CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Michael Shermer - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z-oB-q2HIHtSDju1LLubCwAAAQs","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Michael_Shermer","wgTitle":"Michael Shermer","wgCurRevisionId":2725397,"wgRevisionId":2725397,"wgArticleId":84221,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages using DynamicPageList parser function","Bronze-level articles","Skepticism","Atheists","Authors","Intellectual Dark Web","Libertarians","Living people","Racialism pseudoscientists","Transphobes"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Michael_Shermer", "wgRelevantArticleId":84221,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="Michael Shermer (1954–) is an American historian of science, writer, professional skeptic, and ex-professional cyclist."/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Michael Shermer"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Michael Shermer (1954–) is an American historian of science, writer, professional skeptic, and ex-professional cyclist."/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Michael_Shermer"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Michael_Shermer rootpage-Michael_Shermer skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity</a>. </p> </td> <td style="width: 40%; text-align: center;"><big><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">Fighting pseudoscience isn't free</a>.<br />We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with <img alt="PayPal Logo.png" src="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/61px-PayPal_Logo.png" decoding="async" width="61" height="17" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/92px-PayPal_Logo.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/122px-PayPal_Logo.png 2x" data-file-width="883" data-file-height="244" />!</b></big><a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=67BJMQC85CUFW" title="Donate via PayPal" rel="nofollow"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/100px-DonateButton.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="32" srcset="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/150px-DonateButton.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/200px-DonateButton.png 2x" data-file-width="759" data-file-height="241" /></a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div role="progressbar" style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid black; position: relative; padding: 2px; border-radius: 18px;"> <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; left: 0%; margin: 0 0 0 10px"><b>Donations so far: $8765.50</b></span></a><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; right: 0%; margin: 0 10px 0 0"><b>Goal: $10000</b></span></a><div style="height: 28px; border-radius: 14px; background-color: hsl(70.124,100%,45%); width: 87.655%;"></div> </div></div></div></div> <div class="mw-indicators mw-body-content"> <div id="mw-indicator-bronze" class="mw-indicator"><a href="/wiki/Category:Bronze-level_articles" title="Category:Bronze-level articles"><img alt="Bronze-level article" src="/w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/25px-Copperbrain.png" decoding="async" width="25" height="25" style="vertical-align: baseline" srcset="/w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/38px-Copperbrain.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/50px-Copperbrain.png 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="800" /></a></div> </div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading" lang="en">Michael Shermer</h1> <div id="bodyContent" class="mw-body-content"> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From RationalWiki</div> <div id="contentSub"></div> <div id="contentSub2"></div> <div id="jump-to-nav"></div> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#mw-head">Jump to navigation</a> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#searchInput">Jump to search</a> <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:MichaelShermer4.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/9/90/MichaelShermer4.jpg/165px-MichaelShermer4.jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="224" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/9/90/MichaelShermer4.jpg/248px-MichaelShermer4.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/9/90/MichaelShermer4.jpg/330px-MichaelShermer4.jpg 2x" data-file-width="480" data-file-height="651" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:MichaelShermer4.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Shermer says: get on yer bike!</div></div></div> <table class="infobox" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #916f6f; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#916f6f"><b>This might be</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Skepticism" title="Skepticism"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Skepticism</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#D3C5C5;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Skepticism" title="Category:Skepticism"><img alt="Icon skepticism.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/c/c6/Icon_skepticism.svg/100px-Icon_skepticism.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/c/c6/Icon_skepticism.svg/150px-Icon_skepticism.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/c/c6/Icon_skepticism.svg/200px-Icon_skepticism.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#916f6f; text-align:center;"><b>But we're not sure</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#D3C5C5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Discovery_Channel" title="Discovery Channel">Discovery Channel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Respectful_Insolence" title="Respectful Insolence">Respectful Insolence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oh_No_Ross_and_Carrie" title="Oh No Ross and Carrie">Oh No Ross and Carrie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Woo" title="Woo">Woo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vereniging_tegen_de_Kwakzalverij" title="Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij">Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rationality" title="Rationality">Rationality</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#916f6f; text-align:center;"><b>Who's asking?</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#D3C5C5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Luis_Alfonso_G%C3%A1mez" title="Luis Alfonso Gámez">Luis Alfonso Gámez</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harriet_Hall" title="Harriet Hall">Harriet Hall</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Chilton_Moore" title="Charles Chilton Moore">Charles Chilton Moore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Steuart_Campbell" title="Steuart Campbell">Steuart Campbell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_Carlin" title="George Carlin">George Carlin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paulo_Bittencourt" title="Paulo Bittencourt">Paulo Bittencourt</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Skepnav" title="Template:Skepnav">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Skepnav" title="Template talk:Skepnav">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Skepnav&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table class="infobox" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #fa0000; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#fa0000"><b>Going One God Further</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Atheism</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#ffe5e5;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheists" title="Category:Atheists"><img alt="Icon atheism.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/100px-Icon_atheism.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/150px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/200px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b>Key Concepts</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">Atheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">Agnosticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antitheism" title="Antitheism">Antitheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/FAQ_for_the_Newly_Deconverted" title="FAQ for the Newly Deconverted">FAQ for the Newly Deconverted</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheism" title="Category:Atheism"><font color="white">Articles to not believe in</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Atheist_professor_myth" title="Atheist professor myth">Atheist professor myth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Absurdism" title="Absurdism">Absurdism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maryam_Namazie" title="Maryam Namazie">Maryam Namazie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rationalism_vs._Religious_Instruction_in_the_Public_Schools" title="Rationalism vs. Religious Instruction in the Public Schools">Rationalism vs. Religious Instruction in the Public Schools</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheists" title="Category:Atheists"><font color="white">Notable heathens</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_Hawking" title="Stephen Hawking">Stephen Hawking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charlie_Brooker" title="Charlie Brooker">Charlie Brooker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Roger_Penrose" title="Roger Penrose">Roger Penrose</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paulo_Bittencourt_(Deutsch)" title="Paulo Bittencourt (Deutsch)">Paulo Bittencourt (Deutsch)</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Atheism" title="Template:Atheism">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Atheism" title="Template talk:Atheism">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Atheism&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Michael Shermer</b> (1954–) is an <a href="/wiki/American" class="mw-redirect" title="American">American</a> historian of <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a>, writer, professional <a href="/wiki/Skeptic" class="mw-redirect" title="Skeptic">skeptic</a>, and ex-professional cyclist. </p><p>He is a noted "skeptical <a href="/wiki/Agnostic" class="mw-redirect" title="Agnostic">agnostic</a> non-<a href="/wiki/Theist" class="mw-redirect" title="Theist">theist</a>," the <a href="/wiki/Author" title="Author">author</a> of many writings on skepticism, and the founder of <a href="/wiki/The_Skeptics_Society" title="The Skeptics Society">The Skeptics Society</a>. </p><p>Shermer is a <a href="/wiki/Hereditarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Hereditarian">hereditarian</a> who believes that <a href="/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton" title="J. Philippe Rushton">J. Philippe Rushton</a>'s claims about race are correct (in other words, <a href="/wiki/Racist" class="mw-redirect" title="Racist">racist</a> <a href="/wiki/Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience">pseudoscience</a>). </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#A_modern_Paul"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">A modern Paul</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Controversies"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Controversies</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#Questionable_viewpoints"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Questionable viewpoints</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Accusations_of_sexual_misconduct"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Accusations of sexual misconduct</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5"><a href="#Double_standards"><span class="tocnumber">2.2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Double standards</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><a href="#Reactions"><span class="tocnumber">2.2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Reactions</span></a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Shermer_as_a_scientist"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Shermer as a scientist</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Hereditarian"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Hereditarian</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Pinker.27s_pal"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Pinker's pal</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#Spooky_radio"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Spooky radio</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#Explanations"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Explanations</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#Podcast"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Podcast</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#Books"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Books</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="#Quotes"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">Quotes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">10</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">11</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">12</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="A_modern_Paul">A modern Paul</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: A modern Paul">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>During adolescence, Shermer became a <a href="/wiki/Born_again" title="Born again">born again</a>, <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalist_Christianity" title="Fundamentalist Christianity">fundamentalist Christian</a> and later even got a <a href="/wiki/Theology" title="Theology">theology</a> degree at a Christian university. Later still, Shermer studied <a href="/wiki/Psychology" title="Psychology">psychology</a> and became more skeptical about Christian belief, finally becoming an <a href="/wiki/Atheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheist">atheist</a>/agnostic/skeptic.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> Shermer stated the final end of his Christian faith was when a girl was paralyzed in a motor accident. Shermer <a href="/wiki/Prayer" title="Prayer">prayed</a> to God to heal her. She <a href="/wiki/Problem_of_evil" title="Problem of evil">remained paralyzed</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>Like <a href="/wiki/Paul_of_Tarsus" title="Paul of Tarsus">Paul</a>, Shermer found his way on the long (bike) road to <s>Damascus</s> Mt. Elbert, in <a href="/wiki/Colorado" class="mw-redirect" title="Colorado">Colorado</a>, when he realized that all the <a href="/wiki/Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience">pseudoscience</a> (<a href="/wiki/Prayer" title="Prayer">prayer</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_Age" title="New Age">New Age</a> <a href="/wiki/Pyramid#Pyramid_woo" title="Pyramid">pyramids</a>, <a href="/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation">meditation</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Homeopathy" title="Homeopathy">homeopathy</a>) would not take the pain of 10 years of cycling away, and that these remedies and the philosophies behind them were bunk. Like Paul, Shermer began to preach and teach, writing for <i><a href="/wiki/Scientific_American" title="Scientific American">Scientific American</a></i> in the <i>Skeptics</i> column, writing books like <i>Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time</i><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> (as well as the far more exciting <i>Cycling: Endurance and Speed</i><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>), and lecturing across the US on topics ranging from <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denial" title="Holocaust denial">Holocaust denial</a> to <a href="/wiki/Creationism" title="Creationism">creationism</a> (which he aptly calls Evolution Denial).<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer's <a href="#Spooky_radio">recent spooky experience with a radio</a> initially suggested he was wavering in his commitment to skepticism. This was later shown to not be the case. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Controversies">Controversies</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Controversies">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Questionable_viewpoints">Questionable viewpoints</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Questionable viewpoints">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Shermer leans heavily towards <a href="/wiki/Libertarianism" title="Libertarianism">libertarianism</a> and is known to be less than introspective where economic issues are concerned; occasional hilarity results with the rest of the skeptical community (one incident featured a thoroughly inept attempt to map economic freedom onto the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale" class="extiw" title="wp:Kardashev scale" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Kardashev scale">Kardashev scale</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>).<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> </p><p>While Shermer's other work has been well received, his book <i>Mind of the Market</i> has been widely criticized in skeptical circles for being mostly full of <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">bullshit</a> pop <a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology" title="Evolutionary psychology">evolutionary psychology</a> used in order to rationalize his libertarianism.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> The book is also considered overly emotional and insufficiently logical.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> This has led some to say there are "two Michael Shermers," "skeptical Shermer" and "libertarian Shermer." Others contend he never really stopped drinking the <a href="/wiki/Randroid" class="mw-redirect" title="Randroid">Randroid</a> <a href="/wiki/Kool-Aid" title="Kool-Aid">Kool-Aid</a>. Of course, he has denied these charges.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> </p><p>Initially an "<a href="/wiki/Global_warming_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming denialism">environmental skeptic</a>," Shermer returned to the warm embrace of reality, saying that "data trumps politics."<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer argued that <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> <a href="/wiki/Denialism" title="Denialism">denialism</a> exists <a href="/wiki/Balance_fallacy" title="Balance fallacy">equally on the left as on the right</a>. Chris Mooney took issue with this in two articles that <i>Mother Jones</i> published. Mooney has shown that, for example, trying to include unscientific ideas in mainstream education is a problem among <a href="/wiki/Republican_Party" title="Republican Party">Republicans</a> rather than <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Party" title="Democratic Party">Democrats</a>. Higher proportions of Republicans believe <a href="/wiki/Creationism" title="Creationism">creationism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Global_Warming_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Global Warming denialism">deny global warming</a> than do Democrats. <a href="/wiki/Vaccine_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaccine denialism">Vaccine denialism</a> and suspicion of <a href="/wiki/Genetically_modified_food" title="Genetically modified food">genetically modified food</a> affect Republicans and Democrats equally (though vaccine denialism is forming a right-wing face). Mooney cites <a href="/wiki/Michele_Bachmann" title="Michele Bachmann">Michele Bachmann</a> and <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> as prominent conservative vaccine "skeptics". Decades of research show that <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservatives</a> tend more to resist new ideas and have a greater need for beliefs which they subjectively feel are unchanging and certain.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[note 1]</a></sup> Science, by contrast, frequently challenges traditions that were previously considered certain. Just 6% of American Association for the Advancement of Science members are Republicans.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[14]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[15]</a></sup> </p><p>One of Shermer's longstanding opponents in the skeptic community has been <a href="/wiki/PZ_Myers" title="PZ Myers">PZ Myers</a>, who wrote several blog posts personally critical of Shermer, arguing that he was egotistical,<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[16]</a></sup> sexist,<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[17]</a></sup> and irrational.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[18]</a></sup> </p><p>In March 2016, Shermer seemed to endorse <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> for president of the U.S.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[19]</a></sup> Later, Shermer corrected himself and admitted he gave disproportionate credence to "snippets from an interview". He just "liked some aspects of Trump (...) [Shermer has] since grown concerned about some of Trump’s other positions, however (...) [Shermer is] not publicly endorsing anyone".<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[20]</a></sup> This serves to underscore the fact that Shermer, not unlike any intelligent human being, is at great risk of sometimes being swayed rather much by his emotions.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[note 2]</a></sup> </p><p>In January 2024, Shermer signed a letter arguing the importance of Substack continuing to provide a platform for Nazis.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[21]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Accusations_of_sexual_misconduct">Accusations of sexual misconduct</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Accusations of sexual misconduct">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>On August 8, 2013, <a href="/wiki/PZ_Myers" title="PZ Myers">PZ Myers</a> posted a message on his <i><a href="/wiki/PZ_Myers#Pharyngula" title="PZ Myers">Pharyngula</a></i> blog at <a href="/wiki/Freethought_Blogs" title="Freethought Blogs">Freethought Blogs</a> from an unnamed woman later identified as Alison Smith claiming that Michael Shermer had <a href="/wiki/Rape" title="Rape">raped</a> her.<sup id="cite_ref-Myers_24-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Myers-24">[22]</a></sup> Smith alleged, "at a conference, Mr. Shermer coerced me into a position where I could not consent, and then had <a href="/wiki/Sex" title="Sex">sex</a> with me." She also stated that "I reached out to one organization that was involved in the event at which I was raped, and they refused to take my concerns seriously," that "5 different people have directly told me they did the same to them," and that she was sharing this information in order to warn others. Myers later updated his blog entry with an account from another woman, who claimed that Shermer plied her with drink at an atheist event and "was very flirty." </p> <h5><span class="mw-headline" id="Double_standards">Double standards</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Double standards">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h5> <p>Assuming the above accusations are correct, did Michael Shermer need help to understand the distress involved?<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[23]</a></sup> Before the PZ Myers grenade exploded, Shermer understood the harm rape and adultery causes. He wrote the following in Feb 2013. </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>How do we know that rape and adultery are wrong? We don’t need to ask God. We need to ask the affected moral agent—the rape victim in question, or our spouse or romantic partner who is being cuckolded. They will let you know instantly and forcefully precisely how they feel morally about that behavior.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Michael Shermer<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[24]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Double_standard" class="mw-redirect" title="Double standard">Double standard</a> suspected anywhere? Or perhaps the power of <a href="/wiki/Wishful_thinking" class="mw-redirect" title="Wishful thinking">wishful thinking</a> enticed him into the conviction that only <a href="/wiki/Rape#Violent_or_forced_rape" title="Rape">forcible incidents</a> count as rape. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Reactions">Reactions</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Reactions">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <p>Bloggers in the <a href="/wiki/Atheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheist">atheist</a>/skeptic/<a href="/wiki/Feminist" class="mw-redirect" title="Feminist">feminist</a> community reacted quickly and took sides. It soon became the blogosphere's drama of the week, rehashing many of the divisions endemic in the atheist community since the "<a href="/wiki/Elevatorgate" title="Elevatorgate">Elevatorgate</a>" affair.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[25]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[26]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[27]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[28]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[29]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer denied any wrongdoing and issued a cease and desist order against Myers, threatening defamation action unless Myers removed the offending blog entry and issued a full retraction and apology.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[30]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer got legal funds without asking on a fundraiser page built by Emery Emery, the “Ardent Atheist”.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[31]</a></sup> The fundraiser included a rape joke with generous contributors offered a bottomless glass of wine, with Emery “who will not be drinking but keeping your glass full.” This was a reminder that one woman complained Shermer repeatedly refilled her glass. Myers also got an offer of legal help from Popehat, who is experienced with online libel trouble.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34">[32]</a></sup> </p><p>The fundraiser for Michael Shermer’s legal action raised a total of $8,289. Emery stated that Shermer “has no choice” but to sue PZ because the post was still up. By August 9th, 2014, the statute of limitations in California ran out without Shermer suing Myers.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[33]</a></sup> As of 2018, the rape allegation is still up.<sup id="cite_ref-Myers_24-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Myers-24">[22]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36">[note 3]</a></sup> </p><p>Things blew up after 11-Sept-2014, when <i><a href="/wiki/New_York_Times" class="mw-redirect" title="New York Times">NY Times</a></i> contributor Mark Oppenheimer wrote <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/markoppenheimer/will-misogyny-bring-down-the-atheist-movement#.mepPEmWkP">a very long, detailed highlights-reel on the harassment campaigns being run within the atheist and skeptical movements, including naming three victims of Shermer’s alleged predations</a>. This piece alone contains several bombshells which had not been public before Oppenheimer's article appeared, including: </p> <ul><li>The person in the “Grenade” post by Myers was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Smith" class="extiw" title="wp:Alison Smith" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Alison Smith">Alison Smith</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> a known figure in the skeptical community.</li></ul> <ul><li>Shermer has actively changed his story from what he reported at the time in his rebuttal statement: <ul><li>Original statement: Two unknown people (one with “dreadlocks”) were upset that Shermer was talking with Smith and was preventing them from “getting into her pants”, so they started spreading rumors.</li> <li>Later statement: Shermer and Smith had sober consensual sex that night, initiated by a cold proposition by Smith in a bathroom.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37">[34]</a></sup></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Ashley Miller apparently had a several-minute-long conversation with Shermer while he was actively massaging his <a href="/wiki/Penis" title="Penis">thing</a> through his jeans, and trying to arrange himself such that she had to see it and notice.</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_Randi" title="James Randi">James Randi</a> was aware of complaints, and because Shermer wasn’t violent, ignored them:</li></ul> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Shermer has been a bad boy on occasion — I do know that[.] I have told him that if I get many more complaints from people I have reason to believe, that I am going to have to limit his attendance at the conference. His reply, […] is he had a bit too much to drink and he doesn’t remember. I don’t know — I’ve never been drunk in my life. It’s an unfortunate thing … I haven’t seen him doing that. But I get the word from people in the organization that he has to be under better control. If he had gotten violent, I’d have him out of there immediately. I’ve just heard that he misbehaved himself with the women, which I guess is what men do when they are drunk.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="/wiki/James_Randi" title="James Randi">James Randi</a><sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[note 4]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Patheos#Atheists" title="Patheos">Adam Lee</a> accused Randi and others of working to silence Shermer's critics; further, Lee accused some of trying to pressure victims into silence. Lee compared this to <a href="/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse_in_the_Roman_Catholic_Church" title="Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic</a> and other religious organizations that seek to <a href="/wiki/Cover_up" class="mw-redirect" title="Cover up">cover up</a> other wrongdoing, notably predatory sex by their members. Lee accuses some atheists who condemn religiously motivated coverups while acting similarly of <a href="/wiki/Double_standard" class="mw-redirect" title="Double standard">double standards</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39">[35]</a></sup> </p><p>Emery gave the money from the fundraiser to Shermer’s lawyers, which, since they didn’t sue Myers, leaves the fate of those funds in question. What did they pay for, and/or how much was returned to Shermer or Emery? Was any returned to the donors? </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Shermer_as_a_scientist">Shermer as a scientist</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Shermer as a scientist">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Shermer has been accused of overlooking important evidence in his attempt to analyze a large find of 'homo naledi' bones in a cave. He suggested murder or <a href="/wiki/Human_sacrifice" title="Human sacrifice">sacrifice</a>. John Hawkes suspects Shermer failed to read the published work carefully, as there is no evidence of violence in the bones. Hawkes suspects Shermer's copious study of the dark side of human nature led him to overlook other possible explanations for the bones being in that cave<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40">[36]</a></sup> and PZ Myers wonders why the <i><a href="/wiki/Scientific_American" title="Scientific American">Scientific American</a></i> keeps him as a columnist.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41">[37]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Hereditarian">Hereditarian</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Hereditarian">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Shermer_rushton.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/9/9d/Shermer_rushton.png/300px-Shermer_rushton.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="436" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/9/9d/Shermer_rushton.png/450px-Shermer_rushton.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/9/9d/Shermer_rushton.png/600px-Shermer_rushton.png 2x" data-file-width="1073" data-file-height="1560" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Shermer_rushton.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Michael Shermer claims J. Phillips Rushton was correct about Black people.</div></div></div><p> Shermer is a named member of the "<a href="/wiki/Intellectual_Dark_Web" title="Intellectual Dark Web">Intellectual Dark Web</a>", a group of political allies of former New York Times columnist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bari_Weiss" class="extiw" title="wp:Bari Weiss" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Bari Weiss">Bari Weiss</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> who tend to be reactionary and hereditarian. Shermer is extremely proud of this association, retweeting a photo of himself taken for the New York Times article "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web"<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42">[38]</a></sup> in which he is standing in the bushes, in the dark. (Intellectual <i>Dark</i> Web — get it?) Shermer tweeted: "The Intellectual Dark Web is a movement whose time has come & I am proud to be part of it. Thanks to the elegant writing of @bariweiss & powerful photography of Damon Winter for bringing this to a larger audience. The conversation has begun. (link to the NYTimes article)<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43">[39]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer has often published articles in the hereditarian <a href="/wiki/Quillette" title="Quillette">Quillette</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44">[40]</a></sup> and is so devoted to hereditarianism that he claimed J. Phillip Rushton was correct about race and Black people. When <a href="/wiki/E._O._Wilson#Hereditarian_response" title="E. O. Wilson">two articles were published</a> about <a href="/wiki/E._O._Wilson" title="E. O. Wilson">E. O. Wilson</a>'s support and encouragement of Rushton's claims, Shermer defended Rushton on Twitter, stating: "Of course you think Rushton was a racist. I thought so too until I looked at the evidence."<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45">[41]</a></sup> </p><p>Shermer had been promoting Rushton as a scientist since at least 2001, in an interview with Steven Pinker called The Pinker Instinct in <i>Skeptic</i>: </p> <blockquote class="letter" style="width:auto; background:#f8f8ff; border:1px solid #C9C9CF;"> <p>But scientists like Philippe Rushton and Vince Sarich say that there are racial differences and that there are evolutionary reasons for them. Take brain size, for example. They claim that they have good empirical data showing that there are significant racial group differences in brain size that march those of scores on I.Q. tests. Can simple brain size matter in something as complex and varied as intelligence?<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46">[42]</a></sup> </p> </blockquote> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Shermer_jones.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/5/55/Shermer_jones.png/300px-Shermer_jones.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="359" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/5/55/Shermer_jones.png 1.5x" data-file-width="428" data-file-height="512" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Shermer_jones.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Nikole Hannah-Jones accuses Shermer of misrepresenting the 1619 Project.</div></div></div> <p>Shermer is an opponent of <a href="/wiki/The_1619_Project" title="The 1619 Project">The 1619 Project</a> and was accused by the Project's creator, Nikole Hannah-Jones, of misrepresenting it. He hosted <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dissidentprof.com">right-wing think tank resident Mary Grabar</a> on an episode of <i>The Michael Shermer Show</i> called "Debunking the 1619 Project with Mary Grabar."<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47">[43]</a></sup> Shermer's hostility to a project that provides in-depth discussions about Black American history, including less well-known aspects such as the systemic theft of Black wealth and property,<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48">[44]</a></sup> appears to be an example of the hereditarian tactic to "<a href="/wiki/E._O._Wilson#.22If_we_removed_all_the_history.22" title="E. O. Wilson">remove all the history</a>" in order to promote the <a href="/wiki/E._O._Wilson#The_American_hereditarian_assumption" title="E. O. Wilson">American hereditarian assumption</a>. </p><p>Shermer has championed the use of the term "equalitarian" to mean anti-racist,<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49">[45]</a></sup> likely with the full knowledge that this was <a href="/wiki/E._O._Wilson#20th_century_hereditarians_and_the_civil_rights_movement" title="E. O. Wilson">a favorite term used by segregationists for anti-segregationists</a>. </p><p>Shermer appeared on <a href="/wiki/Stefan_Molyneux" title="Stefan Molyneux">Stefan Molyneux</a>'s show and referred to Molyneux as "one of the most articulate podcasters."<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50">[46]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span id="Pinker's_pal"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Pinker.27s_pal">Pinker's pal</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Pinker's pal">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Michael Shermer and <a href="/wiki/Steven_Pinker" title="Steven Pinker">Steven Pinker</a> are political allies and friends. <i>Salon</i> published an article by Emile P. Torres entitled "Steven Pinker's fake enlightenment: His book is full of misleading claims and false assertions"<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51">[47]</a></sup> and Pinker's response was posted by <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Coyne" title="Jerry Coyne">Jerry Coyne</a> on his blog "Why Evolution is True."<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52">[48]</a></sup> Shermer linked to that response with a tweet: "Where @RichardDawkins had his fleas (The Dawkins Delusion etc.), @sapinker has his cockroaches (the oleaginous Phil Torres desperate for attention), artfully squashed here. <sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53">[49]</a></sup> </p><p>Pinker and Shermer also socialize. Pinker posted a photo of himself and Shermer in bike-riding gear on his Instagram with the text "MAMILs (middle-aged men in Lycra) - me and Michael Shermer in Santa Barbara."<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54">[50]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Spooky_radio">Spooky radio</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Spooky radio">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>For those lacking a fundamental comprehension of how science works, the siren song of pseudoscience becomes too alluring to resist, no matter how smart you are.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Michael Shermer<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55">[51]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Shermer <a href="/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence" title="Anecdotal evidence">wrote</a> how in 2014, he tried unsuccessfully to restore a transistor radio that had belonged to the deceased grandfather of his new wife and among other things, installed fresh batteries. He stashed it in their bedroom, located at the back of their home. Three months later, the radio "inexplicably" <a href="/wiki/Poltergeist" title="Poltergeist">started playing</a> just when his wife needed grandfatherly reassurance. This mysterious event 'shook [Shermer's] skepticism'; he appeared to hint that he was "keeping an open mind" about the possibility of <a href="/wiki/Supernatural" title="Supernatural">supernatural</a> influence.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56">[52]</a></sup> Later, Shermer seemed to backpedal by rejecting the supernatural and reaffirming his skepticism.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57">[53]</a></sup> </p><p>Did Michael Shermer weigh up the <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a> carefully and follow the <a href="/wiki/Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">scientific method</a> over the radio? Below are some points that he could do well to consider. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Explanations">Explanations</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Explanations">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>To vintage electronics geeks, old transistor radios with "intermittent" circuits are no mystery at all. Varying humidity, temperature, and mechanical movement on old copper contacts found in switches and battery compartments, as well as the effect of aging capacitors and resistors on circuits, are well-known causes of maddeningly intermittent functionality. Tiny temperature-induced contractions or expansions of small metal or plastic parts over time can cause otherwise dead circuits to come to life suddenly.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58">[54]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59">[55]</a></sup> Yet, to the uninitiated, this well-understood but arcane electronic quirk resembles <a href="/wiki/Magic" title="Magic">magic</a>. </p> <ol><li>But what about the spooky timing of this one? Again, there is a boringly conventional explanation. According to Shermer's account, he and his wife would not have discovered the radio playing had they not retreated to the bedroom located at the back of the house where the radio was stored. Equipped with fresh batteries and left "on"<sup id="cite_ref-ShermerSlate_60-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ShermerSlate-60">[56]</a></sup> with the volume slightly turned up, Shermer's radio had very likely already been playing by itself, probably during rising daytime temperatures, but not when anyone was nearby to hear it. That the Shermers happened to first discover the radio playing at a particularly emotional moment was a remarkable coincidence, but well within the realm of pure chance.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61">[note 5]</a></sup></li> <li>But what about the spooky way the radio happened to be tuned to a station playing a "love song"? <sup id="cite_ref-ShermerSlate_60-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ShermerSlate-60">[56]</a></sup> Since the subject of love and relationships literally dominates popular music, it isn't at all unusual for a radio station to be playing a song about love.<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62">[57]</a></sup></li> <li>It is possible to speculate that the radio could have been altered, for example modern components could have been put into the casing of the 1970's radio so a remote signal could start it. However, the coordination of a small-scale conspiracy involving costly parts and services by an electronics technician seems unlikely (except to those who feel Shermer would spare no effort <s>to accomplish evil</s> to prevent his new wife <a href="#Accusations_of_sexual_misconduct">feeling bad about him</a>).</li></ol> <p><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Coyne" title="Jerry Coyne">Jerry Coyne</a> regrets that Shermer made no attempt to get more evidence, for example by looking into the radio. Coyne further reprints a post which includes, <i>"It would be mildly interesting to have an electronics expert determine exactly what is wrong with the radio."</i><sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63">[58]</a></sup> Since Shermer and his wife did not provide the radio for investigation, we will quite likely never know if there was more to it than a 1970's vintage radio. </p><p>Readers are left to apply <a href="/wiki/Occam%27s_razor" title="Occam's razor">Occam's razor</a> (remember, make the minimum necessary assumptions!). Which is more likely? </p> <ol><li>That the story we have been told is not complete, i.e. Shermer deliberately held something back, or it is not fully accurate i.e. Shermer lied about some detail. Possibly he felt guilty about <a href="#Accusations_of_sexual_misconduct">accusations of sexual misconduct</a> or feared their effect on his new wife. So he secretly engineered a technologically complex illusion that would emotionally bond his new wife to him.</li> <li>That the radio was not entirely the way it seemed, i.e. it was covertly modified to be more technologically advanced by multiple conspirators at <a href="/wiki/CFI" class="mw-redirect" title="CFI">CFI</a> who took part in a coordinated illusion in order to ensure Shermer would stick with his new wife and avoid sexual misconduct that might cause them further embarrassment.</li> <li>That the <a href="/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics" class="mw-redirect" title="First law of thermodynamics">1st Law of Thermodynamics</a> is wrong and spooky things <i>really happen</i> like the dead communicating with the living through some unknown but very powerful force.</li> <li>That it all was just a remarkable <a href="/wiki/Coincidence" title="Coincidence">coincidence</a>.</li></ol> <p>Readers are invited to answer this for themselves. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Podcast">Podcast</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Podcast">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>On 22 November 2015, Michael Shermer launched a podcast, modestly titled <i>The Michael Shermer Show</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64">[59]</a></sup> He has some RationalWiki-friendly messages (holocaust denialism on <a href="/wiki/Tucker_Carlson" title="Tucker Carlson">Tucker Carlson</a>'s show is bad m'kay) and some nerd-friendly guests such as <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin">Robert Zubrin</a> but invites many people with RationalWiki entries such as <a href="/wiki/Aella" title="Aella">Aella</a><sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65">[60]</a></sup> and Nick Bostrom.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66">[61]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Books">Books</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Books">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><i>The Believing Brain</i> – This has similar but not identical material to <i><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a></i> articles: "<a href="/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases" title="List of cognitive biases">List of cognitive biases</a>", "<a href="/wiki/Argument_from_authority" title="Argument from authority">Argument from authority</a>", "<a href="/wiki/Confirmation_bias" title="Confirmation bias">Confirmation bias</a>", "<a href="/wiki/Groupthink" title="Groupthink">Groupthink</a>" etc. Shermer values the <a href="/wiki/Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">scientific method</a> and <a href="/wiki/Peer_review" title="Peer review">peer review</a> for limiting bias and recognises that <a href="#Shermer_as_a_scientist">scientists are not immune</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67">[62]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781250008800" title="Special:BookSources/9781250008800">ISBN 9781250008800</a></li> <li><i>The Mind of the Market</i> – on evolutionary economics, whatever that is</li> <li><i>Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design</i> – about evolution, evidence for evolution and ways of testing the theory</li> <li><i>Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown</i> – how thinking works and goes wrong</li> <li><i>The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Rule</i> – How morality evolved and being moral without religious belief</li> <li><i>In Darwin’s Shadow</i> – on <a href="/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace" title="Alfred Russel Wallace">Alfred Russel Wallace</a> who also discovered <a href="/wiki/Natural_selection" title="Natural selection">natural selection</a>.</li> <li><i>The Borderlands of Science</i> – what is not clearly science or pseudoscience</li> <li><i>Denying History</i> – <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denial" title="Holocaust denial">Holocaust denial</a> and more <a href="/wiki/Pseudohistory" title="Pseudohistory">pseudohistory</a></li> <li><i>How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God</i> – This is Shermer’s theory about the origin and reasons for religious belief.</li> <li><i>Why People Believe Weird Things</i> – on pseudoscience, <a href="/wiki/Superstition" title="Superstition">superstitions</a>, and other contemporary confusion</li> <li><i>The Soul of Science</i> – co-edited (with Pat Linse and ) about belief on <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> the <a href="/wiki/Soul" title="Soul">soul</a> and <a href="/wiki/Afterlife" title="Afterlife">afterlife</a></li> <li><i>The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience</i> – analyzing supposedly scientific controversies<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-68">[63]</a></sup></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Quotes">Quotes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Quotes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>"On the deepest level, our brains are wired up to believe just about everything we encounter..."<sup id="cite_ref-salt_69-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-salt-69">[64]</a></sup></li> <li>"Science is the best tool we ever devised. It's the only hope we have," he said. But "it's counterintuitive. <a href="#Spooky_radio">People are not naturally inclined to think skeptically and scientifically</a>."<sup id="cite_ref-salt_69-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-salt-69">[64]</a></sup>*"</li> <li>"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons."<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-70">[65]</a></sup></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_Randi" title="James Randi">James Randi</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://skepticblog.org/author/shermer/">Michael Shermer at Skepticblog</a>: The collaborative blog of the cast of the (yet non-existent) show <i>The Skeptologists</i>.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.skeptic.com">The Skeptics Society & <i>Skeptic</i> magazine</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">…Then again, resistance to change is one of the defining characteristics of conservatives. In fact, it's a major reason why their ideology is called <i>conservatism</i> — because it seeks to conserve the status quo of society and established traditions at all costs.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">His motions swayed him, especially on the dance floor.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-36">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">It does not need <a href="/wiki/Precognition" title="Precognition">psychic power to predict</a> that the grenade is likely to stay up for the foreseeable future.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-38">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">As a side note, this might make a good argument against trusting teetotalers and their sense of judgement.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-61">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">For how people come to imagine there is agency behind something like an old radio turning itself on, see <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception/transcript?language=en">The pattern behind self-deception</a>. That has a very good explanation which Shermer could do well to note.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thebadgeronline.com/a-sceptical-take-on-michael-shermer/">A sceptical take on Michael Shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thebestschools.org/features/michael-shermer-interview/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org">Michael Shermer Interview</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscience/dp/0805070893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265824714&sr=1-1">Why People Believe Weird Things</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.amazon.com/Cycling-Endurance-Sportsperformance-Michael-Shermer/dp/0809247755">Cycling: Endurance and Speed (Sportsperformance)</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.michaelshermer.com/">MichaelShermer.com</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/22/opinion/oe-shermer22">http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/22/opinion/oe-shermer22</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.science20.com/rationally_speaking/michael_shermers_libertarianism">Massimo Pigliucci's</a> beef with Shermer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.skepdic.com/refuge/shermer.html">Skeptic's Dictionary</a> review of Mind of the Market</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cosmoetica.com/B650-DES554.htm">Review Of Michael Shermer’s The Mind Of The Market by Dan Schneider, 11/22/07</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://skepticblog.org/2009/05/05/how-i-became-a-libertarian/">How I Became a Libertarian</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-flipping-point">The Flipping Point</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Van Hiel, A., Kossowska, M., & Mervielde, I. (2000). The relationship between openness to experience and political ideology. <i>Personality and Individual Differences, 28</i>(4), 741-751. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00135-X">https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00135-X</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Gerber, A. S., Huber, G. A., Doherty, D., Dowling, C. M., & Ha, S. E. (2010). Personality and political attitudes: Relationships across issue domains and political contexts. <i>American Political Science Review, 104</i>(1), 111-133. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055410000031">http://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055410000031</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/conservatism">"Conservatism"</a>, <i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/theres-no-such-thing-liberal-war-science">There's No Such Thing As the Liberal War on Science</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/left-science-gmo-vaccines">Stop Pretending That Liberals Are Just As Anti-Science As Conservatives</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/01/16/the-delicate-ego-of-mr-michael-shermer/">The delicate ego of Michael Shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/21/an-experiment-why-do-you-despise-feminism/">An experiment, why do you despise feminism</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/01/23/shermers-false-equivalencies/">Shermer's false equivalencies</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://skepchick.org/2016/03/michael-shermer-supports-trump-because-skepticism-is-a-joke/">Michael Shermer Supports Trump, Because Skepticism is a Joke</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/03/04/michael-shermer-im-not-endorsing-donald-trump/">Michael Shermer: I’m Not Endorsing Donald Trump</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.patheos.com">http://www.patheos.com</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.elysian.press/p/substack-writers-for-community-moderation">Substack shouldn’t decide what we read</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Myers-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-Myers_24-0">22.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-Myers_24-1">22.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text">PZ Myers, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/08/08/what-do-you-do-when-someone-pulls-the-pin-and-hands-you-a-grenade">"What do you do when someone pulls the pin and hands you a grenade?"</a>, <i>Pharyngula</i>, August 8, 2013.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2014/09/the-creep-list/">The creep list</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.skepticblog.org/2013/02/12/towards-a-science-of-morality/">Towards a Science of Morality</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/4419">http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/4419</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/08/more-internet-vigilantism-as-shermer.html">http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/08/more-internet-vigilantism-as-shermer.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-29">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://thetimchannel.wordpress.com/tag/michael-shermer">http://thetimchannel.wordpress.com/tag/michael-shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-30">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://thepigmancometh.com/2013/08/11/pz-myers-accuses-michael-shermer-of-rape">http://thepigmancometh.com/2013/08/11/pz-myers-accuses-michael-shermer-of-rape</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.skepticink.com/prussian/2013/08/12/about-the-shermer-allegations">http://www.skepticink.com/prussian/2013/08/12/about-the-shermer-allegations</a>]</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thetimchannel.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/159838891-shermer-cease-and-desist-letter-to-pzm.pdf">A copy of the cease and desist letter</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/08/they-clearly-want-to-do-harm-to-the-institutions/">http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/08/they-clearly-want-to-do-harm-to-the-institutions/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/08/12/last-word-for-now/">http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/08/12/last-word-for-now/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-35">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds/2014/08/09/within-one-year/">http://freethoughtblogs.com/almostdiamonds/2014/08/09/within-one-year/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-37">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith claims to witnesses that she was not sober. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/09/21/alison-smith-clarifies-a-few-matters/">Alison Smith clarifies a few matters</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-39">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2014/09/the-wall-of-silence-around-michael-shermer/">The Wall of Silence Around Michael Shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-40">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://johnhawks.net/weblog/fossils/naledi/shermer-naledi-murder-2016.html">Michael Shermer: Murdering the facts about Homo naledi?</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-41">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/01/02/read-the-paper-shermer/">Read the paper, Shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-42">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html">Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web</a> Bari Weiss (May 8, 2018) <i>The New York Times</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-43">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/993842338295300096?lang=en">The Intellectual Dark Web is a movement whose time has come...</a> Michael Shermer (May 8, 2018) <i>Twitter/X</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-44">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://quillette.com/author/michael-shermer/">Quillette - Michael Shermer</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-45">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220407233902/https://twitter.com/Hallucigenia11/status/1512212704727126021">On the day of Ketanji Brown Jackson's historic confirmation, @michaelshermer has announced that he's going to vindicate a researcher who argued that Black people are less intelligent and more prone to violence than White people. Let that sink in for a moment. by David Sepkoski</a> (April 7, 2022) Twitter (archived from April 7, 2022)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-46">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA79626874&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10639330&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=nysl_oweb&isGeoAuthType=true&aty=geo">The Pinker Instinct</a> Michael Shermer (Spring 2001) <i>Skeptic</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-47">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU39I2XBH0M">Debunking the 1619 Project with Mary Grabar</a> (October 12 2021) <i>YouTube</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-48">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-wealth-gap.html">A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates black and white America</a> Trymaine Lee (August 14, 2019) <i>The New York Times</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-49">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/1459931737824403457">"Equalitarians" & "Equitarians" are good as I think they capture the belief in equal outcomes vs. equal opportunity.</a> Michael Shermer (November 14, 2021) <i>Twitter/X</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-50">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2019/05/31/as-long-as-shermer-is-a-respected-skeptic-movement-skepticism-will-be-an-embarrassment/">As long as Shermer is a respected skeptic, movement skepticism will be an embarrassment</a> P. Z. Myers (May 31, 2019) <i>Pharyngula</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-51">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.salon.com/2019/01/26/steven-pinkers-fake-enlightenment-his-book-is-full-of-misleading-claims-and-false-assertions/">Steven Pinker's fake enlightenment: His book is full of misleading claims and false assertions</a> Émile P. Torres (January 26, 2019) <i>Slate</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-52">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2019/01/29/a-response-from-steve-pinker-to-salons-hit-piece-on-enlightenment-now/">A response from Steve Pinker to Salon’s hit piece on “Enlightenment Now”</a> Jerry Coyne (January 29, 2019) <i>Why Evolution is True</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-53">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/1090409572064321537?lang=en">xxx Where @RichardDawkins had his fleas</a> Michael Shermer (January 29, 2019) <i>Twitter/X</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-54">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU0pubxhHpP/">MAMILs (middle-aged men in Lycra) - me and Michael Shermer in Santa Barbara</a> Steven Pinker (October 8, 2021) <i>Instagram</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-55">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>MichaelShermer.com - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.michaelshermer.com/2002/09/smart-people-believe-weird-things/">Smart People Believe Weird Things</a></i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-56">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.michaelshermer.com/2014/10/infrequencies/">I just witnessed an event so mysterious that it shook my skepticism</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-57">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.slate.com/bigideas/what-is-the-future-of-religion/essays-and-opinions/michael-shermer-opinion">Do Anomalies Prove the Existence of God?</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-58">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77661">UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration</a> Lots of reasons radios play or don't play by themselves. Notice how it's never caused by a <a href="/wiki/Ghost" title="Ghost">ghost</a>?</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-59">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283335">Is Michael Shermer becoming a believer??</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ShermerSlate-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ShermerSlate_60-0">56.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ShermerSlate_60-1">56.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.slate.com/bigideas/what-is-the-future-of-religion/essays-and-opinions/michael-shermer-opinion">Do Anomalies Prove the Existence of God?</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-62">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.ufl.edu/archive/2007/05/love-still-dominates-pop-song-lyrics-but-with-raunchier-language.html">Love still dominates pop song lyrics, but with raunchier language</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-63">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/shermer-has-a-woo-experience-admits-there-may-be-something-to-it/">Shermer has a woo experience, admits there may be something to it</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-64">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaurs/">https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaurs/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-65">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/aella-from-christian-upbringing-to-sex-work/">https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/aella-from-christian-upbringing-to-sex-work/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-66">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/nick-bostrom-life-meaning-in-solved-world/">https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/nick-bostrom-life-meaning-in-solved-world/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-67"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-67">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-believing-brain/">The Believing Brain: Why Science Is the Only Way Out of Belief-Dependent Realism</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-68"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-68">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.michaelshermer.com/about-michael/">[1]</a> </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-salt-69"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-salt_69-0">64.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-salt_69-1">64.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.news-gazette.com/news/religion/2011-04-11/taking-life-grain-salt.html">Taking life with a grain of salt</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-70"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-70">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.amazon.com/People-Believe-Weird-Things-Pseudoscience/dp/0805070893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265824714&sr=1-1">Why People Believe Weird Things</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&oldid=2725397">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&oldid=2725397</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Bronze-level_articles" title="Category:Bronze-level articles">Bronze-level articles</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Skepticism" title="Category:Skepticism">Skepticism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheists" title="Category:Atheists">Atheists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Authors" title="Category:Authors">Authors</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Intellectual_Dark_Web" title="Category:Intellectual Dark Web">Intellectual Dark Web</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Libertarians" title="Category:Libertarians">Libertarians</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Living_people" title="Category:Living people">Living people</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Racialism_pseudoscientists" title="Category:Racialism pseudoscientists">Racialism pseudoscientists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Transphobes" title="Category:Transphobes">Transphobes</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden category: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_using_DynamicPageList_parser_function" title="Category:Pages using DynamicPageList parser function">Pages using DynamicPageList parser function</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-navigation"> <h2>Navigation menu</h2> <div id="mw-head">  <nav id="p-personal" class="vector-menu" aria-labelledby="p-personal-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-personal-label"> <span>Personal tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="pt-anonuserpage">Not logged in</li><li id="pt-anontalk"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n">Talk</a></li><li id="pt-anoncontribs"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y">Contributions</a></li><li id="pt-createaccount"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Michael+Shermer" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory">Create account</a></li><li id="pt-login"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Michael+Shermer" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o">Log in</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="left-navigation">  <nav id="p-namespaces" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-namespaces-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-namespaces-label"> <span>Namespaces</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected"><a href="/wiki/Michael_Shermer" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></li><li id="ca-talk"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Michael_Shermer" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t">Talk</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-variants" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" /> <h3 id="p-variants-label"> <span>Variants</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation">  <nav id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-views-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-views-label"> <span>Views</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-view" class="collapsible selected"><a href="/wiki/Michael_Shermer">Read</a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e">Edit</a></li><li id="ca-history" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h">Fossil record</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" /> <h3 id="p-cactions-label"> <span>More</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="p-search" role="search"> <h3 > <label for="searchInput">Search</label> </h3> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform"> <div id="simpleSearch"> <input type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search RationalWiki" title="Search RationalWiki [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput"/> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> <input type="submit" name="fulltext" value="Search" title="Search the pages for this text" id="mw-searchButton" class="searchButton mw-fallbackSearchButton"/> <input type="submit" name="go" value="Go" title="Go to a page with this exact name if it exists" id="searchButton" class="searchButton"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-panel"> <div id="p-logo" role="banner"> <a title="Visit the main page" class="mw-wiki-logo" href="/wiki/Main_Page"></a> </div>  <nav id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal portal-first" aria-labelledby="p-navigation-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-navigation-label"> <span>Navigation</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-mainpage-description"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z">Main page</a></li><li id="n-recentchanges"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r">Recent changes</a></li><li id="n-randompage"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random mainspace article [x]" accesskey="x">Random page</a></li><li id="n-New-pages"><a href="/wiki/Special:NewPages">New pages</a></li><li id="n-All-logs"><a href="/wiki/Special:Log">All logs</a></li><li id="n-help"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="RTFM">Help</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-support" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-support-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-support-label"> <span>Support</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Donate"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Site_support">Donate</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-community" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-community-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-community-label"> <span>Community</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Saloon-bar"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Saloon_bar">Saloon bar</a></li><li id="n-To-do-list"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:To_do_list">To do list</a></li><li id="n-What-is-going-on.3F"><a href="/wiki/WIGO">What is going on?</a></li><li id="n-Best-of-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Contents">Best of RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-About-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki">About RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-Technical-support"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support">Technical support</a></li><li id="n-Mod-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:All_things_in_moderation">Mod noticeboard</a></li><li id="n-RMF-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:RationalMedia_Foundation">RMF noticeboard</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-Social media" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-Social media-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-Social media-label"> <span>Social media</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/RationalWiki" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></li><li id="n-Mastodon"><a href="https://mstdn.social/@rationalwiki" rel="nofollow">Mastodon</a></li><li id="n-Facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rationalwiki/226614404019306" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></li><li id="n-Discord"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Discord">Discord</a></li><li id="n-Reddit"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Reddit">Reddit</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-tb" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-tb-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-tb-label"> <span>Tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="t-whatlinkshere"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Michael_Shermer" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j">What links here</a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Michael_Shermer" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k">Related changes</a></li><li id="t-specialpages"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q">Special pages</a></li><li id="t-print"><a href="javascript:print();" rel="alternate" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p">Printable version</a></li><li id="t-permalink"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&oldid=2725397" title="Permanent link to this revision of the page">Permanent link</a></li><li id="t-info"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Michael_Shermer&action=info" title="More information about this page">Page information</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" role="contentinfo" > <ul id="footer-info" > <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 15 March 2025, at 15:43.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Unless explicitly noted otherwise, all content licensed as indicated by <a name="Copyright" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights">RationalWiki:Copyrights</a>. <br> For concerns on copyright infringement please see: <a name="Copyright infringement" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyright_violations">RationalWiki:Copyright violations</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places" > <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Privacy_policy" title="RationalWiki:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:About" class="mw-redirect" title="RationalWiki:About">About RationalWiki</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimer"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:General_disclaimer" title="RationalWiki:General disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"><img src="/w/88x31.png" alt="CC-BY-SA 3.0, or any later version" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both;"></div> </footer> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.134","walltime":"0.174","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1539,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":15982,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":5247,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":10,"limit":40},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":100},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":30793,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 119.649 1 -total"," 39.19% 46.894 2 Template:Navsidebar"," 26.66% 31.901 1 Template:Skepnav"," 25.00% 29.909 3 Template:Navsidebar2"," 23.11% 27.656 3 Template:Randomarticles"," 16.58% 19.836 1 Template:Atheism"," 15.31% 18.324 2 Template:Reflist"," 5.99% 7.170 1 Template:Bronze"," 5.07% 6.061 1 Template:Efn"," 3.65% 4.367 3 Template:Cquote"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"apache5","timestamp":"20250331024619","ttl":86400,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":287,"wgHostname":"apache5"});});</script></body></html>