Here's something that's well worth a look – following on from my coverage of Bill Maher's receipt of the Atheist Alliance International's 2009 Richard Dawkins Award, and the controversy that has caused because of Maher's anti-science views on some issues, especially vaccinations (he's been "advising" people not to get a swine flu jab), I think you'll enjoy reading top US skeptic Michael...
Among so many valid statements , did MichaelShermer really need to say this in the course of chiding Bill Maher's suspension of reality-based thinking on H1N1 and vaccinations? To answer my own question: no, MichaelShermer did not need to say it, and he should not have: In fact, the very principle of how vaccinations work is additional proof (as if we needed more) against...
Skeptic MichaelShermer wrote an open letter to antivaxxer Bill Maher, and to be frank, Shermer hit it out of the park. There’s nothing I need to or can add to what he wrote. Go read it.
Over on Richard Dawkin's blog, MichaelShermer types an open letter to Bill Maher on vaccinations: Vaccination is one of science’s greatest discoveries. It is with considerable irony, then, that as a full-throated opponent of the nonsense that calls itself...
Synopsis Bestselling author MichaelShermer explains how evolution shaped the modern economy—and why people are so irrational about money. How did we make the leap from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumers and traders? Why do people get so emotional and irrational about bottom-line financial and business decisions? Is the capitalist marketplace a sort of Darwinian organism,...
Michael Moore is the Leni Riefenstahl of our time. Or, perhaps he would be better characterized as a Bizzaro World Leni Riefenstahl, because while she...
At the Atheist Alliance International conference this past weekend in Burbank, California, the Skeptics Society had a booth in the vendor's section of book sellers...
I just got back from MichaelShermer's lecture on Why People Believe Weird Things , obviously based on his book of the same name. It was a good time with a very nearly sold out auditorium. He is a practiced speaker with entertaining slides and video aids and the audience was kept attentive throughout. Even the Q&A at the end was good, although I wanted to ask about whether or not...
The Unbearable Nakedness of CLIMATE CHANGE (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
“Chill Out” blog on AGW skepticism by nonskeptical Skeptic MichaelShermer (Sep 29). Shermer’s point is so incredibly obvious, I am sure very few people will be able to “get it”: In my opinion we need to chill out on all extremist plans that entail expenses best described as Brobdingnagian, require our intervention into developing countries best [...]...
Science, Reason and Critical Thinking (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
... experienced on the Alpha course . This lead to various other science books and eventually a MichaelShermer book, which lead me to the Skeptic magazine . It was this magazine that introduced me to the " Skepticality " podcast which is at the root of much of my current reading, listening, meetings and nights out. Here's a clumsy diagram outlining some of the key books, podcasts,...
... Lipstadt and now serves as a clearinghouse for news about Holocaust denial. Topics include Dr. MichaelShermer being interviewed on Why There Are Holocaust Deniers and Deborah Lipstadt discussing The Ethical Challenge Posed by Holocaust Denial . The only problems I have with the podcasts are that there are too few of them and there hasn't been a new one since April. Fortunately, my...
... some alchemy education into the chemistry lab. So, what is science? Well, according to skeptic MichaelShermer, science is "a set of methods designed to describe and interpret observed or inferred phenomena, past or present, aimed at building a testable body of knowledge open to rejection or confirmation." It is important to note that by definition, science is modifiable and falsifiable....
