Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermeris an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members. Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism...
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth8 September 1954
Michael Shermer quotes about
accepted beneficial firearms minimal minimum placed sale
I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric of minimal restrictions on individuals.
attributes family groups helped identify signals social survive whom
As a social primate species, we modulate our morals with signals from family, friends and social groups with whom we identify because in our evolutionary past, those attributes helped individuals to survive and reproduce.
morality intolerance absolutes
Absolute morality leads logically to absolute intolerance.
agents principles moral
To be a fully functioning moral agent, one cannot passively accept moral principles handed down by fiat. Moral principles require moral reasoning.
flukes evolution quirks
We are a fluke of nature, a quirk of evolution, a glorious contingency.
groups moral habit
Providentially, learned habits can be unlearned, especially in the context of moral groups.
plato historical facts
Plato wove historical fact into literary myth.
effectiveness skeptical supplements
One, I am skeptical of the effectiveness of nutritional supplements.
nonlinear unpredictable humans
Human history is highly nonlinear and unpredictable.
numbers crowds problem
For solving a surprisingly large and varied number of problems, crowds are smarter than individuals.
numbers google algorithms
In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued by the number of links to their page of origin.
arrow consciousness emergence exploring neural points toward
We should be exploring consciousness at the neural level and higher, where the arrow of causal analysis points up toward such principles as emergence and self-organization.
built humans magical natural nature outside tendency toward
The natural inclination in all humans is to posit a force, a spirit, outside of us. That tendency toward superstitious magical thinking is just built into our nature.
budgetary experience fulfilling people terms
In my experience, people are usually fired for reasons having to do with budgetary constraints, incompetence or not fulfilling the terms of a contract.