This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (October 2008)

Part of a series of articles on the paranormal
Medium Eva Carrière photographed in 1912, with an apparent light appearing between her hands.
Main articles
Afterlife · Astral projection · Aura · Clairvoyance · Close encounter · Cold spot · Conjuration · Cryptid · Cryptozoology · Demon · Demonic possession · Demonology · Ectoplasm · Electronic voice phenomenon · Exorcism · Extra-sensory perception · Fear of ghosts · Forteana · Ghost · Ghost hunting · Ghost story · Haunted house · Hypnosis · Intelligent haunting · Magic · Mediumship · Miracle · Near-death experience · Occult · Ouija · Paranormal · Paranormal fiction · Paranormal television · Poltergeist · Precognition · Psychic · Psychic reading · Psychokinesis · Psychometry · Reincarnation · Remote viewing · Residual haunting · Shadow people · Spirit photography · Spirit possession · Spirit world · Spiritualism · Stone Tape · Supernatural · Telepathy · UFO · UFO hypotheses · UFO sightings · Ufology · Will-o'-the-wisp Haunted locations: United Kingdom · United States · world.
Articles on skepticism
Cold reading · Committee for Skeptical Inquiry · Debunking · Hoax · James Randi Educational Foundation · Magical thinking · Prizes for evidence of the paranormal · Pseudoskepticism · Scientific skepticism
Related articles on science, psychology, and logic
Agnosticism · Anomalistics · Argument from ignorance · Argumentum ad populum · Bandwagon effect · Begging the question · Cognitive dissonance · Communal reinforcement · Fallacy · Falsifiability · Fringe science · Groupthink · Junk science · Protoscience · Pseudoscience · Scientific evidence · Scientific method · Superstition · Uncertainty · Urban legend ·
Related articles on Social change and Parapsychology
Countermovement · Death and culture · Parapsychology · Scientific literacy · Social movement
This box: view talk edit

Paranormal is a general term (coined ca. 1915–1920^[1][2]) that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation"^[3] or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure.^[1][4] Paranormal phenomena are distinct from certain hypothetical entities, such as dark matter and dark energy, only insofar as paranormal phenomena are inconsistent with the world as already understood through empirical observation coupled with scientific methodology.^[5]

Thousands of stories relating to paranormal phenomena are found in popular culture, folklore, and the recollections of individual subjects.^[6] In contrast, the scientific community, as referenced in statements made by organizations such as the United States National Science Foundation, maintains that scientific evidence does not support a variety of beliefs that have been characterized as paranormal.^[7]

Etymology[link]

“Paranormal” has been in the English language since at least 1920.^[8][9] It consists of two parts: para and normal. In most definitions of the word paranormal, it is described as anything that is beyond or contrary to what is deemed scientifically possible.^[10] The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is the 'normal' part of the word and 'para' makes up the above, beyond, beside, contrary, or against part of the meaning.

Para has a Greek and Latin origin. Its most common meaning (the Greek usage) is 'similar to' or 'near to', as in paragraph. In Latin, para means 'above,' 'against,' 'counter,' 'outside,' or 'beyond'. For example, parapluie in French means 'counter-rain' – an umbrella. It can be construed, then, that the term paranormal is derived from the Latin use of the prefix 'para', meaning 'against, counter, outside or beyond the norm.'

Paranormal subjects[link]

Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to ghosts, extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects, and cryptids.

Ghosts and other spiritual entities[link]

A ghost is a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person.^[11] Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or demon,^[12] however in popular usage the term typically refers to a deceased person's spirit.

The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism, an ancient belief which attributed souls to everything in nature.^[13] As the 19th-century anthropologist James Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough, souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body.^[14] Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress.

A widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists speculate that this may also stem from early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person, most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist.^[13] This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as animating Adam with a breath.

Numerous theories have been proposed by scientists to provide normal explanations for ghost sightings.^[13] Although the evidence for ghosts is largely anecdotal, the belief in ghosts throughout history has remained widespread and persistent.

Extraterrestrial life and UFOs[link]

The possibility of extraterrestrial life is not, by itself, a paranormal subject. Many scientists are actively engaged in the search for unicellular life within the solar system, carrying out studies on the surface of Mars and examining meteors that have fallen to Earth.^[15] Projects such as SETI are conducting an astronomical search for radio activity that would show evidence of intelligent life outside the solar system.^[16] Scientific theories of how life developed on Earth allow for the possibility that life developed on other planets as well. The paranormal aspect of extraterrestrial life centers largely around the belief in unidentified flying objects and the phenomena said to be associated with them.

Early in the history of UFO culture, believers divided themselves into two camps. The first held a rather conservative view of the phenomena, interpreting them as unexplained occurrences that merited serious study. They began calling themselves "ufologists" in the 1950s and felt that logical analysis of sighting reports would validate the notion of extraterrestrial visitation.^[13]

The second camp consisted of individuals who coupled ideas of extraterrestrial visitation with beliefs from existing quasi-religious movements. These individuals typically were enthusiasts of occultism and the paranormal. Many had backgrounds as active Theosophists, Spiritualists, or were followers of other esoteric doctrines. In contemporary times, many of these beliefs have coalesced into New Age spiritual movements.^[13]

Both secular and spiritual believers describe UFOs as having abilities beyond what are considered possible according to known aerodynamic constraints and physical laws. The transitory events surrounding many UFO sightings also limits the opportunity for repeat testing required by the scientific method. Acceptance of UFO theories by the larger scientific community is further hindered by the many possible hoaxes associated with UFO culture.

Cryptids[link]

A cryptid is an animal whose existence is not confirmed by science. The study of these creatures is known as cryptozoology. Those that study the existence of cryptids are called cryptozoologists. Cryptids have been sighted and documented for centuries. There are hundreds of creatures thought to be in existence today. Some of the more popular cryptids include Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, rods or skyfish, the Jersey Devil, Unicorn and werewolves.

Paranormal research[link]

Approaching the paranormal from a research perspective is often difficult because of the lack of acceptable physical evidence from most of the purported phenomena. By definition, the paranormal does not conform to conventional expectations of nature. Therefore, a phenomenon cannot be confirmed as paranormal using the scientific method because, if it could be, it would no longer fit the definition. (However, confirmation would result in the phenomenon being reclassified as part of science.) Despite this problem, studies on the paranormal are periodically conducted by researchers from various disciplines. Some researchers simply study the beliefs in the paranormal regardless of whether the phenomena are considered to objectively exist. This section deals with various approaches to the paranormal: anecdotal, experimental, and participant-observer approaches and the skeptical investigation approach.

Anecdotal approach[link]

Charles Fort, 1920. Fort is perhaps the most widely known collector of paranormal stories.

An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of stories told about the paranormal.

Charles Fort (1874–1932) is perhaps the best known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences, though there were no doubt many more than these. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science". From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive. These are: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo! but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo!.

Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events, falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of OOPArts, abbreviation for "out of place" artifacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction, and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Fort is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of the paranormal.

The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Fort's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of the paranormal.

Such anecdotal collections, lacking the reproducibility of empirical evidence, are not amenable to scientific investigation. The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to the paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to paranormal phenomena.

Parapsychology[link]

Participant of a Ganzfeld experiment which proponents say may show evidence of telepathy.

Experimental investigation of the paranormal has been conducted by parapsychologists. Although parapsychology has its roots in earlier research, it began using the experimental approach in the 1930s under the direction of J. B. Rhine (1895–1980).^[13] Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in a laboratory in the hopes of finding a statistical validation of extra-sensory perception.^[13]

In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That affiliation, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research.^[13] During this time, other notable organizations were also formed, including the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute for Noetic Sciences (1973), and the International Kirlian Research Association (1975). Each of these groups performed experiments on paranormal subjects to varying degrees. Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute during this time.^[13]

With the increase in parapsychological investigation, there came an increase in opposition to both the findings of parapsychologists and the granting of any formal recognition of the field. Criticisms of the field were focused in the founding of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (1976), now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and its periodical, Skeptical Inquirer.^[13] Eventually, more mainstream scientists became critical of parapsychology as an endeavor, and statements by the National Academies of Science and the National Science Foundation cast a pall on the claims of evidence for parapsychology.^{[citation needed]} Today, many cite parapsychology as an example of a pseudoscience.

Though there are still some parapsychologists active today, interest and activity has waned considerably since the 1970s.^[17] To date there have been no experimental results that have gained wide acceptance in the scientific community as valid evidence of the paranormal.^[17]

Participant-observer approach[link]

A ghost hunter taking an EMF reading, which proponents claim may be connected to paranormal activity.

While parapsychologists look for quantitative evidence of the paranormal in laboratories, a great number of people immerse themselves in qualitative research through participant-observer approaches to the paranormal. Participant-observer methodologies have overlaps with other essentially qualitative approaches as well, including phenomenological research that seeks largely to describe subjects as they are experienced, rather than to explain them.^[18]

Participant-observation suggests that by immersing oneself in the subject being studied, a researcher is presumed to gain understanding of the subject. Criticisms of participant-observation as a data-gathering technique are similar to criticisms of other approaches to the paranormal, but also include an increased threat to the objectivity of the researcher, unsystematic gathering of data, reliance on subjective measurement, and possible observer effects (observation may distort the observed behavior).^[19] Specific data gathering methods, such as recording EMF readings at haunted locations have their own criticisms beyond those attributed to the participant-observation approach itself.

The participant-observer approach to the paranormal has gained increased visibility and popularity through reality television programs like Ghost Hunters, and the formation of independent ghost hunting groups that advocate immersive research at alleged paranormal locations. One popular website for ghost hunting enthusiasts lists over 300 of these organizations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.^[20]

Skeptical scientific investigation[link]

James Randi is a well-known investigator of paranormal claims.

Scientific skeptics advocate critical investigation of claims of paranormal phenomena: applying the scientific method to reach a rational, scientific explanation of the phenomena to account for the paranormal claims, taking into account that alleged paranormal abilities and occurrences are sometimes hoaxes or misinterpretations of natural phenomena. A way of summarizing this method is by the application of Occam's razor, which suggests that the simplest solution is usually the correct one.^[21] The standard scientific models gives an explanation for what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, or anomalous variation of natural phenomena, rather than an actual paranormal phenomenon.

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is an organisation that aims to publicise the scientific, skeptical approach. It carries out investigations aimed at understanding paranormal reports in terms of scientific understanding, and publishes its results in its journal, the Skeptical Inquirer.

Richard Wiseman, of The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, draws attention to possible alternative explanations for perceived paranormal activity in his article, The Haunted Brain. While he recognizes that approximately 15% of people believe they have experienced an encounter with a ghost, he reports that only 1% report seeing a full-fledged ghost while the rest report strange sensory stimuli, such as seeing fleeting shadows or wisps of smoke, or the sensation of hearing footsteps or feeling a presence. Wiseman makes the claim that, rather than experiencing paranormal activity, it is activity within our own brains that create these strange sensations. Although it was initially proposed by Michael Persinger that ghostly experiences could be replicated by stimulating the brain with weak magnetic fields, this theory was later thrown out by research led by Swedish psychologist, Pehr Granqvist. Upon attempting to replicate the research by Persinger, Granqvist and his team determined that the paranormal sensations experienced by Persinger's subjects were merely the result of suggestion, and that brain stimulation with magnetic fields did not result in ghostly experiences. However, Oxford University psychologist Justin Barrett has proposed a theory to explain sensations of paranormal activity. Barrett claims that ‘agency’ – being able to figure out why people do what they do – is so important in everyday life, that it is natural for our brains to work too hard at it, thereby detecting human or ghost-like behaviour in everyday meaningless stimuli. This article in the Skeptical Inquirer suggests that paranormal sensations are not the result of spirits visiting the Earth. Instead, it is the workings inside our brains causing us to attribute meaningless stimuli to ghostly activity.

Former stage magician James Randi is a well-known investigator of paranormal claims.^[22] As an investigator with a background in illusion, Randi feels that the simplest explanation for those claiming paranormal abilities is often trickery, illustrated by demonstrating that the spoon bending abilities of psychic Uri Geller can easily be duplicated by trained stage magicians.^[23] He is also the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation and its million dollar challenge offering a prize of US $1,000,000 to anyone who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties.^[24] Despite many declarations of supernatural ability, this prize remains unclaimed.

Anomalistics[link]

Anomalistics works on the premise that paranormal phenomena may be hoaxes, understood within current scientific models, or else be rationalized using an as yet unexplored avenue of science.^[25][26][27]

Belief polls[link]

While the validity of the existence of paranormal phenomena is controversial and debated passionately by both proponents of the paranormal and by skeptics, surveys are useful in determining the beliefs of people in regards to paranormal phenomena. These opinions, while not constituting scientific evidence for or against, may give an indication of the mindset of a certain portion of the population (at least among those who answered the polls).

One survey of the beliefs of the general United States population regarding paranormal topics was conducted by the Gallup Organization in 2005.^[28] The survey found that 73 percent of those polled believed in at least one of the ten paranormal items presented in the survey. The ten items included in the survey were: extrasensory perception (41% held this belief), haunted houses (37%), ghosts (32%), telepathy (31%), clairvoyance (26%), astrology (25%), communication with the dead (21%), witches (21%), reincarnation (20%), and channeling spiritual entities (9%). These items were selected as they "require the belief that humans have more than the 'normal' five senses." Only one percent of respondents believed in all ten items.

Another survey conducted in 2006 by researchers from Australia's Monash University^[29] sought to determine what types of phenomena that people claim to have experienced and the effects these experiences have had on their lives. The study was conducted as an online survey with over 2,000 respondents from around the world participating. The results revealed that around 70% of the respondents believe to have had an unexplained paranormal event that changed their life, mostly in a positive way. About 70% also claimed to have seen, heard, or been touched by an animal or person that they knew was not there; 80% have reported having a premonition, and almost 50% stated they recalled a previous life.^[29]

Polls were conducted by Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University and Gary Steward of the University of Central Oklahoma in 2006, and compared to the results of a Gallup poll in 2001.^[30] They found fairly consistent results.

Other surveys by different organizations at different times have found very similar results. A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.^[31] A survey by Jeffrey S. Levin, associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk found that over 2/3 of the U.S. population reported having at least one mystical experience.^[30][32]

A 1996 Gallup poll estimated that 71% of the people in the United States believed that the government was covering up information about UFOs. A 2002 Roper poll conducted for the Sci Fi channel reported that 56% thought UFOs were real craft and 48% that aliens had visited the Earth.^[30]

A 2001 National Science Foundation survey found that 9 percent of people polled thought astrology was very scientific, and 31 percent thought it was somewhat scientific. About 32% of Americans surveyed stated that some numbers were lucky, while 46% of Europeans agreed with that claim. About 60% of all people polled believed in some form of Extra-sensory perception and 30% thought that "some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations."^[33]

Paranormal challenges[link]

In 1922, Scientific American offered two US $2,500 offers: (1) for the first authentic spirit photograph made under test conditions, and (2) for the first psychic to produce a "visible psychic manifestation." Harry Houdini was a member of the investigating committee. The first medium to be tested was George Valiantine, who claimed that in his presence spirits would speak through a trumpet that floated around a darkened room. For the test, Valiantine was placed in a room, the lights were extinguished, but unbeknownst to him his chair had been rigged to light a signal in an adjoining room if he ever left his seat. Because the light signals were tripped during his performance, Valiantine did not collect the award.^[34] The last to be examined by Scientific American was Mina Crandon in 1924.

Since then, many individuals and groups have offered similar monetary awards for proof of the paranormal in an observed setting. These prizes have a combined value of over $2.4 million dollars.^[35]

The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a prize of a million dollars to a person who can prove that they have supernatural or paranormal abilities under appropriate test conditions. No famous psychic has gone through with taking the challenge. Several other skeptic groups also offer a monied prize for proof of the paranormal, including the largest group of paranormal investigators the Independent Investigations Group which has chapters in Hollywood, Atlanta, Denver, Washington D.C., Alberta, B.C. and San Francisco. The IIG offers a $50,000 prize and a $5,000 finders fee if a claimant can prove a paranormal claim under 2 scientifically controlled tests. Founded in 2000 no claimant has passed the first (and lower odds) of the test.^[36]

See also[link]

Paranormal

Authors

Skepticism

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Paranormal on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Paranormal at the Open Directory Project

Michael Shermer
Shermer on the Skeptics Society Geology Tour on June 8, 2007.
Born	Michael Brant Shermer (1954-09-08) September 8, 1954 (age 57) Glendale, California, USA
Residence	Altadena, California, USA
Occupation	Academic historian of science and editor
Title	Editor-in-Chief of Skeptic and Adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University
Religion	None (Agnostic)
Website
www.michaelshermer.com

Michael Brant Shermer, PhD (born September 8, 1954 in Glendale, California, USA) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic,^[1] which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members.^[2] Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he promulgates the need for scientific skepticism.

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,^[3] nontheist,^[4][5] atheist^[6][7] and advocate for humanist philosophy^[8] as well as the science of morality.^[9] 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.^[6]

Early life, education and career[link]

Shermer was born on September 8, 1954,^[10] and raised in Southern California.^[11] His parents divorced when he was four.^[10] Both of his parents remarried, his mother to a man with three children, who became Shermer's stepsiblings, and his father to a woman with whom he had two daughters, Shermer's half-sisters. His father would later die of a heart attack in 1986, and his mother of brain cancer in 2000.^[12]

Although Shermer went to Sunday school, he says that neither his biological nor stepparents or siblings were religious nor non-religious, as they did not hold much discussion on the topic, and did not attend church nor pray together. In 1971, at the beginning of his senior year in high school, Shermer announced he was a born again Christian, which came about through the influence of his best friend, George. For the next seven years he would evangelize door-to-door as part of his profoundly held beliefs.^[12]

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.^[11] He completed his bachelor's degree in psychology/biology at Pepperdine in 1976.^[13]

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. These,^[14] along with his studies in ethology and cultural anthropology, led to him to question his religious beliefs, and by mid-way through his graduate training, he removed the Christian ichthys that he had been wearing around his neck.^[12][14] Shermer completed his master's degree from California State University in experimental psychology in 1978.^[13]

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.^[15]

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.^[16] 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.^[17] 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"^[18] 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.^[19] Shermer would later produce several documentaries on cycling.^[16]

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").^[13] 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.^[20]

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.^[13][21][22]

Skeptics Society and Caltech Lecture Series[link]

In 1992 Shermer started the Skeptics Society, which produces Skeptic magazine and currently has over 55,000 members.^[23] 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.^[24]

Published works[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer, 2008.

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:

So we are left with the legacy of two types of thinking errors: Type 1 Error: believing a falsehood and Type 2 Error: rejecting a truth. ... Believers in UFOs, alien abductions, ESP, and psychic phenomena have committed a Type 1 Error in thinking: they are believing a falsehood. ... It's not that these folks are ignorant or uninformed; they are intelligent but misinformed. Their thinking has gone wrong.

— Michael Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things, 1997, 2002, 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.^[25]

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[link]

Shermer has appeared on several television shows and documentaries. In addition, he appears regularly at conferences and other speaking engagements.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[26]

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.^[27] Various segments from Exploring the Unknown can be found on Shermer's YouTube channel.^[28]

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."^[29]

Shermer is a frequent guest on Skepticality, the official podcast of Skeptic.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[30]

[edit] Exploring the Unknown

The following are segments Shermer's 1999 Fox Family TV series, Exploring the Unknown.

• "Michael Shermer and Out of Body Experiences"^[31]
• "Michael Shermer on How to Fake UFO Photographs"^[32]
• "Michael Shermer on Spoonbending"^[33]
• "Michael Shermer Firewalking Across Hot Coals"^[34]
• "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 1"^[35]
• "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 2"^[36]
• "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 1"^[37]
• "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 2"^[38]
• "Michael Shermer Decodes the Bible Code"^[39]
• "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 1"^[40]
• "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 2"^[41]
• "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 1"^[42]
• "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 2"^[43]

Other television and film appearances[link]

• August 1983 news segment on Shermer bicycling in Race Across America^[44]
• Unsolved Mysteries, James Van Praagh segment, 1994
• 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^[26]
• 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^[45]
• "What Were You Thinking?", Dateline NBC, April 25, 2010^[46]
• "Did You See That?", Dateline NBC, July 16, 2010^[47]
• The Colbert Report, July 11, 2011
• Paranormal Challenge, Linda Vista Hospital, August 26, 2011

Radio and Web appearances[link]

• Coast to Coast AM, September 1, 2007
• Mr. Deity and the Skeptic YouTube, September 15, 2009^[48]
• Skepticality^{[episode needed]}
• Coast to Coast AM, May 21, 2011 ^[49]
• KGO May 25, 2011

Personal life[link]

Shermer lives in Altadena, California, on the edge of a cliff in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains atop which Mount Wilson stands.^[50]

Politically, Shermer has described himself as a libertarian.^[51]

List of books by Shermer[link]

• 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 1-57607-653-9
• 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 978-0-307-33840-2
• 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 978-0-8050-7832-9
• 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 978-0-8050-9125-0

[edit] List of Skeptic columns published in Scientific American

See also[link]

• James Randi

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Michael Shermer on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• 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

Media[link]

• 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 on YouTube (October 29, 2008)
• "Michael Shermer visits Sydney", Maynard, September 28, 2011