Michael Shermer on Charlie Rose on Pseudoscience, Part 1

[Itsokdontpanic]

@simbeau Well said.

[PastorIblis]

Was JFK a Conspiracy Theorist in the speech that got him killed where he said Point blank that there is a Monolithic & Ruthless Conspiracy?

Is it a Theory to quote David Rockefeller's own Memoirs where he says, "His Family has been accused of begin part of a secret Cabal interested in the destruction of the United States. and He says if that is the charge i stand GUILTY & PROUD OF IT!

Are the Georgia Guidestones a Theory?

With the Ten Commandments of the NEW WORLD ORDER?

[phlewis86]

I think that having hope for a better tomorrow is a good thing but it should be done without giving people false assurances. I think it is good to have a healthy amount of skepticism.

[MonicaKn17]

His voice is sounds pretty cool for some reason.

[ZenArrow]

The mind set on proving is so different from the mind set on disproving. Neither can see the other angle unless they change their mind's goal to the appropriate mode. One cannot just see one angle & think they have the truth. For the mind only sees what it is focused upon looking for. One can always find fault. One can always see apparent truths which seem to back things. The bigger picture requires many angles. Talking to someone in fault finding mode is frustrating, as is often the case here.

[ZenArrow]

Two types of sceptics... Open Minded and Close Minded. One is open to new data and to seek the truth. The other has their mind made up already and won't take any new data. A true open minded sceptic will seek truth and do research... a closed minded one will rest on others laurels and lack the understanding that a truth seeker will have. Some argue for ego... others seek the truth where ever it may lead... a closed mind does not listen, nor does it have ears to see.

[Smithpolly]

@ZenArrow Two types of non-sceptics ...Open Minded and Close Minded.

[cmpresents]

Even if there is no God, this guy shemer is full of shit. He's just another capitalist who found a niche.

[bleesev2]

@cmpresents where does he give you the idea that he is a strong capitalist? Whats wrong with capitalism? what the do you mean niche?

[atheistkyo]

Shermer has grown up since this interview. It almost sounds like he is too afraid to critisize religion. He's much more outspoken and direct now.

[MrXAVIERDB]

i am surprised that someone of Charlie Roses position has this fuckin nobody clown on his show..this guy has too be a goverment stoge...he has an answer too everything under the sun(maybe he can give me lottery numbers)and he prasies Carl Sagan ..a halfwit pot head jew from Cornell?...Sagan was a sterotypical academic from the northeaeast....what a joke...

[simbeau]

@MrXAVIERDB Shermer is neither a nobody nor a clown. He won't give you lottery numbers cause he (and I) know that almost all, if not all, psychics are frauds.

And if you can't see the immense contribution of Carl Sagan to the application of the scientific method to society then you need to read more science yourself. Sagan brought astronomy into America's homes and taught millions of people that evidence is an amazing tool we can use to circumvent these lousy brains of ours.

[wcrowley111]

@MrXAVIERDB you = moron. a genuinely believe the world would be better if you were never born.

[MrXAVIERDB]

@wcrowley111 LOLOLOLOOL...OH BOY YOUR JUST TOO RICH FOR ME BROTHER....LOLOLO

[theUSER101]

@MrXAVIERDB LOL. You're one of those guys huh? You have logic, facts and science? Thats what Shermer is all about. Are you pissed because intelligent people don't believe in your woo bull shit?

[MrXAVIERDB]

@theUSER101 if thats what you think pal...thats ok...at least i dont insult you for your point of view....ASSWIPE!!!!

[theUSER101]

@MrXAVIERDB Your point of view is irrational by definition. Lets start living in reality.

[bleesev2]

@MrXAVIERDB I respect Freedom of speech but you have to respect other peoples freedom of speech as well. So for saying that i am simply going to say, "Fuck You" Because if you even took to time to try and disprove your own claim, you would be done spreading that nonsense months ago.

[MrXAVIERDB]

@bleesev2 kiss my ass......the comment stands Sagan(who my father worked with at Cornell)is/was an arrogant fuck that NOBODY in there right mind would be proud too call a friend......as stated above a pot smokeing Jew from the northest and nothing more....."billions and billions"...yeah right.....i do respect YOUR opinion but respect mine!!!!

[bleesev2]

@MrXAVIERDB I don't need to respect your opinion, i can respect Freedom of Speech, and you have all the right to say what i said, no matter how illegible it actually was. Micheal Shermer does not take in an active hobby of smoking pot, and he is not Jewish (he is atheist), Micheal Shermer has many friends, (and customers) so, idk what your talking about

[MrXAVIERDB]

@bleesev2 LOLOLOLOL...i just love razzing idiots like you....enjoy the weekend!!!!!LOLOLOLOLOLO

[bleesev2]

@MrXAVIERDB I shall :D

[MrXAVIERDB]

@bleesev2 BE WELL!!!!

[DemokritosAbdera]

@MrXAVIERDB sad troll is sad.

[MrXAVIERDB]

@bleesev2 LOLOLOLOLOOL....I AM LOVEING IT BROTHER HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

[STEPHENWRAYSFORD33]

I think that 1 big difficulty is that when ever we think or argue our biases and our prejudices come into our thinking in all kinds of ways that we don't even realise. It's almost impossible to be 100% objective & impartial. For example, Shermer is a believer in Free Market Captialism & this must affect his thinking in a number of ways. One good thing to say about science is that it uses the process of peer review and blind trials to help eliminate biases or error.

[Cajunninja65]

Ughhh I give up on trying to talk to people on message boards or forums, it gets really tiring trying to explain every little thing to stupid people. I feel sorry for public school teachers having to deal with morons on a daily bases.

[mehashi]

@Cajunninja65 ...Basis?

It is always entertaining to correct someone who is fed up with morons.

^_^

[CheStillFighting]

@mehashi not necessarily, perhaps he's referring to gym teachers.

[mehashi]

@CheStillFighting Haha! Nice, I didn't think of that possibility.

However if that is true then I should correct his grammar rather than spelling.

(... morons on bases daily.)

:P

[CheStillFighting]

@mehashi i like it :D

[Cajunninja65]

the problem with shermer is that he looks to find holes in everything, and in doing so he is guilty of what he criticizes against...he will find them if he looks hard enough. All conspiracies have at the very least one aspect of truth...shermer will always find the parts that are not true and move on...

[thisisnotanick]

@Cajunninja65 "All conspiracies have at the very least one aspect of truth"

Do you have any evidence for this at all?

[Cajunninja65]

@thisisnotanick Something has to be true or the conspiracy can't be started in the first place. If you see a senator meeting with another senator in a dark alley, something is obviously going on. whether that something is malicious is another story....

[thisisnotanick]

@Cajunninja65 "Something has to be true or the conspiracy can't be started in the first place"

This is clearly dead wrong, anyone with half a brain could make up a conspiracy any time they want.

Senator meeting with another senator in a dark alley? What on Earth are you on about?

[donofon101]

I dislike Shermer too. The two guys in Canada are right to stick up for David Ray Griffen. But the young Canadian failed to even enter Shermer's name in the Claremont Graduate University website's search engine. He was hired to teach "pseudo-economics" in Nov. 2007. Funny for a guy who hates "pseudo-science". He used to believe a lot of crap himself..and "found the light" while riding his bike.

[chromelung66]

This guy is a paid liar. He is one of those guys paid to debunk everything from JFK to 9-11. And hes really lame for a government plant. Check out how 2 guys in Canada OWNED his lying ass a few months ago over 9-11. And if these things aren;t true, why would Mel Gibson, Helen Thomas, & Rick Sanchez be getting fired? Why was JFK shot 2 mos after signing law to eliminate the Fed Reserve? If he'd lived & stayed w/ silver backed money, we'd be fine right now instead of no jobs & foreclosures galore.

[stellarworker]

Yes, it's good to ask questions. However, if you want to E-X-P-A-N-D your mind, you can take a look at the Leslie Flint Education Trust and have many questions answered that Michael is such a skeptic about.

Leslie was an amazing medium - AND NO ONE EVER FOUND FRAUD IN HIS WORK- I was priviledged to attend several of Lelsie's sittings and I'm so glad - and that Leslie had the good sense to tape all his sittings gives us answers still today. Thank you Leslie!

[LINX29X92]

is astral projection or telekinesis a psudoscience

[Mr7893]

letters

[redblugreenjello]

i can't wait till all religions become pointedly wrong and are given up as quaint and antiquated.. religion as a whole is dying... these next couple centuries will nail the coffin shut. amen

[firuinthehouse]

@redblugreenjello will take a few more centuries dude, you got that kinda patience ? :)

not religious at all over here, I'm just saying, dont hold your breath

[kingfker]

im a terminator

[GerryLand2010]

Why can't they think about the possibility that evolution can be the process of creation?

[liquidminds]

@GerryLand2010

a) scientists: there is no evidence for a creator, why no serious scientist would make that claim

b) creationists: there is no creationist actually knowing anythign about evolution, so they don't see that possibility.

another explanation is, that "god created everything as it is" kinda contradicts evolution.  it is possible, that there was a god starting evolution, but it's impossible that it is the judea-christian god, as it demands an "as-is"-creation.

[DKMontoya4670]

Faith is in believing what can't be proven by evidence that you can see. So how can you not be skeptical about "faith" if you are skeptical about God?

[signatureinthecell]

For those interested in seeing Shermer having his ass handed to him by the brilliant and far more "Bright" Stephen C. Meyer, check out my profile. Once you see the intellectual beatdown Meyer gives him you'll never look at Shermer the same again.

Thanks

[funknotik]

@ ispypriestess I know tony stark put you up to this! You'll never learn the truth about us we are NWO! We are hydra!! Dr doom will rule u all. Bwajahahahkahajaha!

[mahfood1990]

The number of the trolls (or so I hope) in the comments amaze me.

[ispypriestess]

This Shermer will pay heavily once he is excposed for being a traitor to the human race. Disgusting piece of crap.

[Moniker180]

@ispypriestess hah

[ispypriestess]

Sheremer is only fooling the gullible. Wake up. Expose this fraud. We are busy doing that now, and gathering lots of interesting information on him which we have gained from an 'insider'.

[ispypriestess]

Dirty Shermer. One lying NWO tool.

[321lawc]

@ispypriestess You don't know anything about science

[ispypriestess]

How does this Shermer demon sleep at night? We will hound you Shermer until you show us whose payroll you are on.

[slicingwater]

The human brain is susceptible to all sorts of hallucinations and illusions. Ever drive down a road on a hot summer day and see water or what appears to be water and then when you get close enough it disapears. That is an example of an ilusion.

[GermanOperaSinger]

@slicingwater That's a mirage which can be photographed - not a illusion of the brain. A better example of an illusion would hearing voices or seeing something move in the corner of your eye when nothing's actually there.

[simbeau]

@GermanOperaSinger Good call. Nice one.

[Smithpolly]

@slicingwater I don't know if he coined the phrase but Neil Tyson says there are no optical illusions, There are brain failures.

[TheFutureUnquiet]

Separately: sodium and chloride are lethal, but when locked together in a molecular structure they form table salt. All poisons are medicinal as all medicines are poisonous depending on the dosage and application.

[dahur]

blackadder says: "On occasion, I am wrong"

Check his posts, and you will find this to be true.

More than occasionally.

[blackadderthe4]

"blackadder says:

"On? occasion, I am wrong"

Check his posts, and you will find this to be true.

More than occasionally."

You are more confused than I thought, but you are still taking quotes out of context as you well know, but what do you expect from a ufologist, anything but the truth. Anyhow is the record stuck, you just seem to be churning out the same old quotes time and time again! Come on show some imagination at least! But you have, imagining ET traveling billions of miles. LOL

[dahur]

"After the plane from Roswell arrived with the material I asked the base commander to personaly transport it in a B-26 to Major General Mc Mullen in Washington DC.

The entire operation was conducted under strictest secrey.The weather balloon explanation for the material was a cover story to divert the attention of the press".

Brigadier General Thomas Dubose.

Commanding Officer of Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Affadavit 09/16/01

[dahur]

"It appears to be a metallic object......tremendous in size....directly ahead and slightly above .... I am trying to close for a better look."

-Captain Thomas Mantell, USAF--Reporting to the tower at Goodman airforce base on a UFO they had picked up on radar and requested him to investigate. They were his last known words. Mantell's plane was later found strewn across a stretch of ground just southwest of Franklyn, Kentucky.

[dahur]

"For the government to continue to maintain that UFOs are nonexistent in the face of the documents already released and of other cogent evidence presented in this book is puerile and in a sense an insult to the American people."

J. ALLEN HYNEK, PhD

Former scientist with Project Blue Book

Foreword to The UFO Cover-Up,

Fawcett and Greenwood 1984

[dahur]

"Look, I have a pension to worry about. I have a family to take care of, and they told me to just back away from this entirely or else."

Astronaut James Irwin

Apollo 15, to Frank Stranges after backing out of speaking at a 1976 UFO convention where he was going to "inform us of the strange things he saw on the surface of the moon."

[dahur]

Of course it's no proof of ETFO's

The reason these quotes rub skeptics and debunkers, is because a lot these people are some of the most highly educated, trained, and respected people on the planet. Some have been around aircraft all their life. And they see something they can not explain. They are careful not to say the word "alien", or ET, most of the time. But what does it all mean? It means when an event happens, we need to have it fully investigated, by all means possible.

[dahur]

"When the long awaited solution to the UFO problem comes, I believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the march of science, but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum leap."

Dr J Allen Hynek

Former Director, & Chief Investigator of the US Air Force Project Blue Book.

"I know other astronauts share my feelings.... And we know the government is sitting on hard evidence of UFOs."

Colonel Gordon Cooper

Mercury Nine, Gemini Five Astronaut

[jazzfan5000]

Sooooo, I'm trying to understand... are these quotes trying to prove the existence of E.T. or not?  What is the purpose of quoting doctors, astronauts and military personnel??

[blackadderthe4]

dahur is confused, here is one of his posts from adifferent thread, "I belief 98% of cases are hoaxes, illusions, and confusion. However, I believe that a very small percent are ETFO's, HARD EVIDENCE or not", which means to me that it's all about faith. I had faith in santa but i was only 8 at the time. He is very handy at quotes, but they are only poor third hand evidence at best. If you check, the quote or the people, you will generally find they are not what they seem.

[jab6265]

You theists can believe what you want. I propose worship of the tooth fairy. So far as I know, the tooth fairy never espouses violence against santa clause and his followers for not worshiping the correct mythology. As for you UFOlogists, and all you other gullible, non critical thinking followers out there, please identify yourselves because the rest of us have bridges to sell and beach front property in Iowa to unload on the easily pursuaded.

[dahur]

the UFO video shermer on Larry King Live, is systematically removing our pro ET-UFO posts, and within minutes 5-10 negative ratings. We are really putting it to the shermer machine, and somebody(guess who) doesn't like it.

[jazzfan5000]

Hmmmm? I wonder why they're removing your posts?

[dahur]

One reason is, we are putting up quotes from astronauts, high ranking military personnel, police officers, political figures, etc. all of whom have witnessed UFO events they can't explain. We found out the skeptics and debunkers absolutely hate these quotes. Apparantly, it's very hard to argue the words of these highly trained, highly educated individuals. And if they are hallucinating, confused, etc. what are they doing in charge of nuclear weapons, and multi-million dollar hardware.

[jazzfan5000]

Well, to tell you the truth it doesn't take some highly trained scientist to know that the whole UFO phenomenon is nothing but bunk. Who are these high ranking military personnel you talk about?

[dahur]

Got a ton more

"In concealing the evidence of UFO operations, the Air Force is making a serious mistake."

-Lt. Colonel James McAshan, USAF

"There were orders to ship the material from Roswell directly to Wright Field by special plane."

Colonel Thomas Jefferson Dubose

"We heard the material was coming to Wright Field. It was brought into our material evaluation labs. I don't know how it arrived but the boys who tested it said it was very unusual".

Brigadier General Arthur E. Exon

[freakyphysicsguy]

The Roswell crash was not a weather balloon or aliens, it was a balloon from Project Mogul, which was an attempt to use high-altitude balloons to spy on the Soviet Union. It had the same classified status as the project to build the Hydrogen Bomb, so it's no wonder that they covered it up at the time. That being said, I think it's something like 5% of UFO sightings are legitimately unknown, as in no explanation comes near them.

[AristotleP]

@freakyphysicsguy

So you're bascially saying Major Marcel was an idiot.

Do you know that Jesse Marcel went to radar training school and was trained to recognize radar reflectors even the 303 used on Project Mogul?

[AristotleP]

@freakyphysicsguy

The Mogul explanation is a joke.

[AnonymousCthulhu]

YOU GON GET SHERMER'D

[catricola]

Shermer's work is a breath of fresh air in a world wherein people take their delusions as reality.

[Papiprah]

Stanleyfunybutt...: something a little less challenging than religion for you: the use of pronoun "its" and its compounds. "Itself" it's spelled.

[jmnge1]

sci2010 is stupid

[RedlineMMA]

Tax the theist

[Godlesspanther]

Michael Shermer was articulate, informative, and eloquent. What a great gem from the old days! Too bad Michael was having a "bad hair day" on that particular occasion.

[livetv777]

michael shermer is dense as a rock

[livetv777]

hes nuts

[TAXtheAtheist]

Michael also dismisses in true arrogant fasion the Cambrian era fossil, Irreducible complex organisms, the big bang. etc. He also conceals the 'holes' of evolution with improbable speculations and opinions to sell as 'fact', smoothly polished off, packaged, and marketed; All to further his agenda against the Bible. If he just kept to science, and left out his personal opinionated assualts on the Bible, he'd be far greater respected.

[madzyzome]

What exactly is he dismissing in the Cambrian era fossil record? the record itself or the unsubstantiated claim that it somehow disproves evolution? He doesn't conceal the weaknesses of ANY theory let alone evolution. he is a skeptic he does not sell as "fact" speculations and opinions. His agenda is the truth, he has no agenda against the bible, only to those who pervert it and call it science as a way to sell it to the scientifically illiterate for profit.

[TAXtheAtheist]

Michael Shermer is a bigoted & bias against Christians. He will use any obscure new finding claim "absolute debunking" the Bible. When the missing link theory was still accepted, it was used to debunk the Bible. When the missing link theory was eventually dismissed, nothing was said. With the Big Bang theory, they claimed it disproved the Bible again. Later, when the BB was dismissed because it hit to close to I.D., nothing was said. Now the looney abiogensis seems to disprove the Bible..

[madzyzome]

See he makes it clear he is only debunking the literal interpretation of the bible. If the bible is really a allegory then, well, you can't exactly debunk that, now can you?

What is the missing link theory? The Bing Band theory was dismissed? Uhm how do you explain what the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe sees? That was a huge boost to the theory. I have no idea what abiogenesis or any of these theories have to do with the bible.

[TAXtheAtheist]

Shermer, as well as many militant atheists, actually limit their boundries to expore science, if it is too congruent to the Bible.

[TheBrassHole]

I agree. There is a lopsided attack on Christianity in my country (U.S.A.) right now. Christianity seems to be attacked far worse than any other religion in my country. Attacked from every angle in the most disrespectfull ways possible. Thank you for defending what is now the minority.

[quagmire1032]

Christianity is attacked you dumb fuck because you pricks try and push YOUR beliefs onto everyone and into all aspects of others lives.You don't see scientists going door to door or hanging out in parking lots handing out tracts on evolution do you? KEEP YOUR BELIEFS TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheBrassHole]

Did I say I was a Christian? See, you just proved my point.

[Stanleyfunkybutt]

Shermer is a non-theist which is different from an atheist. Also, if you were familiar with some history then you would know that most of mankind's "militants" have been of religious faiths, the most murderous of them being Islam and Christianity. Furthermore, scientific method is in a constant state of questioning which expands ones capacity to understand the universe. Maybe religion should start questioning it's self.

[TAXtheAtheist]

Stanleyfunkybutt, with a moniker like that, you must have a pretty good sense of humor =).

Anyway, Islam is a savage religion. they are a sword, Christianity is a shield. You must have heard how many 'secular gov'ts' slaughterd hundreds of millions as well. I am pro-science. It just that people like Shermer, Dawkins, Harris, etc actively attack Christianity on mere speculative science. If they'd focus on curing cancer as they do abolishing Christianity, millions would be saved...

[BoredGuyWithCamera]

Hah! What a joke! The only reason that Islam is considered a a "sword," is because it has been allowed to flourish in a non secular society. If you want to look at when Christianity was the sword, please check out the crusades and the Dark Ages. Attacking secular societies (Im assuming the former Soviet Union and most other communist governments) and not attacking Christianity and Islam on an equal level is a bit dishonest. I do agree with you on the last two sentences though.

[axemurderer27]

why would u agree with that.. u need skeptics like shermer, darwin, etc to change the zeitgeist of the western world.

what's preventing one of the most promising research to cure cancer right now?

religious groups.. because the want to, and have successfully, banned stem cells research for a number of years because they dont even understand what a fetus is....

it's literally a microscopic measure of cells...

[exoboxlogic]

TAXtheChurches: What, exactly, is Dr. Shermer lying about? Please cite your sources. And since you're not even going to respond, shut up. And if you do respond just to contradict me, I'll be waiting with bells on, dogg.

[exoboxlogic]

Dude, that's Michael Shermer you're talking about. Shut up.

[TAXtheAtheist]

Michael Shermer is a liar. That little shit will say anything to make a buck. He is such a little prick.

[shokland]

I assume you believe weird things...

[avion85]

whats scary about it is how much sense it all makes right?

[adzug]

well i see you dont like him but you have any reason?

[crazymiles]

How about instead of calling names, you tell us what Shermer is lying about. Be specific.

[DictionRedaction]

Yeah, the Bible thumping Christian reveals his true character!!!!

[stopcicles]

"So does that mean you're skeptical of all religions?" How does any skeptic not just go "YES".

[fatmanprime]

That also pissed me off, but I guess he does it not to overpoliticize skepticism. :/

[exoboxlogic]

I'm skeptical of all the religions of which I've heard. If there are new ones, please, just comment my profile ;) Politics is irrelevant.

[TheBrassHole]

The new religion is UFOs. Belief in stories with out "tangible" proof. It has replaced unicorns, lepercons, demons, and angels. Although people claim to see unicorns, lepercons, demons, and angels, there is still no real evidence.

[crazykb]

I'll agree with you UFO comment, however, there is enough good data regarding UFO's to grant the subject some respect.

[timodi]

Surely. The subject of determining whether each case is experimental aircraft or just pareidolia induced by unfamiliarity with astronomical or meteorological phenomena . The coolest thing in the world to me would be evidence of alien contact, but granting the UFO craze credence by acknowledging speculative and (mostly)anecdotal events as "data" just goes against the entire investigative process. All actual "data," the results of such investigations, has given us a clear view. It's mostly bunk!

[crazykb]

Yes,it 'mostly' is bunk.And although I'm a big Shermer fan(also a huge Sagan fan),I know enough about the subject of UFOs to know that there are some cases,that haven't been explained.However,Shermer doesn't talk about those.I just got down listening to an interview about UFOs with Michio Kaku.He says that about 1% of the data is fasinating.He also states,and I agree,that some of the cases where measured by multiple modes(eye wittness,and Radar for example).Its an interesting subject.

[nekoda18]

Man. This fella is so caught in his wisdom til he doesn,t even know where he goes wrong in saying that the bible is just literature. Once he is skeptical in that sense, he would never be able to understand why scientist can prove what they do about the bible if he looks at the bible as if it is literature. It is just his one out of other's a trillion opinions. Being intelligent has nothing to do with knowing the truth. You can be most intelligent and still believe a lie.

[c6gunner]

Yeah, you're right, he phrased that badly. What he SHOULD have said is that the bible is just really really bad literature.

[DontTouchMyTea]

And unoriginal. Very unoriginal.

[matthewlemon]

do you even know what "literature" is?...look it up...u might be surprised.

[DoNotBeHighandMighty]

@c6gunner

No no, I got a better one, it is really "GOOD" literature.

[ninanotturna]

@c6gunner

This was in 1997. It was even harder to get away with atheism in the public arena. He had the responsibility towards the magazine and the Skeptic Society. I think it was fine he washed his hands of the religion topic.

You can watch his more recent debate with Deepac Chopra "Does God have a Future?" where he doesn't have a problem with calling himself atheist :)

[Kleinfurkon]

Why wouldn't he side with atheism? He is as you all say, rational.

[pillsareyummy]

@Kleinfurkon Atheism isn't rational, since you can't prove a negative. I call myself an Atheist to the gods of religion, I'm agnostic to an intelligence behind the Cosmos (although I believe it's all natural, I can't prove that).

[squidwombat]

@Kleinfurkon

I think being agnostic would be more rational than being theist or atheist.

[Atheist603]

@squidwombat agnostics are by definition atheists, atheist is a person who doesn't believe in god. basically even a person who say that they're not sure about the existence of a god are atheist.agnostics talk about Knowledge, but atheism is all about beliefs.

[squidwombat]

@Atheist603 No, they are not the same. Agnostics believe that there is no way to prove that God does or does not exist. They do not believe in God, yes, but are not closed to the idea - utterly convinced - as atheists are. It is a neutral stance that is most rational because they admit the futility of the matter/question.

You're right, I guess agnostics do concern themselves with knowledge. That's a good way of putting it.

[Atheist603]

@squidwombat u've got to be kidding me. wow look at the words theists are the people who believe in the existance of a god, that's the positive. Atheists are those who do not believe in the existance of a god. Agnostics say they don't know, Gnostic are the one who claim to know. seriously,..you could b a agnostic atheist, or an agnostic theist,, because one is talking about beliefs, and the other is talking about knowledge, which are two different thing.

[vuduchild74]

Shermer is a very intelligent man and he does "side" with atheists. When its said that way it sounds like some kind of evil connotation. Atheists are good people too, much better than religious zealots that believe in Holiness or Hell. He's said on several occasions that he believes religion served a much needed purpose in the past; to keep our species from doing bad things to each other. But over a thousand years has passed since then and we as a species have "evolved" and dont need it.

[P5692]

The primary benefit of religion is not that it keeps people from doing bad things to each other. Quite the opposite; religion allows people to commit the gravest atrocities with a clear conscience, and this ability to redefine morality has often made the difference between a conquering people and a conquered people. In some times and places, nationalism has taken over this atrocity-enabling function of religion, but it still boils down to a form of worship, whether of a god or a state.

[crazykb]

Don't forget to mention that religion 'travelled' by way of conquest. The 'conquering people' would eradicate the culture of the 'conquered people', and assimilate them. Huh, reminds me of the 'Borg' of Star Trek. Oh, and of course, Merry Christmas. Ah, to me, its all about the 'gifts'. And Santa, that fat bastard, is bringing me some good stuff...

[camino1ca]

Worse than that it has usually been a reason to do bad things to each other.

[Reido2828]

Shermer I am with him inm the agnosticism but he is the worst skeptic in the skeptics society in my opinion. He cant even debunk an astrologer

[Kleinfurkon]

Question is, why should he need to debunk an astrologer? astrology is so laughable, he shouldn't need to debunk it.

but then I'm a Taurus, I would say that

[deathsushi]

I wouldn't be so sure - everything I've seen of Shermer suggests that he's very intelligent, and has a good sense of moderation. I don't know if he's ever sided directly with aetheism (I believe he avoids labels altogether), and I would hesitate to suggest that he would claim the bible isn't holy (what would that even mean? It's certainly holy to Christians).

[infinit888]

"I don't know if he's ever sided directly with aetheism."

I've heared him side with atheism at least once here on YT. However I don't recall the name of the video it was some discussion table and the subject was about Freud and religion.

I recall him saying something like: "why am I the atheist here. Seriously you should try it, you'll be fine." to a believer who was more skeptical than the others.

[simonddavies]

And there is no evidence of it, only the word of other people saying there is a God.

but which God is real? Yahway? Zeus? etc etc...

[thricebannedatheist]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster IS real because we can feel the effects of his loving Noodly Appendage pressing down upon us every day. If you don't believe me then you're going to HELL!

[SpaceCarnivora]

linfinster you are delusional & arrogant

[firetosvm]

is this book is available in india

[firetosvm]

cool show

[revmonkeyboy]

There is no real need to prove that the gas chambers worked. The perpetrators kept good records of the number of deaths. We have the photos of the underfed bodies in piles. We have the diaries of solders that took part, and the soldiers that found the survivors. The evidence is more than convincing. It is horrifying.

[cyberdaemon]

Well i never seen any actual evidence of how gas chambers could work or if they existed by the way... There are loads of false witness reports that each and every talk against one another.

But Schemer is actually quiet nice in hes work.

[JorL5150]

shermer is cool, i think he has the mantle of carl sagan as a " popular " scientist and able to make science/skepticism accessable.

[mosesxiaomin]

I love this book. Self-reliance, critical thinking and independence of thoughts are the key characters a free-thinker should have.

[nawitus]

But bible IS a book of science and history. It makes mostly false claims about history and science, and you only say it is a book of morals because it is the only possibly correct thing left. As it happens, even the morals are completely false. We don't kill disobedient children or sacrifice chicken.

[fuckfuckfuckfuckcock]

Don't forget that in the chapter right after the Ten Commandments, God tells us it's okay to sell our daughters into slavery. That's Christian family values for ya.

[JorL5150]

yeah, and i love how its " all sripture inspired " and " eternal truth " ..UNTILL you confront them with scriptures like that- then its : " weeelllllll..that part doesn't apply "

[KeMoniito]

no, asshole, those are JEWISH family values idiot.☺

[33Barker]

@fuckfuckfuckfuckcock

Oh, Jesus(GOD) said it was OK to sell your daughter into slavery? Where did Jesus say that? I would like to know. Give me the verse, I think your full of BS, SHOW ME!!! Don't tell me "the bible" or somebody from "the bible" said you can sell your daughter into slavery, SHOW ME WHERE IT SAYS "JESUS" SAYS YOU CAN DO IT?

[33Barker]

@fuckfuckfuckfuckcock

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HH BURN!!!!

[lostn65]

Bible also says that if a man rapes a woman who is not married or betrothed, then he must pay her father 30 silver pieces, and take the woman as his wife. Wow. To make a rape victim marry her rapist. It takes none other than God to do that.

[SardonicusRexx]

Shermer! Don't tap dance around religion/bible. Literature my ass. They make all kinds of claims in the bible!  Don't be afraid to call a turd a turd.

[Shezmu]

Great minds think alike! =O

[SardonicusRexx]

Well then, you might like my homemade Carl Sagan tribute videos!

[stopandthink22]

I'm happy Shermer is continuing the Carl Sagan (among others) of skeptical thinking. That's so important today. I love the magg.

[SardonicusRexx]

I'm so impressed by the current issue of Skeptic magazine. The article on the failure of animal models in medicine is groundbreaking on several levels.

[kauaifinn]

This book is next on my reading list. I look forward to reading it very much!

Keep up all the great work, Michael!

[ltzippy2]

I have the latest version of this book, which is great by the way. I'm going to have to do a review on it at some point.

[Cuculann]

I love this book!

[tattypatty]

Good work, Mr. Shermer.