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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

“No such individual would find the Golden Rule surprising in any way because at its base lies the foundation of most human interactions and exchanges and it can be found in countless texts throughout recorded history and from around the world - a testimony to its universality.”

World Way Humans Lying Found Individual Foundation Golden Around The World Surprising Interaction Testimony Golden Rule Universality

Book:The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

Source: The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

“Science is the best tool ever devised for understanding how the world works.”

World Understanding Tools

Author:Michael Shermer

“Humans evolved brains that are pattern-recognition machines, adept at detecting signals that enhance or threaten survival amid a very noisy world. ... But there is only one surefire method of proper pattern recognition, and that is science.”

World Humans Brain Survival Machines Method Patterns Recognition Signals Noisy Adept

Author:Michael Shermer

“In the long run, it is better to understand the way the world really is rather than how we would like it to be.”

World Way Long Running Long Runs

Author:Michael Shermer

“...evolution is not a religious tenet, to which one swears allegiance or belief as a matter of faith.. It is a factual reality of the empirical world. Just as one would not say 'I believe in gravity," one should not proclaim 'I believe in evolution.”

World Should Believe Matter Reality Belief I Believe Religious Evolution I Believe In Gravity Swear Allegiance Factual

Book:Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design

Source: Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design

“Perceiving the world as well designed and thus the product of a designer, and even seeing divine providence in the daily affairs of life, may be the product of a brain adapted to finding patterns in nature. (38)”

World Wells May Brain Seeing Divine Products Findings Affair Patterns Designer Providence Adapted Divine Providence

Book:Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design

Source: Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design

“How can we find spiritual meaning in a scientific worldview? Spirituality is a way of being in the world, a sense of one’s place in the cosmos, a relationship to that which extends beyond oneself. . . . Does scientific explanation of the world diminish its spiritual beauty? I think not. Science and spirituality are complementary, not conflicting; additive, not detractive. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades. (158-159)”

Thinking World Way May Doe Spiritual Spirituality Source Oneself Explanation Awe Cosmos Diminish Worldview Spades Complementary Additives Spiritual Beauty

Author:Michael Shermer

“Play hard, work hard, love hard. . . .The bottom line for me is to live life to the fullest in the here-and-now instead of a hoped-for hereafter, and make every day count in some meaningful way and do something-no matter how small it is-to make the world a better place.”

World Way Matter Hard Play Lines Atheism Hard Work Bottom Atheist Meaningful Live Life Better Place Bottom Line Here And Now Hereafter Live Life To The Fullest Play Hard Hard Love

Author:Michael Shermer

“As Karl Marx once noted: 'Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.' William Jennings Bryan and the Scopes trial was a tragedy. The creationists and intelligent design theorists are a farce.”

World Firsts Facts Science History Design First Time Tragedy Intelligent Add Historical Trials Scope Remarks Theorists Farce Intelligent Design Hegel Bryan Historical Facts Scopes Trial

Author:Michael Shermer