The Battle for Reality: Why Science Matters in an Age of Misinformation

We're wired for survival, not objective truth. Our brains fall prey to emotions, cling to comfortable beliefs, and bend to social pressure. Today, the internet, social media, and AI weaponize our vulnerabilities, flooding us with misinformation, fabricated facts and outright lies.

Drawing on a lifetime of science engagement, along with the latest neuroscience, Roger Highfield takes a deep dive into the scale of the problem and explores possible solutions. Science has modelled the cosmos, fought diseases, decoded DNA, and revealed the mystery of subatomic particles. Can it now overcome its greatest adversary – ourselves?

The Royal Society David Attenborough Award and Lecture 2025 is awarded to Dr Roger Highfield OBE FMedSci for a vast contribution to public engagement, reaching audiences of millions as a journalist, broadcaster, author, and through museum-led initiatives.

Roger Highfield is Science Director of the Science Museum Group and Visiting Professor of Public Engagement at both Oxford and UCL. He serves on the UKRI-Medical Research Council, UKRI’s Building a Green Future Advisory Board, and on the Longitude Committee.

Roger has written thousands of articles for Wired, Science, the Guardian, the Observer, Aeon, Mosaic, Newsweek, Time, and the Economist, amongst others. He is contributing editor at Wired, was Editor of New Scientist (2008–2011) and was Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph (1988–2008), where he launched a science page alongside initiatives to connect scientists with the media and foster new writing talent. He has authored or co-authored ten books, including two bestsellers. His latest, Virtual You (with Peter Coveney), was named a Financial Times Book of the Year.

Roger has received a wide range of honours for his contributions to science and public engagement. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association and Royal Academy of Engineering. He received the Royal Society’s Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal in 2012 and has won numerous journalism accolades, including four ABSW awards and a British Press Award.

• The lecture can be attended in person at the Royal Society.
• This event is free to join, but prebooking is required to attend in person.
• We will release tickets in batches. Batch 1 is available from 24th February, Batch 2 from 9 March, and Last Chance Tickets from 7 April.
• Please note that as this is a free event, we anticipate that not everyone who reserves tickets will use them and we therefore make more tickets available than there are seats. You are highly unlikely to be refused entry but please be aware that admission is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed. Please arrive early to secure a seat.
• Live subtitles will be available.
• Doors will open at 6pm.
• Find travel and accessibility information on our website. Please email [email protected] with any access requirements or questions.
• The lecture will also be livestreamed on the Royal Society YouTube channel. Please note you do not need to register to attend online.

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