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Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer Quotes

Writer

Michael Shermer is an American writer, historian, and science writer. Born on September 8, 1954, he is known for his research on science, pseudoscience, and rational behavior. Shermer is a contributing writer for 'Scientific American' magazine and the founder and publisher of 'Skeptic' magazine. His writings cover a wide range of topics from history to scientific philosophy.

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Famous Michael Shermer Quotes

“... In a free society, skeptics are the watchdogs against irrationalism - the consumer advocates of ideas. Debunking is not simply the divestment of bunk; its utility is in offering a better alternative, along with a lesson on how thinking goes wrong.”

Thinking Ideas Lessons Libertarian Alternatives Consumers Offering Utility Skeptic Free Society Bunk

Author:Michael Shermer

“What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone tool in one's hand, standing before the immense chasm of space and time that is the Grand Canyon, or listening to a scientist who gazed upon the face of the universe's creation and did not blink?”

“I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know. How can we tell the difference between what we would like to be true and what is actually true? The answer is science.”

Knows Want Believe Differences Answers Know How Being True Skeptic

Book:The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

Source: The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

“I just witnessed an event so mysterious that it shook my skepticism.”

Events Mysterious Skepticism

Author:Michael Shermer

“Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. Belief is natural; disbelief, skepticism, science, is not natural.”

Believe States Inspiration Motivation Belief Natural Skepticism Disbelief Default Just Believe

Author:Michael Shermer

“Skepticism is not a position; it's a process.”

Process Position Skepticism

Author:Michael Shermer

“We know evolution happened because innumerable bits of data from myriad fields of science conjoin to paint a rich portrait of life's pilgrimage.”

Knows Bits Rich Happened Fields Evolution Paint Data Portraits Pilgrimage

Book:Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye

Source: Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye