Skepticism (or scepticism) has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude of knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere. The word may characterise a position on a single matter, as in the case of religious skepticism, which is "doubt concerning basic religious principles (such as immortality, providence, and revelation)", but philosophical skepticism is an overall approach that requires all new information to be well supported by evidence. Skeptics may even doubt the reliability of their own senses. Classical philosophical skepticism derives from the 'Skeptikoi', a school who "asserted nothing". Adherents of Pyrrhonism, for instance, suspend judgment in investigations.

Definition

In ordinary usage, skepticism (US) or scepticism (UK) (Greek: 'σκέπτομαι' ''skeptomai'', to think, to look about, to consider; see also spelling differences) refers to:

(a) an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object;

(b) the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain; or

(c) the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism that is characteristic of skeptics (Merriam–Webster).

In philosophy, skepticism refers more specifically to any one of several propositions. These include propositions about:

(a) an inquiry,

(b) a method of obtaining knowledge through systematic doubt and continual testing,

(c) the arbitrariness, relativity, or subjectivity of moral values,

(d) the limitations of knowledge,

(e) a method of intellectual caution and suspended judgment.

Scientific skepticism

A scientific (or empirical) skeptic is one who questions beliefs on the basis of scientific understanding. Most scientists, being scientific skeptics, test the reliability of certain kinds of claims by subjecting them to a systematic investigation using some form of the scientific method. As a result, a number of claims are considered "pseudoscience" if they are found to improperly apply or ignore the fundamental aspects of the scientific method. Scientific skepticism does not address religious beliefs, since these beliefs are, by definition, outside the realm of systematic, empirical testing/knowledge.

Religious skepticism

Religious skepticism generally refers to doubting given religious beliefs or claims. Historically, religious skepticism can be traced back to Socrates, who doubted many religious claims of the time. Modern religious skepticism typically places more emphasis on scientific and historical methods or evidence, with Michael Shermer writing that it is a process for discovering the truth rather than blanket non-acceptance. For this reason, a religious skeptic will (for example) likely believe that Jesus actually existed (since he can be historically attested to ) but if not a Christian, will likely question whether or not he performed miracles. Religious skepticism is not the same as atheism or agnosticism. Religious people are generally skeptical about claims of other religions, at least when the two denominations conflict in some stated belief.

Philosophical skepticism

In philosophical skepticism, pyrrhonism is a position that refrains from making truth claims. A philosophical skeptic does not claim that truth is impossible (which would be a truth claim). The label is commonly used to describe other philosophies which appear similar to philosophical skepticism, such as academic skepticism, an ancient variant of Platonism that claimed knowledge of truth was impossible. Empiricism is a closely related, but not identical, position to philosophical skepticism. Empiricists see empiricism as a pragmatic compromise between philosophical skepticism and nomothetic science; philosophical skepticism is in turn sometimes referred to as "radical empiricism."

Philosophical skepticism originated in ancient Greek philosophy. The Greek Sophists of the 5th century BC were for the most part skeptics. Pyrrhonism was a school of skepticism founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BC and recorded by Sextus Empiricus in the late 2nd century or early 3rd century AD. One of its first proponents was Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-275 B.C.), who traveled and studied as far as India and propounded the adoption of "practical" skepticism. Subsequently, in the "New Academy" Arcesilaus (c. 315-241 B.C.) and Carneades (c. 213-129 B.C.) developed more theoretical perspectives, by which conceptions of absolute truth and falsity were refuted as uncertain. Carneades criticized the views of the Dogmatists, especially supporters of Stoicism, asserting that absolute certainty of knowledge is impossible. Sextus Empiricus (c. A.D. 200), the main authority for Greek skepticism, developed the position further, incorporating aspects of empiricism into the basis for asserting knowledge.

Greek skeptics criticized the Stoics, accusing them of dogmatism. For the skeptics, the logical mode of argument was untenable, as it relied on propositions which could not be said to be either true or false without relying on further propositions. This was the regress argument, whereby every proposition must rely on other propositions in order to maintain its validity (see the five tropes of Agrippa the Sceptic). In addition, the skeptics argued that two propositions could not rely on each other, as this would create a circular argument (as p implies q and q implies p). For the skeptics, such logic was thus an inadequate measure of truth and could create as many problems as it claimed to have solved. Truth was not, however, necessarily unobtainable, but rather an idea which did not yet exist in a pure form. Although skepticism was accused of denying the possibility of truth, in fact it appears to have mainly been a critical school which merely claimed that logicians had not discovered truth.

In Islamic philosophy, skepticism was established by Al-Ghazali (1058–1111), known in the West as "Algazel", as part of the orthodox Ash'ari school of Islamic theology, whose method of skepticism shares many similarities with Descartes' method.

René Descartes is credited for developing a global skepticism as a thought experiment in his attempt to find absolute certainty on which to base the foundation of his philosophy. Descartes discussed skeptical arguments from dreaming and radical deception. David Hume has also been described as a global skeptic. However, Descartes was not ostensibly a skeptic and developed his theory of an absolute certainty to disprove other skeptics who argued that there is no certainty.

See also

Critical thinking

Debunker, a person who discredits and exposes claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious.

Doubt

Scientific skepticism

The Moon is made of green cheese

Literary skeptics

Ambrose Bierce: ''The Devil's Dictionary''

Ignacy Krasicki: ''Fables and Parables''

Herman Melville: ''Moby-Dick'', other works

Montaigne: ''Essais.''

Bolesław Prus: ''Pharaoh''

Voltaire: ''Candide''

Organizations

Australian Skeptics

Brights movement

Center for Inquiry

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

New England Skeptical Society

New Zealand Skeptics

James Randi Educational Foundation

Rationalist International

The Skeptics Society

IIG

Media

The Skeptic's Dictionary

Skeptical Inquirer

Skeptic (U.S. magazine)

The Skeptic (UK_magazine)

The Freethinker (journal)

Snopes.com

The Straight Dope

FactCheck

MythBusters

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Point of Inquiry

Skepticality

Skeptoid

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe

Notes

Sources

''A Greek-English Lexicon'', Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones, with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, 1940. Online, perseus.tufts.edu.

Richard Hönigswald, ''Die Skepsis in Philosophie und Wissenschaft'', 1914, new edition (ed. and introduction by Christian Benne and Thomas Schirren), Göttingen: Edition Ruprecht, 2008, ISBN 978-7675-3056-0

Keeton, Morris T., "skepticism", pp. 277–278 in Dagobert D. Runes (ed.), ''Dictionary of Philosophy'', Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ, 1962.

Runes, D.D. (ed.), ''Dictionary of Philosophy'', Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ, 1962.

''Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged'', W.A. Neilson, T.A. Knott, P.W. Carhart (eds.), G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA, 1950.

Butchvarov, Panayot, ''Skepticism About the External World'' (Oxford University Press, 1998).

Further reading

Sextus Empiricus, ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'', R.G. Bury (trans.), Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1990.

Richard Wilson, ''Don't Get Fooled Again - The skeptic's guide to life'', Icon Books, London, 2008. ISBN 978-184831014-8

External links

"Most Scientific Papers are Probably Wrong", ''NewScientist'', 30 August 2005

"In the Name of Skepticism: Martin Gardner's Misrepresentations of General Semantics", by Bruce I. Kodish, appeared in ''General Semantics Bulletin'', Number 71, 2004.

''Classical Skepticism'' by Peter Suber

"Outstanding skeptics of the 20th century" – ''Skeptical Inquirer'' magazine

"CSICOP and the Skeptics" – critical essay by paranormal believer George P. Hansen

"Nonsense (And Why It's So Popular)" – course syllabus from The College of Wooster.

– A Christian (Catholic) account of scepticism

Category:Epistemological theories Category:Psychological attitude Category:Scientific method Category:Philosophical movements

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Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
name	Michael Shermer
residence	Altadena, California, USA
birth name	Michael Brant Shermer
birth date	September 08, 1954
birth place	Glendale, California, USA
occupation	Academic historian of science and editor
title	Editor-in-Chief of ''Skeptic'' and Adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University
website	MichaelShermer.com
weight	}}

Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine ''Skeptic'', which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members. Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion, in which he promulgates the need for scientific skepticism, expresses his views on those topics from that perspective.

Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family (now ABC Family) television series ''Exploring the Unknown''. Since April 2001, he has been a monthly columnist for ''Scientific American'' magazine with his Skeptic column. Shermer states he was once a fundamentalist Christian, but converted from a belief in God during his graduate studies, and has described himself as an agnostic, nontheist, atheist and advocate for humanist philosophy as well as the science of morality. He has expressed reservations about such labels, however, as he sees them being used in the service of 'pigeonholing,' and prefers to simply be called a skeptic.

Early life, education and career

Shermer was born on September 8, 1954, and raised in Southern California. His parents divorced when he was four. He graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in 1972. He began his undergraduate studies at Pepperdine University, initially majoring in Christian theology, later switching to psychology. He completed his bachelor's degree in psychology/biology at Pepperdine in 1976.

Shermer's graduate studies in experimental psychology at California State University, Fullerton, led to many after-class discussions with professors Bayard Brattstrom and Meg White, which is when his "Christian ichthys got away, and with it my religion." Shermer completed his master's degree from California State University in experimental psychology in 1978. Shermer began competitive bicycling in 1979, and spent a decade in the sport. During the course of his cycling, Shermer worked with cycling technologists in developing better products for the sport. During his association with Bell Helmets, a bicycle-race sponsor, Shermer advised them on design issues regarding their development of expanded-polystyrene for use in cycling helmets, which would absorb impact far better than the old leather "hairnet" helmets used by bicyclists for decades. Shermer advised them that if their helmets looked too much like motorcycle helmets, in which polystyrene was already being used, and not like the old hairnet helmets, that no serious cyclists or amateur would use them. This suggestion led to their first model, the ''V1 Pro'', which looked like a black leather hairnet, but functioned on the inside like a motorcycle helmet. In 1982, Shermer worked with Dr. Wayman Spence, whose small supply company, Spenco Medical, adapted the gel technology Spence developed for bedridden patients with pressure sores into cycling gloves and saddles to alleviate the carpal tunnel syndrome and saddle sores suffered by cyclists.

During the decade in which he raced long distances, he helped to found the 3,000-mile nonstop transcontinental bicycle Race Across America (along with Lon Haldeman and John Marino), in which he competed five times (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989), was assistant race director six years, and executive race director seven years. An acute medical condition is named for him: "Shermer's neck" is pain in and extreme weakness of the neck muscles found among long-distance bicyclists. Shermer suffered the condition during the 1983 Race Across America. Shermer's embrace of scientific skepticism crystallized during his time as a cyclist, explaining, "I became a skeptic on Saturday, August 6, 1983, on the long climbing road to Loveland Pass, Colorado" after months of training under the guidance of a "nutritionist" with an unaccredited Ph.D. After years of practicing acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, negative ions, rolfing, pyramid power, fundamentalist Christianity, and "a host of weird things" (with the exception of drugs) to improve his life and training, Shermer stopped rationalizing the failure of these practices. Shermer would later produce several documentaries on cycling.

Shermer earned his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate University in history of science in 1991 (with his dissertation titled "Heretic-Scientist: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Evolution of Man: A Study on the Nature of Historical Change"). Shermer later based a full-length, 2002 book on his dissertation: ''In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History''.

Before starting the Skeptics Society, Shermer was a professor of the history of science at Occidental College, California. Since 2007, Shermer has been an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University.

Skeptics Society and Caltech Lecture Series

In 1992 Shermer started the Skeptics Society, which produces ''Skeptic'' magazine and currently has over 55,000 members. In addition, the group organizes the Caltech Lecture Series which offers speakers on a wide range of topics relating to science, psychology, social issues, religion/atheism, skepticism, etc. Past speakers include Stephen Jay Gould, Jared Diamond, Donald Johanson, Julia Sweeney, Richard Dawkins, Philip Zimbardo, Steven Pinker, Carol Tavris, David Baltimore, Lisa Randall, Daniel Dennett, Tim Flannery, Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, Susan Blackmore, Christof Koch, Alison Gopnik, Ursula Goodenough, Edward Tufte, Bjorn Lomborg, Sam Harris, Jeff Schweitzer and many others. The lectures occur on Sunday afternoons, and are open to the public for a nominal fee.

Published works

Shermer is the author of several books that attempt to explain the ubiquity of irrational or poorly substantiated beliefs, including UFOs, Bigfoot, and paranormal claims. In 1997 he wrote ''Why People Believe Weird Things,'' which explores a variety of "weird" ideas and groups (including cults), in the tradition of the skeptical writings of Martin Gardner. A revised and expanded edition was published in 2002. From the Introduction:

In ''How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science'', Shermer explored the psychology behind the belief in God. In its introduction Shermer wrote "Never in history have so many, and such a high percentage of the population, believed in God. Not only is God not dead as Nietzsche proclaimed, but he has never been more alive."

In early 2002, Shermer's ''Scientific American'' column introduced Shermer's Last Law, the notion that "any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God." Shermer's Last Law is a spin on Clarke's Third Law.

In 2002, Shermer and Alex Grobman wrote their book ''Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?'' which examined and refuted the Holocaust denial movement. This book recounts meeting various denialists and concludes that free speech is the best way to deal with pseudohistory.

''Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown'' was released in 2005. Then his 2006 book ''Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design'', marshals point-by-point arguments supporting evolution, sharply criticizing Intelligent Design. This book also argues that science cannot invalidate religion, and that Christians and conservatives can and should accept evolution.

In June 2006, Shermer, who formerly expressed skepticism regarding the mainstream scientific view on global warming, wrote that, in view of the accumulation of evidence, the position of denying global warming is no longer tenable.

''The Mind of The Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics'' was released in 2007. In it Shermer reports on the findings of multiple behavioral and biochemical studies that address evolutionary explanations for modern behavior.

In February 2009, Shermer published ''The History of Science: A Sweeping Visage of Science and its History'', a 25-hour audio lecture.

In May 2011, Shermer published ''The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths''.

Media appearances and lectures

Shermer has appeared on several television shows and documentaries. In addition, he appears regularly at conferences and other speaking engagements.

Shermer appeared as a guest on ''Donahue'' in 1994 to respond to Bradley Smith's and David Cole's Holocaust denial claims, and in 1995 on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to challenge Rosemary Altea's psychic claims. Shermer made a guest appearance in a 2004 episode of Penn & Teller's ''Bullshit!'', in which he argued that events in the Bible constitute "mythic storytelling," rather than events described literally. His stance was supported by the show's hosts, who have expressed their own atheism. The episode in question, ''The Bible: Fact or Fiction?'', sought to debunk the notion that the Bible is an empirically reliable historical record. Opposing Shermer was Paul Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University.

Shermer made several appearances on NBC's daytime paranormal-themed show ''The Other Side'' in 1994 and 1995. After getting to know that show's producers, he made a formal pitch to their production company for his own skepticism-oriented reality show whose aim would be to present points of view of both believers and skeptics. His proposals were not fruitful, but several years later, one of the executives of that company went to work for the then-newly formed Fox Family Channel, and impressed with Shermer's show treatment, requested he pitch it to the network. The network picked up the series, ''Exploring the Unknown'', of which Shermer became a producer and cohost. The series, which was budgeted at approximately $200,000USD per episode, was viewed by Shermer as a direct extension of the work done at the Skeptics Society and ''Skeptic'' magazine, and would enable Shermer to reach more people. The equivocal title was chosen so as to not tip off guests or viewers as to the skeptical nature of the show. Various segments from ''Exploring the Unknown'' can be found on Shermer's YouTube channel.

Shermer has been a speaker at all three Beyond Belief events from 2006 to 2008. He also spoke at the 2006 TED Conference on "Why people believe strange things."

Shermer is a frequent guest on ''Skepticality'', the official podcast of ''Skeptic''.

On August 21, 2010, Dr. Shermer was honored with an award recognizing his contributions in the skeptical field, from The IIG during its 10th Anniversary Gala.

''Exploring the Unknown''

The following are segments Shermer's 1999 Fox Family TV series, ''Exploring the Unknown''. "Michael Shermer and Out of Body Experiences" "Michael Shermer on How to Fake UFO Photographs" "Michael Shermer on Spoonbending" "Michael Shermer Firewalking Across Hot Coals" "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 1" "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 2" "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 1" "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 2" "Michael Shermer Decodes the Bible Code" "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 1" "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 2" "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 1" "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 2"

Other television and film appearances

August 1983 news segment on Shermer bicycling in Race Across America

''The Phil Donahue Show'', 1994

"The Power of Belief", ABC News, 1998

''Politically Incorrect'', December 22, 2000

''20/20'', December 5, 2003

''Dennis Miller'', May 19 and May 20, 2004

"The Bible: Fact or Fiction?", ''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!'', 2004

''The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis'', 2004

''The Eyes of Nye'' on "Pseudoscience", 2005

''The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe'', October 4, 2006

"Doomsday 2012", ''Decoding the Past'', 2007

''Larry King Live'', July 13, 2007 and January 24, 2008

''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'', 2008

"Does God Have a Future?", ''Nightline'', ABC, March 23, 2010 "What Were You Thinking?", ''Dateline NBC'', April 25, 2010 "Did You See That?", ''Dateline NBC'', July 16, 2010

''The Colbert Report'', July 11, 2011

Radio and Web appearances

''Coast to Coast AM'', September 1, 2007

''Mr. Deity and the Skeptic'' YouTube, September 15, 2009 ''Skepticality'' ''Coast to Coast AM'', May 21, 2011

''KGO'' May 25, 2011

Personal life

Shermer lives in Altadena, California, on the edge of a cliff in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains atop which Mount Wilson stands.

Politically, Shermer has described himself as a libertarian.

List of books by Shermer

''Sport Cycling: A Guide to Training, Racing, and Endurance'' 1985 ISBN 0-8092-5244-9

''Cycling: Endurance and Speed (Sportsperformance)'' 1987 ISBN 0-8092-4775-5

''Teach Your Child Science'' 1989 ISBN 0-929923-08-1

''Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time.'' (1997, 2nd Revision edition 2002) ISBN 0-8050-7089-3

''Teach Your Child Math and Mathemagics'' 1999 ISBN 0-7373-0134-1

''The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense'' 2001 ISBN 0-19-514326-4

''How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science'' 2001 ISBN 0-613-35413-3

''The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (ed.) 2002 ISBN 1-576-07653-9

''Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?'' 2002 ISBN 0-520-23469-3

''In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History'' 2002 ISBN 0-19-514830-4

''The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule'' 2004 ISBN 0-8050-7520-8

''Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown'' 2005 ISBN 0-8050-7708-1

''Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks'' 2006 ISBN 978-0307338402

''Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design'' 2006 ISBN 978-0-8050-8121-3

''The Mind of The Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics'' 2007 ISBN 978-0805078329

''The History of Science: A Sweeping Visage of Science and its History'' 2009 audio lecture

''The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths'' 2011 ISBN 978-0805091250

List of Skeptic columns published in ''Scientific American''

{|width=100% |- valign=top |width=50%|

2001–04 Colorful Pebbles and Darwin's Dictum

2001–05 The Erotic–Fierce People

2001–06 Fox's Flapdoodle

2001–07 Starbucks in the Forbidden City

2001–08 Deconstructing the Dead

2001–09 Nano Nonsense and Cryonics

2001–10 I Was Wrong

2001–11 Baloney Detection

2001–12 More Baloney Detection

2002–01 Shermer’s Last Law

2002–02 The Gradual Illumination of the Mind

2002–03 Hermits and Cranks

2002–04 Skepticism as a Virtue

2002–05 The Exquisite Balance

2002–06 The Shamans of Scientism

2002–07 Vox Populi

2002–08 Why ET Hasn’t Called

2002–09 Smart People Believe Weird Things

2002–10 The Physicist and the Abalone Diver

2002–11 Mesmerized by Magnetism

2002–12 The Captain Kirk Principle

2003–01 Digits and Fidgets

2003–02 Psychic Drift

2003–03 Demon–Haunted Brain

2003–04 I, Clone

2003–05 Show Me the Body

2003–06 Codified Claptrap

2003–07 Bottled Twaddle

2003–08 The Ignoble Savage

2003–09 The Domesticated Savage

2003–10 Remember the Six Billion

2003–11 Candle in the Dark

2003–12 What’s the Harm

2004–01 Bunkum!

2004–02 A Bounty of Science

2004–03 None So Blind

2004–04 Magic Water and Mencken’s Maxim

2004–05 The Enchanted Glass

2004–06 Death by Theory

2004–07 God’s Number Is Up

2004–08 Miracle on Probability Street

2004–09 Mustangs, Monists and Meaning

2004–10 The Myth Is the Message

2004–11 Flying Carpets and Scientifi c Prayers

2004–12 Common Sense

2005–01 Quantum Quackery

2005–02 Abducted!

2005–03 The Fossil Fallacy

2005–04 The Feynman–Tufte Principle

2005–05 Turn Me On, Dead Man

2005–06 Fahrenheit 2777

2005–07 Hope Springs Eternal

2005–08 Full of Holes

2005–09 Rumsfeld’s Wisdom

2005–10 Unweaving the Heart

2005–11 Rupert’s Resonance

2005–12 Mr. Skeptic Goes to Esalen

|width=50%|

2006–01 Murdercide

2006–02 It’s Dogged as Does It

2006–03 Cures and Cons

2006–04 As Luck Would Have It

2006–05 SHAM Scam

2006–06 The Flipping Point

2006–07 The Political Brain

2006–08 Folk Science

2006–09 Fake, Mistake, Replicate

2006–10 Darwin on the Right

2006–11 Wronger Than Wrong

2006–12 Bowling for God

2007–01 Airborne Baloney

2007–02 Eat, Drink and Be Merry

2007–03 (Can't Get No) Satisfaction

2007–04 Free to Choose

2007–05 Bush's Mistake and Kennedy's Error

2007–06 The (Other) Secret

2007–07 The Prospects for Homo economicus

2007–08 Bad Apples and Bad Barrels

2007–09 Rational Atheism

2007–10 The Really Hard Science

2007–11 Weirdonomics and Quirkology

2007–12 An Unauthorized Autobiography of Science

2008–01 Evonomics

2008–02 The Mind of the Market

2008–03 Adam's Maxim and Spinoza's Conjecture

2008–04 Wag the Dog

2008–05 A New Phrenology?

2008–06 Expelled Exposed

2008–07 Sacred Science

2008–08 Wheat Grass Juice and Folk Medicine

2008–09 Folk Numeracy and Middle Land

2008–10 A Random Walk Through Middle Land

2008–11 Stage Fright

2008–12 Patternicity

2009–01 Telephone to the Dead

2009–02 Darwin Misunderstood

2009–07 I Want to Believe

2009–08 Shakespeare, Interrupted

2009–09 Skeptic – Paranoia Strikes Deep

2009–10 Captain Hook Meets Adam Smith

2009–11 Will E.T. Look Like Us?

2009–12 Political Science: The Psychological Differences in the U.S.'s Red–Blue Divide

2010–01 Kool–Aid Psychology: Realism versus Optimism

2010–02 Cultivate Your Garden

2010–03 Surviving Death on Larry King Live

2010–04 The Sensed–Presence Effect

2010–05 Doing Science in the Past

2010–06 When Ideas Have Sex

2010–07 When Scientists Sin

2010–08 Our Neanderthal Brethren

2010–09 Democracy’s Laboratory

2010–10 Can You Hear Me Now

2010–11 The Skeptic’s Skeptic

2010–12 The Conspiracy Theory Detector

2011–01 The Science of Right and Wrong

2011-02 Houdini's Advice

2011-03 Wrong Again

2011-04 UFOs, UAPs, CRAPs

2011-05 Extra Sensory Pornception

2011-06 Gambling on ET

|}

See also

James Randi

References

External links

Official website

Official YouTube Channel

Skeptic.com – Official website of The Skeptics Society

Skepticality – Official podcast of The Skeptics Society

Michael Shermer at the Internet Movie Database

Goldring, Ariel. "An Interview with Michael Shermer" ''Free Market Mojo'', 2010, accessed February 25, 2011

Shermer, Michael. Democracy's Laboratory: Are Science and Politics Interrelated? ''Scientific American'', September 2010

Media

Multimedia files featuring Michael Shermer

“Michael Shermer's Baloney Detection Kit”, Richard Dawkins Foundation, YouTube Channel, June 22, 2009

On strange beliefs, Ted Talks, February 2006

The pattern behind self-deception, Ted Talks, February 2010

''Real Detroit Weekly'' Interview, February 7, 2007

Skeptiko Audio Interview: Darwin, Evolution and Creativity, February 14, 2007

Is Christianity Good for the World? – Debate with Dinesh D'Souza at the Oregon State University Socratic Club on October 15, 2007, part 1

Is Christianity Good for the World? – Debate with Dinesh D'Souza at the Oregon State University Socratic Club on October 15, 2007, part 2

Michael Shermer interviewed about ''The Mind of the Market'', The Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour

Video of an hour-long interview/discussion with Shermer by John Horgan on Bloggingheads.tv

“Michael Shermer debates Jonathan Wells on Evolution v. Intelligent Design” at the Cato Institute, Part 1 of 7, YouTube, taped October 12, 2006, posted May 11, 2008

“Michael Shermer visits the Kentucky Creation Museum", YouTube, March 15, 2009

“The Nightline Face-Off: Does God Have a Future? (1 of 12)”, ABC News.com/YouTube, Taped March 14, 2010, Posted May 23, 2010

“Michael Shermer debates John Lennox on God”, YouTube, October 29, 2008

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:American skeptics Category:American humanists Category:American agnostics Category:American libertarians Category:American scientists Category:California State University, Fullerton alumni Category:People from Glendale, California Category:Pepperdine University alumni

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