Michael Shermer

Short description: American science writer (born 1954)

Michael Shermer

Shermer in 2007

Born|  (1954-09-08) September 8, 1954 (age 69)

Los Angeles , California , U.S.

Education| Pepperdine University (BA)
California State University, Fullerton (MA)
Claremont Graduate University (PhD)
Occupation| writer, historian of science, editor
Title| Editor-in-chief of Skeptic, adjunct professor at Chapman University
Website| Official website
Signature

Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher[1] of Skeptic magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims.[2] The author of over a dozen books, Shermer is known for engaging in debates on pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism.

Shermer was the co-producer and co-host of Exploring the Unknown,[3][4] a 13-hour Fox Family television series broadcast in 1999. From April 2001 to January 2019,[5] he contributed a monthly Skeptic column to Scientific American magazine.

Shermer was raised in a non-religious household,[6][7] before converting to Christian fundamentalism as a teenager.[8] He stopped believing in God during graduate school,[7][9] influenced by a traumatic accident that left his then-girlfriend paralyzed.[10] He identifies as an agnostic and an atheist,[11][12][13] but prefers "skeptic".[14][13] He also advocates for humanism.[15][16]

## Contents

* 1 Early life and education
* 2 Career
* 2.1 Cycling
* 2.2 Teaching
* 2.3 Skeptics Society
* 2.4 Published works
* 2.5 Media appearances and lectures
* 3 Allegations of sexual assault and harassment
* 4 Personal life
* 5 Political positions
* 5.1 Gun control
* 6 Awards and honors
* 7 Bibliography
* 8 Media work and appearances
* 8.1 Television
* 8.2 Radio and Web appearances
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Early life and education

Michael Brant Shermer was born on September 8, 1954, in Los Angeles, California.[17][18] He is partly of Greek and German ancestry.[19] Shermer was raised in Southern California, primarily in the La Cañada Flintridge area.[20][21][22] His parents divorced when he was four and later remarried.[21] He has a step-sister, two step-brothers, and two half-sisters.[20][23]

Shermer attended Sunday school but said he was otherwise raised in a non religious household. He began his senior year of high school in 1971, when the evangelical movement in the United States was growing in popularity. At the behest of a friend, Shermer embraced Christianity. He attended the Presbyterian Church in Glendale, California and observed a sermon delivered by a "dynamic and histrionic preacher" who encouraged him to come forward to be saved. For seven years, Shermer evangelized door-to-door.[20][23] He also attended an informal Christian fellowship at "The Barn" in La Crescenta, California, where he described enjoying the social aspects of religion, especially the theological debates.[20]

In 1972, he graduated from Crescenta Valley High School[22] and enrolled at Pepperdine University, intending to pursue Christian theology.[20] Shermer changed majors to psychology once he learned a doctorate in theology required proficiency in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic.[20][22][24] He completed his BA in psychology at Pepperdine in 1976.[25]

Shermer went on to study experimental psychology at California State University, Fullerton. Discussions with his professors,[26] along with studies in the natural and social sciences, led him to question his religious beliefs.[23][26] Fueled by what he perceived to be the intolerance generated by the absolute morality taught in his religious studies; the hypocrisy in what many believers preached and what they practiced; and a growing awareness of other religious beliefs that were determined by the temporal, geographic, and cultural circumstances in which their adherents were born, he abandoned his religious views halfway through graduate school.[23][26]

Shermer attributed the paralysis of his college girlfriend as a key point when he lost faith. After she was in an automobile accident that broke her back and rendered her paralyzed from the waist down, Shermer relayed, "If anyone deserved to be healed it was her, and nothing happened, so I just thought there was probably no God at all."[10]

He earned an MA degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton in 1978.[25]

## Career

### Cycling

After earning his MA in experimental psychology in 1978, Shermer worked as a writer for a bicycle magazine in Irvine, California. He took up bicycle racing after his first assignment, a Cycles Peugeot press conference,[20][27] He completed a century ride (100 miles) and started to ride hundreds of miles a week.[20]

Shermer began competitive cycling in 1979 and rode professionally for ten years, primarily in long distance ultramarathon road racing. He is a founding member of the Ultra Cycling Hall of Fame.[28]

Shermer worked with cycling technologists in developing better products for the sport. During his association with Bell Helmets, a bicycle-race sponsor, he advised them on design issues regarding expanded-polystyrene for use in cycling helmets, which would absorb greater impact than the old leather "hairnet" helmets used by bicyclists for decades. Shermer advised them that if their helmets looked too much like motorcycle helmets, in which polystyrene was already being used, and not like the old hairnet helmets, no serious cyclists or amateur would use them. This suggestion led to their model, the V1 Pro, which looked like a black leather hairnet, but functioned on the inside like a motorcycle helmet. In 1982, he worked with Wayman Spence, whose small supply company, Spenco Medical, adapted the gel technology Spence developed for bedridden patients with pressure sores into cycling gloves and saddles to alleviate the carpal tunnel syndrome and saddle sores suffered by cyclists.[29]

While a long distance racer, he helped to found the 3,000-mile nonstop transcontinental bicycle Race Across America (known as "RAAM", along with Lon Haldeman and John Marino), in which he competed five times (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1989), was an assistant race director for six years, and the executive race director for seven years.[20][30] An acute medical condition is named for him: "Shermer's Neck" is pain in and extreme weakness of the neck muscles found among long-distance bicyclists. Shermer suffered the condition about 2,000 miles into the 1983 Race Across America.[31] Shermer's embrace of scientific skepticism crystallized during his time as a cyclist, explaining, "I became a skeptic on Saturday, August 6, 1983, on the long climbing road to Loveland Pass, Colorado", after months of training under the guidance of a "nutritionist" with an unaccredited PhD. After years of practicing acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, negative ions, rolfing, pyramid power, and fundamentalist Christianity to improve his life and training, Shermer stopped rationalizing the failure of these practices.[32]

Shermer participated in the Furnace Creek 508 in October 2011, a qualifying race for RAAM, finishing second in the four man team category.[24][33]

Shermer has written on the subject of pervasive doping in competitive cycling and a game theoretic view of the dynamics driving the problem in several sports. He covered r-EPO doping and described it as widespread and well known within the sport, which was later shown to be instrumental in the doping scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong in 2010.[34][35][36]

### Teaching

While cycling, Shermer taught Psychology 101 during the evenings at Glendale Community College, a two-year college. Wanting to teach at a four-year university, he decided to earn his PhD. He lost interest in psychology and switched to studying the history of science,[20] earning his PhD at Claremont Graduate University in 1991. His dissertation was titled Heretic-Scientist: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Evolution of Man: A Study on the Nature of Historical Change.[37]

Shermer then became an adjunct professor of the history of science at Occidental College, California. In 2007, Shermer became a senior research fellow at Claremont Graduate University. In 2011, he worked as an adjunct professor at Chapman University,[38][39] and was later made a Presidential Fellow.[40] At Chapman, he taught a yearly critical thinking course called Skepticism 101.[20]

### Skeptics Society

In 1991, Shermer and Pat Linse co-founded[41][42] the Skeptics Society in Los Angeles with the assistance of Kim Ziel Shermer.[43] The Skeptics Society is a non-profit organization that promotes scientific skepticism and seeks to debunk pseudoscience and irrational beliefs. It started off as a garage hobby but eventually grew into a full-time occupation. The Skeptics Society publishes the magazine Skeptic, organizes the Caltech Lecture Series, and as of 2017, it had over 50,000 members.[10]

Shermer is listed as one of the scientific advisors for the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).[44]

### Published works

Shermer’s early writing covered cycling, followed by math and science education for children which included several collaborations with Arthur Benjamin.[24]

From April 2001 to January 2019, he wrote the monthly Skeptic column for Scientific American.[5] He has also contributed to Time (magazine) magazine.[45]

He is the author of a series of books that attempt to explain the ubiquity of irrational or poorly substantiated beliefs, including UFOs, Bigfoot, and paranormal claims.[1][46] Writing in Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (1997), Shermer refers to "patternicity", his term for pareidolia and apophenia or the willing suspension of disbelief.[47] He writes in the Introduction:

> So we are left with the legacy of two types of thinking errors: Type 1 Error: believing a falsehood and Type 2 Error: rejecting a truth. ... Believers in UFOs, alien abductions, ESP, and psychic phenomena have committed a Type 1 Error in thinking: they are believing a falsehood. ... It's not that these folks are ignorant or uninformed; they are intelligent but misinformed. Their thinking has gone wrong.

In How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science (2000), Shermer explored the psychology behind the belief in God.[citation needed]

In February 2002, he characterized the position that "God had no part in the process [of the evolution of mankind]" as the "standard scientific theory".[48] This statement was criticized in January 2006 by the scientist Eugenie Scott, who commented that science makes no claim about God one way or the other.[49]

Shermer's book In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History (2002) was based on his dissertation.[50][51][52]

In his book The Borderlands of Science, (2001) Shermer rated several noted scientists for gullibility toward "pseudo" or "borderland" ideas, using a rating version, developed by psychologist Frank Sulloway, of the Big Five model of personality. Shermer rated Wallace extremely high (99th percentile) on agreeableness/accommodation and argued that this was the key trait in distinguishing Wallace from scientists who give less credence to fringe ideas.[53][clarification needed]

In May 2002, Shermer and Alex Grobman published their book Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?, which examined and countered the Holocaust denial movement. This book recounts meeting various denialists and concludes that free speech is the best way to deal with pseudohistory.

Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown was released in 2005.[citation needed]

His 2006 book Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design marshals point-by-point arguments supporting evolution, sharply criticizing intelligent design. This book also argues that science cannot invalidate religion, and that Christians and conservatives can and should accept evolution.[citation needed]

In The Mind of The Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics (2007), Shermer reported on the findings of multiple behavioral and biochemical studies that address evolutionary explanations for modern behavior. It garnered several critical reviews from academics, with skeptic Robert T. Carroll saying: "He has been blinded by his libertarianism and seduced by the allure of evolutionary psychology to explain everything, including ethics and economics."[54][55][56]

In May 2011, Shermer published The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies: How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.[57][58][59] In a review for Commonweal, writer Joseph Bottum described Shermer as more of a popularizer of science and stated, "science emerges from The Believing Brain as a full-blown ideology, lifted out of its proper realm and applied to all the puzzles of the world."[46]

In January 2015, Shermer published The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom.[60]

Writing for Society in 2017, Eugene Goodheart noted that Shermer identified skepticism with scientism and observed that in his book Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Skeptical Eye (2016) Shermer was a "vivid and lucid" writer who imported his "political convictions into his advocacy of evolutionary theory, compromising his objectivity as a defender of science."[61]

Harriet Hall said of Shermer's 2018 publication, Heavens on Earth, that "the topics of Heavens on Earth are usually relegated to the spheres of philosophy and religion, but Shermer approaches them through science, looking for evidence – or lack thereof."[62]

In 2020, Shermer launched Giving the Devil His Due, a series of 30 reflections on essays that he had published the previous 15 years.[63]

### Media appearances and lectures

Shermer giving a talk at FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada, in July 2016

Shermer appeared as a guest on Donahue in 1994 to respond to Bradley Smith's and David Cole's Holocaust denial claims,Template:Episode needed and in 1995 on The Oprah Winfrey Show to challenge Rosemary Altea's psychic claims.Template:Episode needed

In 1994 and 1995, Shermer made several appearances on NBC's daytime paranormal-themed show The Other Side. He proposed a skepticism-oriented reality show to the producers but it did not move forward. Several years later Fox Family Channel, picked up the series.[64] In 1999, Shermer co-produced and co-hosted the Fox Family TV series Exploring the Unknown.[3] Budgeted at approximately $200,000 per episode, the series was viewed by Shermer as a direct extension of the work done at the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine, with a neutral title chosen to broaden viewership.[64]

Shermer made a guest appearance in a 2004 episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, in which he argued that events in the Bible constitute "mythic storytelling", rather than events described literally. His stance was supported by the show's hosts, who have expressed their own atheism. The episode in question, The Bible: Fact or Fiction?, sought to debunk the notion that the Bible is an empirically reliable historical record. Opposing Shermer was Paul L. Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University.[65]

Shermer presented at the three Beyond Belief events from 2006 to 2008. He has presented at several TED conferences with "Why people believe strange things" in 2006,[66] "The pattern behind self-deception" in 2010,[67] and "Reasonable Doubt" in 2015.[68][69]

Shermer has debated Deepak Chopra several times,[70][71] including on the ABC News program Nightline in March 2010.[72]

In 2012, Shermer was one of three guest speakers[73] at the first Reason Rally in Washington, D.C., an event attended by thousands of atheists,[74] where he gave a talk titled "The Moral Arc of Reason."[75] That same year, Shermer participated in an Intelligence Squared debate titled "Science Refutes God" paired with Lawrence Krauss, and opposing Dinesh D'Souza and Ian Hutchinson.[76]

He is also an occasional guest on Skepticality, the official podcast of Skeptic.[77][78]

Shermer appeared in the 2014 documentary Merchants of Doubt.[79]

## Allegations of sexual assault and harassment

In 2013, blogger PZ Myers published an anonymous account of a woman who said that Shermer had raped her at a conference. Subsequently, he was accused of sexual harassment by two other women.[80] Schermer has denied these allegations.[80][81] In 2019, Illinois Wesleyan University canceled Shermer’s visit for the President’s Convocation at that institution after it learned of the sexual assault allegations.[82]

## Personal life

Shermer married Kim Ziel. They had one daughter together[28] and later divorced. On June 25, 2014 he married Jennifer Graf, a native of Cologne, Germany.[83]

## Political positions

Shermer is a self-described libertarian.[84][85] In a 2015 interview, Shermer stated that he preferred to talk about individual issues after previous experience with people refusing to listen to him after learning he held libertarian views.[86]

In 2000, Shermer voted for libertarian Harry Browne, on the assumption that the winner of the Al Gore – George W. Bush contest would be irrelevant. He later regretted this decision, believing that Bush's foreign policy made the world more dangerous. He voted for John Kerry in 2004. Shermer named Thomas Jefferson as his favorite president, for his championing of liberty and his application of scientific thinking to the political, economic, and social spheres.[87][88]

In June 2006, Shermer, who formerly expressed skepticism regarding the mainstream scientific views on global warming, wrote in Scientific American magazine that, in the light of the accumulation of evidence, the position of denying global warming is no longer tenable.[89]

### Gun control

Shermer supports some measures to reduce gun-related violence.[86] He once opposed most gun control measures, primarily because of his beliefs in the principles of increasing individual freedom and decreasing government intervention, and also because he has owned guns for most of his life. As an adult, he owned a .357 Magnum pistol for a quarter of a century for protection, although he eventually took it out of the house, and then got rid of it entirely. Though he no longer owns guns, he continues to support the right to own guns to protect one's family.[90] However, by 2013, the data on gun homicides, suicides, and accidental shootings convinced him that some modest gun control measures might be necessary.[91]

## Awards and honors

* Fellow, 2001, Linnean Society of London[92]
* California State University, Fullerton Distinguished Alumni Award, 2002[93]
* NCAS Philip J. Klass Award, October 2006[94]
* Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Whittier College, 2008[95]
* Independent Investigations Group, 10th Anniversary Gala award, 2010[96]

## Bibliography

* Shermer, Michael (1985). Sport cycling: a guide to training, racing, and endurance. Internet Archive. Chicago : Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5244-2. http://archive.org/details/sportcyclingguid00sher.
* Shermer, Michael (1987). Cycling: endurance and speed. Internet Archive. Chicago : Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-4775-2. http://archive.org/details/cyclingendurance00sher.
* Shermer, Michael (1989). Teach your child science : making science fun for the both of you. Internet Archive. Los Angeles: Lowell House; Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-929923-08-6. http://archive.org/details/teachyourchildsc0000sher.
* Benjamin, Arthur; Shermer, Michael (1994) (in en). Mathemagics: How to Look Like a Genius Without Really Trying. Lowell House. ISBN 978-1-56565-118-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=dr455x-uoQUC.
* Benjamin, Arthur; Shermer, Michael B. (1996) (in en). Teach Your Child Math: Making Math Fun for the Both of You. Lowell House. ISBN 978-1-56565-481-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlmcPwAACAAJ&q=editions:ISBN1565654811.
* Shermer, Michael (1997) (in en). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-4299-9676-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=LYIkAkBE7tsC&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael (2000) (in en). How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science. Perfection Learning Corporation. ISBN 978-0-613-35413-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=6E8KAAAACAAJ&q=Michael Shermer How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science..
* Shermer, Michael; Grobman, Alex; Hertzberg, Arthur (2000) (in en). Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and why Do They Say It?. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21612-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=0CyqQgAACAAJ.
* Shermer, Michael (2002) (in en). The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515798-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=ino8DwAAQBAJ&dq=Michael Shermer the borderlands&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael (2002) (in en). In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-992385-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=eu9Uu3PbdcgC&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael, ed (2002) (in en). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-653-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&dq=The+Skeptic+Encyclopedia+of+Pseudoscience&pg=PR3.
* Shermer, Michael; McFarland, Dennis (2004) (in en). The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8050-7520-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=8HadBpD351IC.
* Shermer, Michael (2005) (in en). Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8050-7708-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=iHXSxkzFgD4C&q=Science Friction.
* Benjamin, Arthur; Shermer, Michael (2006). Secrets of Mental Math. Internet Archive. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-33840-2. http://archive.org/details/secretsofmentalm00benj_1.
* Shermer, Michael (2006) (in en). Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8050-8121-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=cye1dMqRzEQC&q=Why+Darwin+Matters.
* Shermer, Michael (2007) (in en). The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4299-2443-6. https://archive.org/details/mindofmarketcomp00sher.
* Shermer, Michael (2011). The believing brain : from ghosts and gods to politics and conspiracies – how we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths. Internet Archive. New York : Times Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-9125-0. http://archive.org/details/believingbrainfr0000sher.
* Shermer, Michael (2015) (in en). The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8050-9691-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=HTm3BQAAQBAJ&q=The Moral Arc.
* Shermer, Michael (2016) (in en). Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-62779-138-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=MEEhCwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael (2018) (in en). Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-62779-857-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=HSk_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael (2020) (in en). Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48978-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=3nzUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1.
* Shermer, Michael (2022). Conspiracy – Why the Rational Believe the Irrational. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN:978-1421444451.

## Media work and appearances

### Television

Exploring the Unknown (1999)

* "Michael Shermer and Out of Body Experiences"[97]
* "Michael Shermer on How to Fake UFO Photographs"[98]
* "Michael Shermer on Spoonbending"[99]
* "Michael Shermer Firewalking Across Hot Coals"[100]
* "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection", Parts 1 & 2[101][102]
* "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games", Parts 1 & 2[103][104]
* "Michael Shermer Decodes the Bible Code"[105]
* "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis", Parts 1 & 2[106][107]
* "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment", Parts 1 & 2[108][109]

Other television and film appearances

* August 1983 news segment on Shermer bicycling in Race Across America[110]
* Unsolved Mysteries, James Van Praagh segment, 1994
* The Phil Donahue Show, 1994
* Charlie Rose, April 1996
* "The Power of Belief", ABC News, 1998
* Politically Incorrect, December 22, 2000
* 20/20, December 5, 2003
* Dennis Miller, May 19 and May 20, 2004
* "The Bible: Fact or Fiction?", Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, 2004[65]
* The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis, 2004
* The Eyes of Nye on "Pseudoscience", 2005
* The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, October 4, 2006
* "Doomsday 2012", Decoding the Past, 2007
* Larry King Live, July 13, 2007 and January 24, 2008
* Expelled, 2008
* "Does God Have a Future?", Nightline, ABC, March 23, 2010[111]
* "What Were You Thinking?", Dateline NBC, April 25, 2010[112]
* "Did You See That?", Dateline NBC, July 16, 2010[113]
* The Colbert Report, August 21, 2007
* The Colbert Report, July 11, 2011
* Paranormal Challenge, Linda Vista Hospital, August 26, 2011
* Conspiracy Road Trip: UFOs, BBC Three, 15 October 2012
* Stossel, Fox Business Channel, December 13, 2012
* The Agenda with Steve Paikin Feb 28, 2013 "The Anti-Science Left"
* StarTalk, National Geographic Channel, November 15, 2015

### Radio and Web appearances

* Coast to Coast AM, September 1, 2007 and May 21, 2011[114]
* Mr. Deity and the Skeptic. YouTube. September 15, 2009[115]
* Mr. Deity and the Believing Brain. YouTube. August 3, 2011[116]
* The Rubin Report,[117] January 22, 2016
* The Joe Rogan Experience, March 7, 2016,[118] September 14, 2016,[119] May 16, 2017,[120] January 24, 2018,[121] January 10, 2019[122]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Martelle, Scott (May 2, 2011). "America's Skeptic Laureate: A Profile of Michael Shermer" (in en). https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/47035-america-s-skeptic-laureate-a-profile-of-michael-shermer.html.
2. ↑ Mouallem, Omar (August 27, 2008). "Making a living of bullshit detecting". VUE Weekly. http://www.vueweekly.com/making_a_living_of_bullshit_detecting.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Michael Shermer". Wisconsin Public Radio. 2017-10-26. https://www.ttbook.org/people/michael-shermer.
4. ↑ "Does Science Refute God?" (in en). NPR. December 11, 2012. https://www.npr.org/2012/12/11/166662494/does-science-refute-god.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michael Shermer. "Dr. Michael Shermer – Ask Me Anything # 2". Skeptic.com (Podcast). The Skeptics Society. Event occurs at 5:35. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
6. ↑ Curry, Eugene A. (April 2012). "The Disbelieving Michael Shermer: A Review Essay of Michael Shermer's The Believing Brain". The Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics 5 (1). https://theologicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/jisca/05-1_089.pdf. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Elder, Robert K. (6 April 2006). "Skeptic Shermer's disbelief is science-based". Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-04-06-0604050373-story.html.
8. ↑ Koukl, Greg; Shermer, Michael (31 December 2009). "Greg Koukl and Michael Shermer at the End of the Decade of the New Atheists". Stand to Reason. https://www.str.org/w/greg-koukl-and-michael-shermer-at-the-end-of-the-decade-of-the-new-atheists.
9. ↑ Martelle, Scott (2 May 2011). "America's Skeptic Laureate: A Profile of Michael Shermer". Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/47035-america-s-skeptic-laureate-a-profile-of-michael-shermer.html.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Wolfe, Alexandra (2017-09-01). "Michael Shermer's Skeptical Eye" (in en-US). The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-shermers-skeptical-eye-1504279779.
11. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2002). Why People Believe Weird Things. Henry Holt. p. 136
12. ↑ Stossel, John. Stossel. December 16, 2010 Fox Business Channel.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Shermer, Michael (June 2005). "Why I Am An Atheist". michaelshermer.com
14. ↑ Manuel, Brad (12 May 2020). "Book Review: The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer" (in en). RSG Performance. https://www.rsgperformance.com/post/book-review-the-believing-brain-by-michael-shermer.
15. ↑ "Humanist Manifesto III Public Signers". American Humanist Association. 2008. http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers.
16. ↑ Shermer, Michael (January 2011). "The Science of Right and Wrong". michaelshermer.com
17. ↑ Shermer, Michael (September 2004). "Mustangs, Monists & Meaning". Scientific American (The Work of Michael Shermer) 291 (3): 38. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0904-38. PMID 15376748. Bibcode: 2004SciAm.291c..38S. http://www.michaelshermer.com/2004/09/mustangs-monists-and-meaning. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
18. ↑ Meyer, Ronald Bruce (2013-09-08). "September 8: Michael Shermer (1954)". Freethought Almanac. http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=7176.
19. ↑ Shermer, Michael (April 2, 2019). "Nicholas A. Christakis – Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (Science Salon # 60)". Skeptic/YouTube. 10:40 mark. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
20. ↑ 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 "Michael Shermer Interview". April 27, 2015. https://thebestschools.org/features/michael-shermer-interview/.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Shermer, Michael. The Believing Brain. 2011. Times Books. Chapter 4
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Shermer, 2002, p. 127
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Shermer, The Believing Brain, Chapter 6
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 "Michael Shermer". Meet The Skeptics. November 2011. http://meettheskeptics.libsyn.com/mts-meet-michael-shermer.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Skeptic Magazine: Meet Michael Shermer". The Skeptics Society. 2006. https://www.skeptic.com/about_us/meet_michael_shermer.html.
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things, 2002, p. 128
27. ↑ Fleming, Ed (March 2, 2014). "UltraCycling Hall of Fame Founding Member: John Marino" , ultracycling.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lumia, Carrie (March 2, 2014). "Michael Shermer – Ultra Cycling Hall of Fame". UltraMarathon Cycling Association. http://www.ultracycling.com/sections/awards/hof/shermer/.
29. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2007). The Mind of The Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics. Holt Paperbacks. pp. 59–61 ISBN:978-0-8050-7832-9
30. ↑ "Michael Shermer: Curriculum Vitae". michaelshermer.com. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
31. ↑ Libby. "A Pain in the Neck: Shermer's Neck". UltraMarathon Cycling Association. http://www.ultracycling.com/old/training/neck_pain.html.
32. ↑ Shermer (2002), pp. 13–15.
33. ↑ "2011 Furnace Creek 508 – Great American Toad – team data". AdventureCORPS, Inc.. http://dbase.adventurecorps.com/individualTd.php?e=3631.
34. ↑ "Skepticality: Episode 200. Michael Shermer". Skepticality. 29 January 2013. https://www.skepticality.com/200-episodes/. , 1h20 onward
35. ↑ "Nash Equilibrium, the Omerta Rule, and Doping in Cycling". True/Slant. 7 July 2010. http://trueslant.com/michaelshermer/2010/07/07/nash-equilibrium-the-omerta-rule-and-doping-in-cycling/.
36. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2008). The Doping Dilemma. 298. pp. 82–89. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0408-82. PMID 18380145. Bibcode: 2008SciAm.298d..82S. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-doping-dilemma/.
37. ↑ Shermer, Michael Brant (1991). Heretic-scientist: Alfred Russel Wallace and the evolution of man : a study on the nature of historical change (Thesis/dissertation, Manuscript). Claremont Graduate School. OCLC 26379537.
38. ↑ Ellington, Kim; Bennett, Bo (May 7, 2014). "The Humanist Hour #97: Science and Skepticism with Michael Shermer", TheHumanist.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
39. ↑ "Michael Shermer" profile at RateMyProfessors.com. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
40. ↑ "Presidential Fellows", Chapman University website. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
41. ↑ Ibold, Hans (November 13, 2000). "L.A.'s Own Ghostbuster". Los Angeles Business Journal 22 (46). https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2000/nov/13/paranormal-las-own-ghostbuster/. "Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptic Society in Pasadena.".
42. ↑ Loxton, Daniel (November 2009). "The Paradoxical Future of Skepticism". Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) 33 (6). https://skepticalinquirer.org/2009/11/the-paradoxical-future-of-skepticism/.
43. ↑ Melton, J. Gordon (2008) (in en). The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 308. ISBN 978-1-57859-230-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=FQFlCwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1.
44. ↑ "Our Team". American Council on Science and Health. 30 July 2016. http://acsh.org/about-acsh/scientific-advisors.
45. ↑ Shermer, Michael (November 25, 2014). "The Reason Every One of Us Should Be Thankful". Time (magazine) .
46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Bottum, Joseph (December 2, 2011). "Science Fictions". Commonweal 138 (21): 34+. http://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A274522145/ITOF?u=spl_main&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=82fef4f9.
47. ↑ Nicorvo, Jay Baron (2017-12-13). "Why We Write: The Unwilling Suspension of Disbelief" (in en). https://www.pw.org/content/why_we_write_the_unwilling_suspension_of_disbelief.
48. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2002). "The Gradual Illumination of the Mind". Scientific American 286 (2): 35. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0202-35. PMID 11828698. Bibcode: 2002SciAm.286b..35S. http://www.michaelshermer.com/2002/02/the-gradual-illumination-of-the-mind/. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
49. ↑ Scott, Eugenie. (2006). "Intelligent Design and the Creationism/Evolution Controversy" (00:42:42~00:43:53). University of Michigan. YouTube. July 12, 2013.
50. ↑ van Wyhe, John (March 14, 2003). "In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer" Human Nature Review, Volume 3: 166–168
51. ↑ Manning, Aubrey (2003). "Review: In Darwin's Shadow". Reports of the NCSE. Volume 23. National Center for Science Education. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
52. ↑ Mallet, James (October 10, 2002). "Move over Darwin: A look at the co-disocoverer of natural selection. Neo-Wallaceism anyone?". Nature (Vol 419), pg. 561. University College London website. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
53. ↑ Greenspan, Stephen (December 30, 2008). Annals of Gullibility: Why We Get Duped and How to Avoid It. Praeger. p. 160. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
54. ↑ Carroll, Robert. "Shermer's March to Nirvana". http://skepdic.com/refuge/shermer.html.
55. ↑ Drutman, Lee (25 January 2008). "The economics of man's nature". http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/25/entertainment/et-book25.
56. ↑ Cowen, Tyler. "For Sale: Big Ideas About Humanity". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303386.html.
57. ↑ "The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies: How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
58. ↑ Chivers, David (August 17, 2011). "Book Review: The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer". American Humanist Association. https://thehumanist.com/reviews/book-review-the-believing-brain-by-michael-shermer.
59. ↑ Bailey, Ronald (August 2, 2011). "A Trick of the Mind: Looking for patterns in life and then infusing them with meaning, from alien intervention to federal conspiracy.". Reason Foundation. http://reason.com/archives/2011/08/02/a-trick-of-the-mind.
60. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom by Michael Shermer. Holt, (576p) ISBN 978-0-8050-9691-0" (in en). December 1, 2014. https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8050-9691-0.
61. ↑ Goodheart, Eugene (2017-11-01). "Michael Shermer, Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Skeptical Eye" (in English). Society 54 (6): 585–587. doi:10.1007/s12115-017-0195-9. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=01472011&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE|A545292221&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs.
62. ↑ Hall, Harriet (2018). "Tackling the Big Questions". Skeptical Inquirer 42 (4): 59–60.
63. ↑ Dabhoiwala, Fara (2020-04-23). "Giving the Devil His Due by Michael Shermer a defence of free speech" (in en). http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/23/giving-the-devil-his-due-by-michael-shermer-a-defence-of-free-speech.
64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Shermer, Michael (2001). The Borderlands of Science. Oxford University Press, pp. 10–13.
65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 "The Bible: Fact or Fiction?", Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Season 2. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
66. ↑ Michael Shermer: Professional Skeptic, TED Conference website, November 2006.
67. ↑ Shermer, Michael (February 2010). "The pattern behind self-deception". TED.
68. ↑ Reasonable Doubt on YouTube
69. ↑ Torgovnick May, Kate (March 10, 2014). "Introducing the TED All-Stars: 50+ speakers who’ll return to the stage at TED2014". TED Blog.
70. ↑ "The Great Debate:Deepak Chopra v. Michael Shermer". Skeptic. September 28, 2005
71. ↑ Shermer, Michael (April 5, 2011). "The Woo of Creation:My evening with Deepak Chopra". Skepticblog.
72. ↑ Harris, Dan (March 23, 2010) "'Nightline' 'Face-Off': Does God Have a Future?". ABC News.
73. ↑ Morrison, Patt (March 23, 2012). "The 'Reason Rally:' Atheists gather en masse in D.C. this weekend" . 89.3 KPCC.
74. ↑ MacPherson, Robert (March 24, 2012). "Thousands of US atheists turn out for 'Reason Rally'" (in en-SG). Agence France-Presse. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/thousands-us-atheists-turn-reason-rally-221111374.html.
75. ↑ Shermer, Michael (March 24, 2012). "The Moral Arc of Reason". Skeptic
76. ↑ "Does Science Refute God?". NPR. December 11, 2012
77. ↑ "Skepticality: Episode 200. Michael Shermer". Skepticality. 29 January 2013. https://www.skepticality.com/200-episodes/. , 1h20 onward
78. ↑ Shermer appeared on Skepticality on 29 January 2013, May 24, 2011 and July 13, 2005
79. ↑ Turran, Kenneth (2014-11-14). "Review: 'Merchants of Doubt' shows how public opinion is manipulated" (in en-US). https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-merchants-of-doubt-20141114-column.html.
80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 Schulson, Michael (2018-07-11). "A Skeptic, a Student Newspaper, and a #MeToo Dilemma" (in en-US). https://undark.org/2018/07/11/michael-shermer-skeptic-me-too/.
81. ↑ Winston, Kimberly (September 6, 2018). "Leading atheist, accused of sexual misconduct, speaks out". The Washington Post
82. ↑ Stock, Eric (August 29, 2019). "IWU Cancels Shermer Address Amid Sexual Assault Allegations". WGLT.
83. ↑ Shermer, Michael (September 16, 2014). "Anomalous Events That Can Shake One's Skepticism to the Core". Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/anomalous-events-that-can-shake-one-s-skepticism-to-the-core/.
84. ↑ Shermer, Michael (September 13, 2009). "The Case for Libertarianism". HuffPost. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shermer/the-case-for-libertariani_b_258500.html.
85. ↑ Han, Sheon (June 30, 2022). "The Benefits and Challenges of Cutting Back on Meat" (in en). Time. https://time.com/6192720/reducetarian-diet-benefits-challenges/. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 Shermer, Michael (February 17, 2015). "Arcing Toward Morality – Interview with Dr. Michael Shermer". https://www.skepticality.com/arcing-toward-morality/.
87. ↑ Shermer, Michael (November 2004). "Who's Getting Your Vote?". Reason. https://reason.com/archives/2004/11/01/whos-getting-your-vote/11.
88. ↑ "Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Nobel Prize Winners of the Western Hemisphere. | the American Presidency Project". https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-dinner-honoring-nobel-prize-winners-the-western-hemisphere.
89. ↑ Shermer, Michael (June 2006). "The Flipping Point". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=13&articleID=000B557A-71ED-146C-ADB783414B7F0000.
90. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2013). "The Sandy Hook Effect". Skeptic. Vol. 18 No. 1. p. 39
91. ↑ Shermer, Michael (October 2013). "When Science Doesn’t Support Beliefs", Scientific American, October 2013.
92. ↑ "Anniversary Meeting 2001" . The Linnean (January 2004). Vol 2, No 1, p. 1 Linnean Society of London.
93. ↑ "Skeptic Magazine Founder to Address Library Patrons" . CSUF News, California State University, Fullerton. February 17, 2015.
94. ↑ "NCAS Philip J. Klass AwardOctober 2006". National Capital Area Skeptics. October 2006.
95. ↑ "105th Whittier College Commencement Ceremony" . May 23, 2008.
96. ↑ "The IIG Celebrates its 10th Anniversary". Independent Investigations Group. Retrieved September 5, 2010
97. ↑ "Michael Shermer and Out of Body Experiences" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, originally broadcast on Wide World of Sports (ABC), August 1983
98. ↑ "Michael Shermer on How to Fake UFO Photographs" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
99. ↑ "Michael Shermer on Spoonbending" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
100. ↑ "Michael Shermer Firewalking Across Hot Coals" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, June 2, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
101. ↑ "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 1" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
102. ↑ "Michael Shermer Tests the Polygraph and Lie Detection, Part 2" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
103. ↑ "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 1" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
104. ↑ "Michael Shermer Learns the Art of Con Games, Part 2" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
105. ↑ "Michael Shermer Decodes the Bible Code" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official YouTube channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
106. ↑ "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 1" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
107. ↑ "Michael Shermer Explores Graphology/Handwriting Analysis, Part 2" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
108. ↑ Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 1 on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official YouTube channel, July 9, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
109. ↑ "Michael Shermer Remote Viewing Experiment Part 2 " on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, July 23, 2007, Originally broadcast on Exploring the Unknown, Fox Family, 1999
110. ↑ "Michael Shermer Abducted by Aliens in Race Across America" on YouTube, Michael Shermer's official channel, June 19, 2007, Originally broadcast on television news segment, August 1983
111. ↑ "Does God Have a Future?", Nightline, ABC, March 23, 2010, Full debate on YouTube
112. ↑ "What Were You Thinking?", Dateline NBC, NBC News, April 25, 2010
113. ↑ "Did You See That?", Dateline NBC, NBC News, July 16, 2010
114. ↑ "Show Summary". https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2011/05/21.
115. ↑ "Mr. Deity and the Skeptic" on YouTube. September 15, 2009.
116. ↑ "Mr. Deity and the Believing Brain" on YouTube. August 3, 2011.
117. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The Rubin Report. "Michael Shermer and Dave Rubin: Skepticism, Conspiracy Theories, Libertarians (Full Interview)". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRGyvFykakI.
118. ↑ "JRE #770 – Michael Shermer". 7 March 2016. http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-shermer.
119. ↑ "JRE #846 – Michael Shermer". 14 September 2016. http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-shermer-2.
120. ↑ "JRE #961 – Michael Shermer". 16 May 2017. http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/graham-hancock-randall-carlson-michael-shermer.
121. ↑ "JRE #1068 – Michael Shermer". 24 January 2018. http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-shermer-3.
122. ↑ "JRE #1222 – Michael Shermer". 10 January 2019. http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-shermer-4.

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