the official site of Michael Shermer

Patternicity

Noun. The tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise Why do people see faces in nature, interpret window stains as human figures, … (Dec 08)

Stage Fright

From the stages of grief to the stages of moral development, stage theories have little evidentiary support Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, … (Nov 08)

A Random Walk through Middle Land

How randomness rules our world & why we cannot see it, Part 2 Imagine that you are a contestant on the classic television game show Let’s Make a … (Oct 08)

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 … (Feb 08)

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 … (Feb 05)

Design, Inc.

A review of Michael Ruse’s Darwin & Design: Does Evolution have a Purpose?. Psalms 19:1 declares: “The heavens declare the glory of God; … (Jul 04)

Money, Markets & Morality

Are markets moral? Is our hunter-gatherer brain geared for modern capitalism, & do economies work like evolutionary organisms? The rise of … (Aug 08)

Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Anticipating success with their feature film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Producers Mark Mathis, Logan Craft & Walt Ruloff have already … (Apr 08)

The Mind of the Market (Shermer on Explorations KPFK FM)

Michael Shermer discusses his new book The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, & other Tales from Evolutionary Economics on … (Feb 08)

How to Bend a Spoon with Just Your Mind

Most skeptics know that self-proclaimed psychics such as Uri Geller, who claim to be able to bend cutlery with just their minds, are actually using … (Jan 09)

The Ponzi Dilemma

How would the average investor know that Bernie Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme? Here’s a supreme irony for you. About six months ago a … (Dec 08)

Klaatu Gort Redux

The remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still delivers a modern warning wrapped in an ancient myth Klaatu is back & he’s badder than before, with … (Dec 08)

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 … (Feb 08)

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 … (Jan 08)

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 … (Jan 08)