Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

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.

Shermer, Michael: - Michael Shermer is the founder and publisher of Skeptic magazine, Director of the Skeptics Society, Adjunct Professor of the History of Science at Occidental College, and host of the Skeptics Lecture Series at Caltech. He is also the host of a national TV show called Exploring the Unknown (Fox Network) and the author of Why People Believe Weird Things (1997), and How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science (1999). Alex Grobman is President of the Institute for Contemporary Jewish Life; editor of Genocide: Critical Issues of the Holocaoust(1983), as well as In Defense of the Survivors: The Letters and Documents of Oscar A. Mintzer, AJDC Legal Advisor, Germany, 1945-46 (1999); and author of Rekindling the Flame: American Jewish Chaplains and the Survivors of European Jewry, 1944-1948 (1992) and Out of the Depths of Despair: Rabbi Nathan Baruch and the Vaad Hatzala in Post-War Europe (forthcoming, 2002)

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780716730903
ISBN 10	0716730901
Title	Why People Believe Weird Things
Author	Michael Shermer
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Macmillan Learning
Year published	1997-03-15
Number of pages	294
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable