faith healing and speaking in tongues.

The presenter interviews political commentator Matthew Parris (an atheist) and journalist Jeremy Vine (a Christian), amongst others. She visits a Carmelite convent to talk to the Mother Superior and to one of the youngest nuns, and also watches a DVD of faith-healing by Benny Hinn. There's discussion of the phenomenon of "hearing voices" and a bizarre encounter with a psychologist who claims to release spirits trapped in the wrong body.

Although it's now too late for this hour-long programme to be available on the BBC iPlayer, it can be streamed in six parts from YouTube:

Part 1/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qidh2aC2yIo


Part 2/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQIRZte5AQk
Part 3/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OFVGHms9dE
Part 4/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUFfEu2YHg
Part 5/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbvJxZfoE_Y
Part 6/6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxT3V7VdNXE

This was a fairly dispassionate view of various (though not all) forms of "spirituality", and I'm glad we're getting more of these kinds of programmes now. But are we actually getting more sceptical assessments now, or could it be that I'm simply more on the look-out for such programmes than I was previously?