The official site of bestselling author Michael Shermer The official site of bestselling author Michael Shermer

Why People Believe Weird Things (TED 2006)

February 2006

Why do people see the Virgin Mary on cheese sandwiches or hear demonic lyrics in “Stairway to Heaven”? Using video, images and music, professional skeptic Michael Shermer explores these and other phenomena, including UFOs and alien sightings. He offers cognitive context: In the absence of sound science, incomplete information can combine with the power of suggestion (helping us hear those Satanic lyrics in Led Zeppelin). In fact, he says, humans tend to convince ourselves to believe: We overvalue the “hits” that support our beliefs, and discount the more numerous “misses.”

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3 Comments to “Why People Believe Weird Things (TED 2006)”

  1. Anonymus Says:

    The lyric thing was CREEPY.

  2. Anonymus Says:

    Where can you get the reverse message thing, im curious

  3. Anonymustechnogirl Says:

    Is there more satanic message song, (use sound waves to describe another satanic message)

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