WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS: Pseudoscience, Superstition, And Other Confusions Of Our Time by Michael Shermer 

This book on Michael Shermer`s methods and experiences and his analysis of the attractions of irrational belief provides an important perspective on the needs and successes of skepticism.

The old cliche that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty must be the watchword of this movement, for if the apparendy benign cult maintains the same structure of potentially potent irrationality as the overtly militant witch hunt, then we must be watchful and critical of all movement based on suppression of thought.

CONTENTS:

PART 1: SCIENCE AND SKEPTICISM

• I Am Therefore I Think | A Skeptic’s Manifesto
•  The Most Precious Thing We Have | The Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience
• How Thinking Goes Wrong | Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things

PART 2: PSEUDOSCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION

•  Deviations | The Normal, the Paranormal, and Edgar Саусе
• Through the Invisible | Near-Death Experiences and the Quest for Immortality
•  Abducted! |  Encounters with Aliens
•  Epidemics of Accusations | Medieval and Modern Witch Crazes
•  The Unlikeliest Cult | Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and the Cult of Personality

PART 3: EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM

•  In the Beginning | An Evening with Duane T. Gish
•  Confronting Creationists | Twenty-five Creationist Arguments, Twenty-five Evolutionist Answers
•  Science Defended. Science Defined | Evolution and Creationism at the Supreme Court

PART 4: HISTORY AND PSEUDOHISTORY

•  Doing Donahue | History, Censorship, and Free Speech
•  Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened, and Why Do They Say It? | An Overview of a Movement
•  How We Know the Holocaust Happened | Debunking the Deniers
•  Pigeonholes and Continuums | An African-Greek-German-American Looks at Race

PART 5: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

•  Dr. Tipler Meets Dr. Pangloss | Can Science Find the Best of All Possible Worlds?
•  Why Do People Believe Weird Things?
•  Why Smart People Believe Weird Things

Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things

Language: English
Format: PDF online
Pages: 260