Book Report Post
Meghan Jirkovsky
Why People Believe Weird Things
Mike Shermer is known to be one of the leading debunkers of falsehoods and has
written several books on which he examines beliefs, science, pseudoscience and
bogus history. He is a powerful activist and essayist of the operational
form of reason. His book Why
People Believe Weird Things stimulates
the readers mind to begin thinking about their beliefs and question their
uncertainties. Shermer serves to prove that one of our most powerful tools we
as humans have, is the ability to question whatever we may wish. Shermer states
that humans search for the meaning of this complex world but one must remember
that a meaning can be easily
debauched by mistaken beliefs that are often influenced by groups who stand to
benefit from people's acceptance of their views. Covering topics from the
differences between science and pseudoscience, twenty-five fallacies that lead
us to believe weird things, immortality, irrationalism of creationism and
Holocaust denial, Shermer uses experiences and interactions from his past to
help him conclude why people believe weird things. While introducing his
beliefs on skepticism and what he is skeptical of, the author proclaims that
one must not have preconceived that a claim is bogus, but must investigate
whether or not a claim is bogus.
Shermer presents "Twenty-five
Fallacies that Lead Us to Believe Weird Things", which is my favorite part
of his book. These twenty-five fallacies are a primer for skeptical thinking.
From alien abductions, ESP, witch-hunts, to recovered memories and thoughts,
the author shows how these fallacies and skeptical thinking can determine fact
from unfounded belief. When reading about these fallacies, I was reminding of
the section of our textbook that focuses on the myths of childhood development.
Much like Shermer, the author of our book reveals why people commonly believe
certain childhood myths to be true and also reveals why they are in fact,
myths. Shermer’s book is a book for self-insight as well as providing
criticism of others belief systems.
What I have learned from Shermer is that much belief of
pseudoscience, superstition, ect. are the result of a person’s perspective in
conjunction with their previous knowledge of the subject. Our minds are one of
the most powerful tools we have; they are machines that are constantly
demanding and questioning; humans are constantly training to attain answers to
the unanswerable. Shermer’s book made me want to dive deeper into exploring
areas that I thought to be questionable. In doing so, I
youtubed “psychiatry is a pseudoscience” and found this amazing clip of the
Rosenhan Experiment, or THUD Experiment. After watching, more-so listening, to the clip and taking
what I learned from Shermer’s book, the mind to each individual is so
incredibly unique; so many people believe what they do because they were taught
to, rather than questioning these uncertainties and digging for answers of
their own.
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