Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer lays out arguments refuting psychics, creationists, holocaust deniers, and all sorts of other bs artists in an enormously entertaining book promoting skepticism. Skepticism does not mean you doubt everything, he explains. Rather, it is the Missouri “show me” kind of thinking, which basically means don’t believe anything you can’t prove. He discusses fallacies of reasoning, hallucinations, bad thinking, and ultimately gives me some hope that one day the powers of light and reason will prevail in this world.
He explains why science really is of fundamental importance; how creationists and holocaust deniers misuse and abuse science to promote pseudo-science. Science is the promotion of knowledge, and is rife with conflict and competing theories. Pseudo-science uses these conflicts to say “See. They’re wrong!” without ever getting that this is the very essence of science: disagreement, aiming toward the common goal of gaining knowledge, rather than keeping one view point and never, ever, ever changing it.
Lately, after I have delved into issues such as pseudo-New Age thinking, reading about Amway, and maybe just generally losing my mind in a mild haze of mumbo jumbo, this book was a cold drink of water, reminding me of who I am and what I believe and that it is in fact okay to question everything. It is such a refreshing restoration of my faith in humanity to realize that there is a reason for believing…in disbelief.
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