Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time [Anglais] [Broché]

Few can talk with more personal authority about the range of human beliefs than Michael Shermer. At various times in the past, Shermer has believed in fundamentalist Christianity, alien abductions, Ayn Rand, megavitamin therapy, and deep-tissue massage. Now he believes in skepticism, and his motto is "Cognite tute--think for yourself." This updated edition of Why People Believe Weird Things covers Holocaust denial and creationism in considerable detail, and has chapters on abductions, Satanism, Afrocentrism, near-death experiences, Randian positivism, and psychics. Shermer has five basic answers to the implied question in his title: for consolation, for immediate gratification, for simplicity, for moral meaning, and because hope springs eternal. He shows the kinds of errors in thinking that lead people to believe weird (that is, unsubstantiated) things, especially the built-in human need to see patterns, even where there is no pattern to be seen. Throughout, Shermer emphasizes that skepticism (in his sense) does not need to be cynicism: "Rationality tied to moral decency is the most powerful joint instrument for good that our planet has ever known." --Mary Ellen Curtin --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

YA?Dedicated to Carl Sagan, with a foreword by Stephen Jay Gould, this book by the publisher of Skeptic magazine and the Director of the Skeptics Lecture Series at California Institute of Technology, has the pedigree to be accepted as a work of scholarly value. Fortunately, it is also readable, interesting, and well indexed and provides an extensive bibliography. The author discusses such topics of current interest as alien abduction, near-death experiences, psychics, recovered memories, and denial of the Holocaust. Never patronizing to his opponents, Shermer explains why people may truly believe that they were held by aliens (he had a similar experience himself) or have recovered a memory of childhood satanic-ritual abuse. He clearly explains, often with pictures, tables, or graphs, the fallacy of such beliefs in terms of scientific reasoning. While teens may find the first section of the book about "Science and Skepticism" a bit too philosophical and ponderous, the rest of it will surely captivate them. Read cover to cover or by section, or used as a reference tool, this book is highly recommended for young adults.?Carol DeAngelo, Garcia Consulting Inc., EPA Headquarters, Washington, DC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

This book is a ray of light in a nation befogged by pseudoscience and psychobabble. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Brilliant, informed, and incisive dissections of bogus science and history are a major contribution to what one dares hope is a backlash against the still rising tide of New Age nonsense and public gullibility. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

UFO abductions...television psychics...creationism...Holocaust denial. Faced with the rapid changes and anxiety of modern life, many people are turning to the alluring comforts of pseudoscience and the occult. In Why People Believe Weird Things, science historian Michael Shermer, the publisher of Skeptic magazine and director of the Skeptics Society, explores the very human reasons we find supernatural phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. Shermer also reveals the darker and more fearful side of wishful thinking, including Holocaust denial, creationism, the recovered memory movement, alien abduction experiences, the satanic ritual abuse scare and other modern witch crazes, extreme Afrocentrism, and ideologies of racial superiority. A compelling and often disturbing portrait of our immense capacity for self-delusion, Why People Believe Weird Things celebrates the scientific spirit and the joy to be found in rationally exploring the world's greatest mysteries even if many of the questions remain unanswered. Foreword by Stephen Jay Gould. 20 illustrations. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Shermer's directly written book is the perfect handbook to thrust on anyone you know who has been lured into conforming paranoia's that circulate amid the premillenial jitters. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

This is a book that deserves to be widely read. Skeptics and critical thinkers can learn from it, but more importantly, it's a book to give those who maybe aren't as skeptical as you, those who need some clear and reasonable arguments to gently push them in a more critical direction. Read this book yourself: buy it for someone whose mind you care about. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Michael Shermer looks at our fascination with UFOs and aliens, psychics, fad diets and Holocaust-denial in this sometimes circular book. While bringing a much-needed dose of common sense and scientific thinking to seemingly farfetched beliefs, Shermer loses the listener with his monotonous reading. His arguments disputing the existence of the fantastic may work well on paper but sound unconvincing when read aloud. Not until the end of the book, when Shermer talks about his personal experiences, does the listener feel compelled to stand beside the author and join the world of the professional skeptic. H.L.S. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Why People Believe Weird Things is a tour de force and a literary delight, and it should be required reading for anyone who celebrates intellectual integrity. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

"A provocative volume." --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

"...for every soundly documented and reasoned set of specifics, I know of no better single volume than this one. Give it to everybody you know whose head and heart you respect, but who is flirting with irrationality." --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science."
--Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

"Splendid."
--Vanity Fair

Revised and Expanded Edition.

In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science.

Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

With his no-holds-barred assault on popular myths and prejudices, Shermer debunks psychobabble and extraordinary, nonsensical claims. 20 illustrations. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Michael Shermer, Ph. D.