the official site of Michael Shermer

In the Year 9595

In his January Skeptic column for Scientific American, Michael Shermer ponders the question of artificial intelligence. We have all ... (January 1st, 2012)

Sacred Salubriousness

In the December Skeptic column for Scientific American, Michael Shermer looks at new research on the link between religion, ... (December 1st, 2011)

The Real Science behind Scientology

In this month's Skeptic column in Scientific American, Michael Shermer takes a brief look at Scientology. (November 1st, 2011)

As Far As Her Eyes Can See

Michael Shermer reviews Lisa Randall’s (December 1st, 2011)

Faith Healing

A torrid tale of quackbusting in 1920s America sheds light on modern medical scares A review of Pope Brock’s Charlatan. America’s Most ... (February 1st, 2008)

The Einstein Enigma

A review of Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe. In the final weeks of his life Albert Einstein learned of the death of his old ... (May 7th, 2007)

Singularity 101: Be Skeptical! (Even of Skeptics)

Michael Shermer is interviewed on Singularity 1 on 1 about his Christian education, his eventual transition to atheism, skepticism, science and the ... (January 18th, 2012)

Life has Never Been So Good?

Michael Shermer appears on MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan show to discuss why life is so much better now than in any other time in history. (January 18th, 2012)

Social Singularity: Why Things Are Getting Progressively Better

Michael Shermer discusses the problem of tribalism, which we inherited from our primate ancestors, and which we must overcome if we are to achieve a ... (October 31st, 2011)

Science TV “network decay”

Everyone compares about the lousy quality of cable TV science networks, but no one does anything about it. Why are they so bad, and what happened to ... (January 25th, 2012)

Rescuing People from Aliens

Daniel Loxton shares insights from Susan Clancy’s study of alien abductees, and asks what we can do to make skepticism a safe space for ... (January 24th, 2012)

Science, Medicine, and Academia

Proponents of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are forcing us to answer a question no one has explicitly asked – should ... (January 23rd, 2012)

Anti-science propaganda: how Ben Stein’s new ‘documentary’ film entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed equates evolution with Nazism. Was anyone really fired for their belief in Intelligent Design? Read these four articles and listen to the Skepticality podcast to find out!

1. Ben Stein’s Blunder
2. The Richard Sternberg Affair
3. The Expelled Case
   of Caroline Crocker
4. Was Guillermo Gonzalez Expelled?
5. READ Dawkin’s open letter to a victim of Ben Stein’s propaganda
6. WATCH a parody of the film
   on RichardDawkins.net: Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Listen to the following Skepticality episodes that deal with the subject.

• episode 74
• episode 76
• episode 77

Does Belief Help Us to Survive?

I don’t think religious beliefs are different from any other kind of beliefs: political attitudes, commitments to political parties, or economic ... (August 10th, 2009)

Confessions of a Former Environmental Skeptic

In his 1964 Republican presidential nomination acceptance speech Barry Goldwater gave voice to one of the most memorable one-liners in political ... (April 15th, 2008)

Scientology, Anonymous

Imagine reading the following press release: Hello, Jews. We are anonymous. Over the years, we have been watching you. Your campaigns of ... (February 18th, 2008)