Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Summary and Reviews

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
by Michael Shermer

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
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Book Summary Information

Author: Michael Shermer
Foreword: Stephen Jay Gould
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-01
ISBN: 0805070893
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

Book Review: Read it for the subtext
Summary: 3 Stars

Let me begin (because I must) by saying that I don't believe in UFOs. I don't believe you can read other people's thoughts, predict the future, or find water with a stick. And I don't think I can fly. And unlike other reviewers, I can't say I took the wrong approach in my book, because I haven't written one. I suppose, in the end, I am a skeptic.

Michael Shermer is a skeptic. I suggest you read his book. I suggest you read his book not because it gives you any insight into paranormal phenomena, but because it gives you insight into how skeptics think. I have read Michael's book. I have read his articles in "The Skeptic". There is no science there. Only pleas. The same sort of pleas creationists make when they are trying to get you to believe.

Skepticism would be great if it wasn't just too far the other way. Skeptics worship the scientific method, but seem too unwilling to use it. Paranormal phenomena will not be disproved by half-hearted experiments on Saturday afternoon. It must be taken seriously to be disproved. It requires hard science, over time. Skeptics have so far found this unnecessary. Ad hominem attacks will do.

Debunking pseudoscience is a worthy goal. But it must be done in the name of science. When it's done just to get a good score, it loses its meaning.

I give it a five, until the skeptics show me they're not just trying to make themselves look good.

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