the official site of Michael Shermer

I Want to Believe

Opus 100: what skepticism reveals about science In a 1997 episode of The Simpsons entitled “The Springfield Files” — a parody of ... (July 1st, 2009)

Agenticity

Why people believe that invisible agents control the world Souls, spirits, ghosts, gods, demons, angels, aliens, intelligent designers, government ... (June 1st, 2009)

Creationism in 3-D

A skeptic engages three types of creationists who claim science supports their beliefs, yet they contradict one another During the tsunami of ... (May 1st, 2009)

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)

You Can Judge This Book by its Cover

A review of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. Anyone who does a lot of public speaking knows there are certain ... (February 2nd, 2005)

Design, Inc.

A review of Michael Ruse’s Darwin and Design: Does Evolution have a Purpose?. Psalms 19:1 declares: “The heavens declare the glory of God; ... (July 15th, 2004)

The Baloney Detection Kit (on RDF TV)

With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael ... (June 23rd, 2009)

An Introduction to Skepticism

Dr. Michael Shermer, the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine and the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, introduces Skeptic magazine. (April 17th, 2009)

Money, Markets & Morality

Are markets moral? Is our hunter-gatherer brain geared for modern capitalism, and do economies work like evolutionary organisms? The rise of ... (August 26th, 2008)

The 2nd Coolest Observatory in the World (in Chile)

Last week I visited Santiago, Chile, at the behest and invitation of Alvaro Fischer, a mathematical engineer interested in the evolutionary ... (June 30th, 2009)

Onward Christian Soldiers

An ironic coincidence — on Monday, June 15, I read two articles back-to-back: Andrew Newberg’s op ed piece in USA Today entitled “This is Your ... (June 23rd, 2009)

Punked! (But who was punked, the skeptics or the psychics?)

Last week Brian Dunning blogged about his experience being filmed testing psychics for a Showtime series called “Versus,” that he strongly ... (June 16th, 2009)

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

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)

Why People Don’t Trust Free Markets

The new science of evolutionary economics offers an explanation for capitalism skepticism In his magnum opus on the power of free markets, Human ... (January 29th, 2008)

Why We Should Trade with Cuba

The new science of neuroeconomics offers new insights into old political problems The 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat expressed a ... (January 23rd, 2008)