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Jan 13, 2010

Eric_W rated it:

This is a joint review of this book and How We Believe

Shermer postulates that humans have evolved a belief module that helps us find patterns in what appears otherwise to be a meaningless universe. (Why we feel compelled to find meaning in everything continues to puzzle me.) Until about four hundred years ago, when the process of science gave us a method to determine the difference between patterns that are real and those that are mere illusion, the tautologies myth and religion, (a More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 26, 2007

Lena rated it:

Having spent a fair amount of time on my spiritual path believing things that at best had no evidence and at times were quite outrageous, I’ve become very interested in the question that forms the title of this book. A former born-again Christian who is now head of the Skeptic society, Michael Shermer has written a very readable and compelling exploration of the cognitive thinking errors humans regularly make that support belief in ideas that can often be very detrimental to our overall well-be More...

14 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2008

Trevor rated it:

This guy is in Australia at the moment for Science Week and I was thinking of going to see him, but this is not really a week in which I can engage in such optional behaviours – so, I thought I’d get out one of his books instead.

And look, it was very good and if it had been the first book I’d ever read on scepticism (which I think it was written to be) than I really would have been impressed. But it wasn’t the first book I’d read on this subject and so that in itself gave the book a More...

29 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2007

Jason rated it:

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 a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 17, 2008

Levi rated it:

This book is an excellent overview of skepticism. The first few chapters contain handy lists of logical fallacies and common arguing points. It's an easy book to pick up and jump to specific chapters relating to various topics: alien abduction, cults, creationism, holocaust denial, and witch crazes, among others. One critique is that Mr. Shermer goes to more lengths to explain these phenomena and why they are misguided, instead of explaining why people believe these things. Indeed it does s More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Chelsea rated it:

Interesting, but not what I was hoping for. (Which is silly, because the title is pretty accurate. I was hoping for something more along the lines of "Weird Things People Believe and Why They're Wrong". Shermer went into that a little, but not as much as I would have liked.)

I really enjoyed Shermer's take on Creationists, and why they're not only wrong, they're also a little crazy. I'd love to read a more current opinion from him on, say, Dubya. My favorite part of the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

Thermalsatsuma rated it:

Creationists, holocaust deniers, alien abductees, psychic mediums. It's very easy to mock weird beliefs but why do people believe in such things, given the lack of any sort of evidence? More pertinently why do otherwise smart, well educated people believe in weird things?

This book presents a study of different areas of pseudo science and examines how each belief gains credence through a feedback loop of self reinforcement. One particularly interesting chapter looks at how the objectiv More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Leah rated it:

I enjoyed this book, but with a few qualifications.

To start, the book should perhaps be titled, "Some of the Weird Things People Believe," since the book doesn't really get into *why* people believe the things they do. With that caveat, I did enjoy the book for the most part.

The author's central premise is to apply scientific or logical reasoning to some of the more well-known fringe beliefs in the US/Europe. If a fringe belief system calls itself scientific or use More...

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Aug 20, 2011

Holden rated it:

This book is not only an incredibly good book but was what lead me to the Skeptic community.

I found this book at a point in my life where my belief in a lot of really weird things had caused me to hurt and upset many people. I wasn't happy with just accepting I had made mistakes, but wanted to know how and why I had fallen into believing so many incredibly strange things. IT was the title alone I think that lead me to getting this book, but holy hell was it illuminating.

I More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Jorge rated it:

Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

Why People Believe Weird Things finally makes its appearance to the Kindle. In this revised and expanded edition accomplished skeptic and the Director of The Skeptics Society takes an evenhanded and fair approach to addressing why people believe weird things. He tackles a number of pseudo claims including but not limited to: out-of-body experiences, abductions, recovered memory movement, creationism, and holocaust, among others. Thi More...

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Mar 04, 2011

Eric rated it:

4.5 stars. I love Michael Shermer's writing. He has a great talent for quickly getting to the root of an argument. He lays out his ideas very clearly. At one point in the book, he starts to list common fallacies people make in their beliefs about whatever. He doesn't stop at 3 or 4 common errors, but instead he lists out 20 something fallacies. He spent a good chunk toward the end on Holocaust deniers. On one hand, I could have done without such a lengthy treatment on the subject since th More...

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Jun 02, 2010

Marnie rated it:

I have always felt like the books I read intertwine themselves into my memories of that point in my life, but this book, more than any other, stands out as one that isn't just a part of my experience in a time and place but a book that actually changed how I think and view the world, in a meaningful way.

Why People Believe Weird Things is a great first book for exploring the basics of critical thinking and gives one a chance to see real life examples of how faulty reasoning can lead More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 20, 2009

Stevie rated it:

Easy to read and engaging.

I do agree with a previous reviewer that the book wasn't exactly what I expected-- an analysis of weird things and why they aren't true. Instead, it navigates through examples of weird beliefs with more of a focus on the phenomenon of belief than the science of debunking.

The anecdotes chosen don't seem to have a strong tie other than being examples the author is interested in. (Ayn Rand is covered, for example, while Shermer skips Scientology b More...

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Apr 15, 2009

Christopher rated it:

I give this book 5 stars because it will not let me give it 6. This book changed my life in that it allowed me to understand, maybe for the first time, why people think what they think; and how to differentiate between "thinking" and "believing." This book details the human thought process and how people interact with ideas and why, tragically, we believe stupid, stupid things.

The book attacks the "repressed memories" movement, explaining not only why More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2011

Tanja rated it:

Michaels Shermer is my favorite skeptic - I've been reading his column in "Scientific American" for years and years. Only lately have I discovered that he has written books as well. I don't know where I've been. Sadly a whole book of Shermer so far hasn't been as astute and to the point as his columns generally are. I'm still not quite sure what to think of this.

The basic point can be summed up in one sentence though: "Smart people believe weird things because they ar More...

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Apr 30, 2011

Audiaa rated it:

3.5 stars - The beginning of this book went into some interesting details about why people hold beliefs. The rest of the book got into gory detail about a very few and select examples that the author was specifically involved with. The main two topics were evolution and holocaust denying. And rather than explaining why people have the beliefs that they have, the chapters were a scientific defense of the author's beliefs (the right belief) and an explanation of why the other side is wrong. I More...

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Jan 18, 2010

A.J. rated it:

So Sally says she's seen an angel. Listen to people talk long enough, you're likely to hear a bizarre claim such as this. Now, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, friends, citizens of the world––we have ourselves a problem. How do we assess this claim and all the claims like it? After all, Sally isn't reporting to have seen a grilled cheese sandwich or a commercial for LOST. It's something which resides outside the natural world. How do we handle it?

Answer, Dr. Shermer? We sh More...

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Mar 07, 2011

Walter rated it:

This book is a very intriguing one: at times it's compelling, at times it's too timid, but, overall, it's an enjoyable experience. Michael Shermer is a professor and the leader of Skeptic Magazine (and, in effect, is the leading skeptic in our country). His basic thesis - that we should ask questions/challenge assumptions in order to understand our world and each other - is here applied to some of the more unique beliefs and concepts to which many hold like creationism/Intelligent Design, witc More...

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Feb 05, 2012

Dave rated it:

Shermer's last chapter addresses a version of my favorite question. His version is, why do smart people believe weird things? His answer is that smart people form beliefs the same way everyone else does, and maintain them the same way, and just as protective toward them, and can be even more clever in defending them. People look for patterns, sometimes they make mistakes. Can this really explain confirmation bias?

My version is less of a question, more an insight. In areas like politics More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Johan rated it:

People do believe in weird things, but why? After reading this book I do have some understandning that people often do not think rationally and really do much to defend their beliefs, but I don't actually know more about the question why? I thought ,reading the name of the book ,that I would understand more the psychology behind peoples propensity to take shortcuts and draw the wrong conclusions. But I feel I'm not wiser in that regard after 313 pages. Something that i find disturbing is that Mi More...

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Jan 19, 2011

Rob rated it:

Why People Believe Weird Things is kind of a modernistic blend of Martin Gardner’s pioneering Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science and Carl Sagan’s masterpiece, The Demon-haunted World. Author and prominent skeptic Michael Shermer begins with a recollection of his own conversion from evangelical Christian to skeptic, and generalizes from his personal experiences in an overview of the difference between science and pseudoscience/superstition starring the 25 Fallacies That Lead Us To Believe More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

Jim rated it:

I wonder if Michael Shermer’s book should have been titled “Why Do People Believe Weird Things” because it is more an exploration than an exposition. Well-researched and documented, the extensive bibliography alone is worth a look. There is no one answer for all in these pages, because the range of weird beliefs encompasses the gamut of paranormal, alien abduction, religion, etc., each of which must be addressed in a different way. It is important to understand two things about Shermer’s appro More...

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Apr 07, 2009

Lane rated it:

I feel that I should take this opportunity to point out that my user-defined category 'bathroom books' is meant to describe just this sort of book: a collection of well-written and provocative essays or chapters that can be easily digested one-at-a-time in five to ten minute readings. To be sure, the category may inspire snickering or the belief that such literature is trite and intellectually incoherent. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing pejorative or evaluative about ba More...

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Nov 09, 2010

Heather rated it:

This book came to me highly recommended by someone with tastes near my own. Previous selections suggested to me were great. This one left me a little disappointed. Shermer spends a lot of time discussing creationists & Holocaust deniers methods of debate & their source of belief but not why they believe it. While it was an interesting read the title was misleading because it never lived up to itself. There wasn't any discussion of the neurological or even psychological premise for their beliefs. More...

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Jun 27, 2009

Heather rated it:

It's a pretty interesting discussion of the things people continue to believe even though they aren't true, and the ways that intelligent people rationalize errors in thoughts. With short chapters on UFOs, ESP, ghosts, and alien abductions, and longer, more detailed discussions on creation science and holocaust denial, Shermer discusses both the science behind the arguments and also the psychology of the people who work to spread these ideas. It's a little densely written at times, but Shermer More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Justin rated it:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was written by Michael Schermer, who writes one of my favorite columns in Scientific American, Skeptic. It is essentially an exploration of "weird" beliefs that people have and an attempt to understand how those beliefs come about. I think it should be required reading for most everyone because it espouses critical thinking and evaluation. Even if you believe in any of the things he talks about, he approaches it as "here's what supporters pres More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Kimberly rated it:

I didn't finish this one, once it became clear that God is one of the "confusions of our time" and that they author was not going to waste any of his precious time considering the possibility of its truth. His point was to show that human beings will believe anything, even something as ridiculous as religion, because of evolutionary forces, and that we should just face it and move on. A very shallow and dismissive work. If you must read something that atheists take as evidence of the f More...

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Oct 13, 2011

Paras rated it:

When I read the title [and being ignorant of Shermer] I thought its going to provide me with something related to 'defects in brain' that lead us to believe all that. My illusion shattered, the book was abt the way of thinking and skepticism. There was some very interesting modes of thinking explained and yes, it was great to realize that even when we dont go believing in so much, we still possess some fallacies. But I felt this book somehow kept on rambling. May be it was to make one understand More...

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Mar 12, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Although I wasn't a big fan of the author's insistence on compartmentalizing science and art, in general this was a fascinating look at the difference between science and pseudoscience, and the different ways smart people come to believe all manner of odd, unusual, or unproven things. I loved the fact that the author himself grew into his skepticism over time--he'd once been a believer in a number of these things, including believing he'd been abducted by aliens. Also, difficult as it was to rea More...

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Dec 01, 2008

Andy rated it:

This book, written in 1997, is one of those artifacts that helps define the 90's decade, a sort of renaissance for weird beliefs. Shermer, a writer for, and founding publisher of, Skeptic Magazine, debunks some of the more prevalent pseudo-scientific or pseudo-historical beliefs of the period (UFO's, Creationism, Holocaust denial, Witchcraft hysteria, even the personality cult surrounding Ayn Rand), but, more importantly, tries to dig into the origins and causes of those beliefs, starting with More...

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