Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

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.
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1-10 out of 97

From: Amazon
Posted: Sep-23-2009

"why people believe weird things", or stupid stuff people believe and how it is stupid

The book does a fine job rationally dissing and debunking fringe and/or unscientific beliefs like Holocaust denial (which gets a disproportionate chunk of the book), creationism, ghosts and witch crazes -so if your looking for a book that explains to you why these types of things are stupid you...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Aug-17-2009

Thought-provoking, but poorly titled

Though I don't usually highlight books, I kept a highlighter handy while reading this one, because it's full of excellent insights backed by impressively thorough research. Author and Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer astutely dissects a wide array of fringe and/or unscientific beliefs,...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-27-2009

Misleading Title led to a very "slow read"

I expected to read a fun book about why people believe weird things as that is the title. However, shame on me for not skimming the book more carefully in the book store. I thought a chapter on cults would explain in details how people get sucked into cults in general with a few different...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-16-2009

There must be a reason for the title.

It's interesting reading. Schermer is a self-admitted skeptic, but he's fair and sound in his reasoning. I'm not quite finished with the book, so am still looking for some of the reasons he thinks people believe wierd things.He talks about the pros and cons of creation vs evolution, holocaust...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jun-12-2009

Why people believe in reading this book... I don't know

Why people believe in reading this book.... I have no idea. Although the concepts were intriguing, the overall dry tone and expected commentary came off as pompous and elitists. Reading this book seemed to have no sense of rhyme or reason. Each topic seemed to simply pop up and there be no...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jun-10-2009

Solid analysis of need for critical thinking

Michael Shermer has unequivocally devoted his energies and life-efforts at defending a rational/skeptical and questioning mode of thinking and understanding. He has summarized much of that effort, with some excellent examples, in Why People Believe Weird Things.I would suggest to potential...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jun-09-2009

The Holocaust Deniers and how they got that way

That is the most valuable part of the book. As for the rest of the text, there were a few valuable points but reader has to suffer through a lot of junk to get them.

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jun-05-2009

Shermer's Adventures as a Skeptic

Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things started off pretty strong, with in-depth explanations of what a skeptic is (with a helpful explanation of the difference between skeptic and cynic) and a convoluted, but understandable definition of science. For me, the rest of the book went...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Feb-05-2009

For weird thinkers...like all of us

This is a truly wonderful book! From alien abductions to witcraft to holocaust denial, this book recounts the various ways in which human thinking can go awry to make people believe wierd things.Like Carl Sagan's Science as a Candle in the Dark in a Demon Haunted World this book spends an entire...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jan-15-2009

Should have been titled "The Weird Things People Believe and Why They're Wrong"

This book should have been titled The Weird Things That People Believe and Why They're Wrong. The book is a collection of Shermer's articles (previously published in his Skeptic magazine) which refute a wide range of topics--from fringe beliefs like Holocaust denial and implications of race, to...

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