MORE than 70 people attended Armidale's inaugural Skeptics In The Pub meeting on Wednesday, April 24 at the Wicklow Hotel.
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The group was officially launched by Sydney-based Executive of Australian Skeptics Inc, Tim Mendham, who is also the editor of the nation's The Skeptic magazine.
Guest speaker, UNE Sociology Professor Alan Scott, delivered a compelling presentation on the Strongman in politics, based on the book, Strongman, by American historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
Prof Scott received resounding applause from the 73 attendees who then took part in a lively question time.
They discussed how Strongmen, such as Trump and Putin, rely on charisma to over-promise and under-deliver.
American-born attendees at the event shared their sadness at seeing how US families and friendships fracture when those with loyalty to Trump are questioned by those who dislike him.
Professor Scott explained that while most of us feel repelled by the likes of Trump and Putin it is important to realise that their followers see things differently. That's because they are thinking emotionally and feel a deep personal connection to the Strongman.
He said Strongmen usually have a "bromance" with other strongmen, such as Trump and Putin and Trump and Kim Jong Un.
Support from big business is crucial to their success, as evidenced by Trump recently approaching Elon Musk for campaign money and support.
Strongmen skirt the line between legality and illegality and have no respect for the courts.
He cited pioneering German Sociologist, Max Weber, who noted Strongmen's vanity meant power becomes an end in itself, a matter of purely personal self-intoxication concealing inner weakness behind a grandiose but empty pose.
Strongmen are opportunists and always over-promise. They rely on cronyism and have contempt for political institutions such as parliament and law courts.
Fortunately, the parliaments and courts prove to be more resilient, and Strongmen always fail.
Emotional thinking is just one of the flawed ways people think.
At the next Skeptics in the Pub, on Wednesday May 22 at the Wicklow from 6pm, Sandy Boucher, UNE's Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Science, will deliver a humorous presentation on emotional thinking and many of the other common errors which even the most educated of humans are prone to make.
