SitP: “Why facts don’t change our minds” With Melanie Trecek-King Tue, Jan 23

We are excited to host Melanie Trecek-King in partnership with our friends at Alpha Brewing for our next Skeptics in the Pub (SitP): “Why facts don’t change our minds” on Tue, Jan 23 at Alpha Brewing Co at 4310 Fyler Avenue in St. Louis, MO.

Description of talk:

Have you ever tried to change someone’s mind with facts, only to have the conversation descend into an unproductive fight? Maybe a better question is: what have you changed your mind about? Having productive conversations over important topics requires an understanding of how our minds work. Science and critical thinking educator Melanie Trecek-King will address these questions and more to help you learn how to think better and have more meaningful conversations.

About Melanie:

Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking Is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills.
An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
https://thinkingispower.com/

As is customary with our events, admission is free; and, we even spring for the first few drinks of the evening.

Please join us for a drink and and conversations about the current state of research on topics you do not feel comfortable bring up at work or family gatherings. This will also be a good opportunity to meet several board members and let us know what you would like to see from the organization and meet other fellow skeptics.

Everyone is welcome to attend (SSSL members & non-members alike), admission is free -no cover charge.

Don’t drink? We respect your choice and bid you welcome. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is also NOT required.

For those of you new to skepticism or not familiar with the movement, here is an older page contrasting skepticism with contrarianism as they relate to climate change. It's definitely not perfect nor comprehensive; but, I think it might be a good starting point for those unfamiliar with skepticism

[https://www.www-swg.org/skepticism.html](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.www-swg.org%2Fskepticism.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0oKOGu9we2Q0mcSplGJolD5cwfPKiiAqTztMHXtq_edIdKPy6p2e1l3OA&h=AT1IDq5fUEYB6PePBx619tHSsYqyz3MByCBn1zm-xRCNMLKIbmPXHTkQKKO12xoyFgp3L3sABbhgGGR-Nhhiy-ifqlQbwZntaw45TWKf6I8CohXgZOVn7WsbIfuOVLqzcQ&tn=q&c%5B0%5D=AT3tcMuYI-2oISNt84UoEh5Z6riEFWWzsCs_MUR0ZkqafabHHC0eVPZwl-Jt6qUXzZgAmDB3MrvntErhYvNmrppj9M6Lw4u9yOI6DlmeAA4WN4zjLtu7Xsjl8CbcDL31DFM)

Please feel free to invite any friends and colleges who might be interested as well. We also have Meetup and Google Calendar events for those who would rather not utilize Facebook.

Meetup - https://www.meetup.com/skepticalstl/events/?type=upcoming
Google - [https://skepticalstl.com/upcoming-events/](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fskepticalstl.com%2Fupcoming-events%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR10lO0ro6Z_hgF04pg-YjgsgownenfdzBS6tPwA9g-f6fw28VDuiyQ86HM&h=AT0bhzbfAmHj3YD_7gWANVXAhgSPPomo4mQWVHpEqat_r50mtPxruZvgjSMZVHQ9S5YF3IUzo6nPca3ee9Zp13trgiz7LS8YnvgZg9F-Hf4QspT3OFEf9lxxKTEkDTrISg&tn=q&c%5B0%5D=AT3tcMuYI-2oISNt84UoEh5Z6riEFWWzsCs_MUR0ZkqafabHHC0eVPZwl-Jt6qUXzZgAmDB3MrvntErhYvNmrppj9M6Lw4u9yOI6DlmeAA4WN4zjLtu7Xsjl8CbcDL31DFM)

If you would like to financially support our activities, we are a 501(c)3 designated non-profit. So, all donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Any amount is helpful. Currently, we can accept PayPal, credit card, and debit cards via the Donate button on our main website.

[https://skepticalstl.com/](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fskepticalstl.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1Uou-p0D6lZ0bzJTVZq5eUeMbXs1PFK9PB9sAierJ_neYIHgnLUE-iglU&h=AT3bnRrA7vNbJlyduev4KlV9phaG3HAgYeoJLB1JyVsuvu1K0h5F4lFXFXnD7q4Ae7FgsbTiwvYPdWqKudJP1As2gHD63tVYduNGWS5a1xaLNWpRLgXJhOcG6WyAWaOYGg&tn=q&c%5B0%5D=AT3tcMuYI-2oISNt84UoEh5Z6riEFWWzsCs_MUR0ZkqafabHHC0eVPZwl-Jt6qUXzZgAmDB3MrvntErhYvNmrppj9M6Lw4u9yOI6DlmeAA4WN4zjLtu7Xsjl8CbcDL31DFM)
Thank you and hope to see you soon!