Quotes by Michael Shermer

About Michael Shermer:

Michael Brant Shermer is 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.
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I say you don't need religion, or political ideology, to understand human nature. Science reveals that human nature is greedy and selfish, altruistic and helpful.

Michael Shermer

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.

Michael Shermer

But the power of science lies in open publication, which, with the rise of the Internet, is no longer constrained by the price of paper.

Michael Shermer

But there is only one surefire method of proper pattern recognition, and that is science.

Michael Shermer

Mysteries once thought to be supernatural or paranormal happenings - such as astronomical or meteorological events - are incorporated into science once their causes are understood.

Michael Shermer

When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the identification of such mysteries is only the beginning. Science picks up where theology leaves off.

Michael Shermer

Anecdotal thinking comes naturally; science requires training.

Michael Shermer

There are checks and balances in science. There's somebody checking the people doing the science, and then there's somebody who checks the checkers and somebody who checks the checker's checkers.

Michael Shermer

Science is not a thing. It's a verb. It's a way of thinking about things. It's a way of looking for natural explanations for all phenomena.

Michael Shermer

In order to displace a prevailing theory or paradigm in science, it is not enough to merely point out what it cannot explain; you have to offer a new theory that explains more data, and do so in a testable way.

Michael Shermer

Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.

Michael Shermer

Author Bio

  • NameMichael Shermer
  • DescriptionAmerican science writer
  • BornSeptember 8, 1954
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter; Scientist