Customer Reviews

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, And Other Confusions Of Our Time

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I grew increasingly annoyed with this book towards the latter pages. Of course, I agree with Shermer's skeptical and scientific method of thought wholeheartedly, and the initial chapters were quite interesting as he explores what skepticism and the scientific method is, and why it's important. The chapters debunking things like alien abductions, E.S.P. and contact with the dead were interesting but felt too much like a usual-suspects list. This could be my fault however because I did have a subscription to Skeptical Enquire and maybe I'm too familiar with these subjects. The usual creationism-evolution debate is here, including 25 philosophical and scientific answers to creationist arguments against evolution, which is informative and would be helpful if you ever find yourself in a debate with a creationist. The section on the "recovered memory" movement was very good, and pretty frightening actually. It still amazes me the things people will allow themselves to believe, without any evidence at all, and that gets into what annoyed me about this book: I still don't really know.

The "why" part of people believing weirds things is not adequately addressed. Another annoyance, where I became skeptical of Shermer himself as an unbiased skeptic, is the chapter about the Ayn Rand cult. Now, I've never read any of Rand's books, and am only slightly familiar with her Objectivist philosphy, but he devotes maybe a few sentences to why the philosophy is weird in the first place. Hey maybe it is weird, but I'm not going to take his word for it without a better explanation. Shermer himself used to be an Objectivist and an "enthusiastic follower of Ayn Rand", but now that he's seen the light all of a sudden it's weird.

The chapter that made me close the book in frustration was "Pigeonholes and Continuums", which is an attempt to debunk the sensitive subject of differences in race and I.Q., and if there are indeed "races" at all. He touches on the Bell Curve, and mentions Phillipe J. Rushton as well, who has written very controversial things about Race and I.Q., and Shermer promptly dismisses him with a wave of the hand because some of Rushton's research is backed by a group called the "Pioneer fund", who supposedly has connections to Holocaust denial among other shady business. That's all nice, but what about Rushton's arguments, and why is Rushton weird? He mentions a controversial article by Rushton published in the "prestiguous" (his words) science journal 'Intelligence', which we know anything published is peer-reviewed, but then does very little to refute anything specific in this article. He handpicks a select few scholars on race who enforce the "safe" and acceptable view of genetic racial differences; that their really are none. They could be right and this has nothing to do with what I believe, but the chapter is presented in a way that strongly contradicts what Shermer preaches about and I could no longer take the book too seriously.

3 stars however because there are otherwise redeeming sections in this book.

This book seems to hold great promise from the outset. It's a book (as the author would confess) that values reason, science, knowledge and the examination of beliefs. Nothing wrong with that. However, the book seems to ramble on a bit and takes on the feel of the author's personal musings instead of objective examination of the material. A couple of the chapters could be condensed into one chapter that contains more focus and sticks to the topic. For instance, in one chapter Shermer drones on about the diff. aspects of creation-science and real science which is testable. This is great except he lists a myriad of arguments in brief. The only way you could do anything worthwhile with the material intellectually is to dig deeper into other books with more insight on the topic. In other words, you aren't going to reach any conclusions yay or nay with such brief explanations. He discusses holocaust denial in a "part" of the book which is fine except a couple of the chapters once again could be condensed since the later chapter seems to rehash much of what was said before only in greater detail. Lastly, the very last chapter which deals with a Dr. Tipler and his fantasy-like Omega Point theory is superfluous. This is Shermer's personal book review of Tipler's physics work. To put it crudely, who really gives a crap except someone with a vested interest in physics? A short description of the weirdness of Tipler's work would have been sufficient. Also, one other gripe; Shermer seems to portray the personal idea that objective science is good and that theories are subject to change over time-"facts are data". Yet, despite him stating these points I found him more than once claiming evolution as fact. I am not saying that it isn't but am suggesting he should reframe himself to say it's commonly accepted as fact because of such and such testable evidence. Also, Shermer does discuss fringe beliefs somewhat such as; alien abductions, afrocentrism, witch hunts and the like. However, in my opinion he strayed away too much from these interesting topics and went into personal musings about science instead. Anyway, I can see many people giving negative reviews of this book simply because they do not like Shermer's relativistic, hard-science stand. That's no fault of his own though...Finally, I would recommend the book despite its flaws because it is for lack of a better description interesting. It could have been much better but we will have to accept it on merit of the ideas it espouses and not so much for the overall content.

I first read this book about two years ago and thought the world of it. Well, I recently re-read it and my opinion has changed a bit.

When you are a youth that cant stand religion, homeopathy or Deepak Chopra, a book like this is great. Through personal tales, Shermer explains not why people belive wierd things, but why he believed wierd things and how he overcame it. His past was full of new-age curealls, Objectivism and other silly cultish stuff and Shermer is quick, not only to point out why we get trapped into fuzzy thinking, but express sympathy with those who currently do.

If this makes the book sound condescending, that's because it is. This is why I changed my opinion about the book. What I originally read as a calm, objective book now seems a bit polemic and, honestly, that's the way most people will read it. Of course, there are other books along the lines of this one but they all seem to miss one crucial thing. Instead of explaining that new-age, Deepak and homeopathy are pseudosciences, the books never explain what is flawed about them (besides the fact that they're so silly!) and how we, the readers, can spot the flawed arguments for ourselves. This book, to conclude, is chock-full of anecdotes and jabs but, getting caught up in the fun of it, never answers the title question.

The overall grade for this book is good, I recommend it, but it could definitely be much better. Shermer is one super skeptic fellow, and one that respects most of the people whose claims he tries to debunk. Through the book he can't deny his psychology background, since he continually makes reference to different psychological concepts (and their application to scientists like Tippler, or to holocaust deniers), this is not bad, but the truth is I wasn't expecting a pseudo-psychoanalisis on his opponents. The book is really entertaining, and has a lot of interesting anecdotes and experiences as well as good bibliographic investigation to support every case. Once again, the book is entertaining and enlightening at times, I surely recommend it.

A 1990 Gallup poll revealed that 52% of adult Americans believe in astrology, 42% believe in extrasensory perception, 22% believe aliens have visted the Earth, 41% believe that dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth simultaneously, 42% believe in communication with the dead, 35% believe in ghosts, and 67% have had a psychic experience (p. 26). Still others believe that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a look-alike, that giant alligators inhabit the sewers of New York, that George Washington had wooden teeth, and that the Air Force kept the bodies of aliens in a secret warehouse following a New Mexico flying saucer crash. Michael Shermer wonders why these people believe such things.

Shermer became a born-again skeptic on August 6, 1983, while bicycling up Loveland Pass, Colorado, following an intense training program of megavitamins, colonics, iridology, Rolfing, and other alternative, New Age therapies (p. 15). For those unfamiliar with his work, Shermer is the editor in chief of Skeptic magazine, a frequent contributor to Scientific American, and author of HOW WE BELIEVE and THE SCIENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL. In his first book, WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS, he takes on subjects including Holocaust denial, psychics, creationism, alien abductions, Satanism, Afrocentrism, near-death experiences, recovered memories, Ayn Rand, and astrology. The result will either be interesting and entertaining for readers who share Shermer's love for critical thinking, or antagonizing for readers who instead identify with creationists, fundamentalists, New Age gurus or paranormal preachers.

Most of the material included here was originally published in Skeptic magazine, and the 2002 revised edition of Shermer's book includes a new Introduction as well as an additional chapter on why smart people believe weird things. Shermer not only writes from personal experience, inasmuch as he previously believed in fundamentalist Christianity, alien encounters, Ayn Rand's philosophy, and megavitamin therapy, but he also examines his subject matter using the tools of scientific reasoning. "Most believers in miracles, monsters, and mysteries are not hoaxers, flimflam artists, or lunatics," he observes; "most are normal people whose normal thinking has gone wrong in some way" (p. 45). People fall into "fuzzy" thinking for reasons of consolation, immediate gratification, simplicity, moral meaning, and wishful thinking. In Chapter Three, "How Thinking Goes Wrong," he carefully examines the kinds of logical fallacies that allow people to believe weird (scientifically unsubstantiated) "nonsense," and concludes that when it comes to recognizing other people's fallacious reasoning, Spinoza said it best: "I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them" (p 61).

G. Merritt

In the public library where I live I found four shelves of floor to ceiling books on astrology, out-of-body experiences, the emotional lives of plants, alien abductions, ESP, Atlantis, and similar nonsense. The same library had only three books on skepticism and critical thinking: Sagan's Demon-Haunted World, this book, and Wendy Kaminer's Sleeping with Extraterrestrials. (That ratio of nonsense to sense is probably a pretty good picture of the mind of the American public. We live in a world where cable networks present haunted houses -- there is not a single instance where it has ever checked out in the real world when actually investigated -- as serious nonfiction.) They each had a somewhat different emphasis, but they all deal with the problem in this society that few people understand what evidence is or what to do with it if you manage to acquire some. Ms Kaminer was better on the social dynamics of New Age folks, and Dr. Sagan was a better writer, but this is a solid introduction to developing mental antibodies to the crap constantly being fed us. Worth handing to a relative paying psychics for advice.

Shermer is a skeptic who explores the importance of rigorous scientific inquiry in our everyday lives. We all know that people say and believe some rediculous things that have no foundation in logic, and this book does a good job of exploring why as well as providing insight into how you can avoid such traps by simply... thinking.

A triumph for the Scientific Method (and a good, quick read).

I don't like to get hyperbolic about certain books, as in you gotta read this or you're dumb, but if you're going into science, or even if you claim a decent education, then Shermer's book, while not necessarily an in-depth analysis or catalogue of the causes behind various beliefs (though he provides a few psychological jumping-off points), is a good overview of scientific thought and history. What scientific thought is and isn't. There is no militant atheism here, or gloating (as another reviewer felt) over his intellectually superior position to historical revisionists, cons, academic hacks and quacks. I felt that there was a mature even-handedness to consideration of all points of view. A NY times writer wrote of his third book in this series (Science of Good and Evil) as having poor style, which I haven't read yet, but this book doesn't suffer from that at all. I thought the writing was original, bereft of cliche, and intelligent. It doesn't pander to a "general" audience and it is not too technical, but I can see where someone who doesn't have more than a passing interest in science or psychology might lose interest in the overarching theme. While some fault Shermer for being so gullible as to have been a born-again, an objectivist, and a new-age tinkerer (pyramids, crystals, herbs and such) as a younger man, I don't think this is a hindrance in taking Shermer's work and career in full. His contribution to the legacy of Sagan, Gardner, Gould, et al. is incontrovertible, what with founding the Skeptic's Society and editing its notable journal, and his strong academic career. While there are greater works in the canon for heavyweight science readers, I highly recommend it for a good introduction to scientific thought for the tourist and local.

So just why is a sucker born every minute anyway? This book tells you by honestly recounting the various beliefs people have been suckered into. From witchcraft to holocaust denial, Shermer honestly examines the social, historical and sometimes personal issues that bring people to the fringe. He also manages to do so with compassion for those who've been suckered. Like the Clarence Darrow character from "Inherit the Wind," his power comes not a unilateral condemnation of that which is different but an unconditional concern for those misled. Yes, the birds may have lost their wonder, but we can take flight.

I loved this book. It is scholarly yet readable, funny (in the right places) and utterly fascinating. The author discusses a variety of popular beliefs such as ESP, spirit communication, alien abduction, near death experiences, creationism and Holocaust denial and gives a decent explanation of why people believe such things but even better, he debunks them with practical reason and scientific evidence. He also shows how dangerous right wing fanatics and extremists (such as the Holocaust deniers) are and how their close-minded rhetoric is a threat to us all. On a lighter note, the author's recollections of his appearances on Oprah, Phil Donahue and other talk shows is sometimes hilarious. Thoughtful, intelligent and should be required reading in colleges.