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to show how smart people deceive themselves. Shermer explores the psychology of scholars and business men who give up their careers in their pursuit to broadcast their paranormal beliefs. In his last chapter, added to the revised version, Shermer explains why he believes that "intelligent people" can
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who can discover "unknowable" facts about strangers. The longest sections of the book take on the more-substantive issues of creationism and
Holocaust denial." It was given 4 out of 5 stars by popularscience.co.uk, which said "In this classic, originally published in 1997 but reviewed in a new UK
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can learn from it, but more importantly, it's a book to give those who maybe aren't as skeptical as you, those who need some clear and reasonable arguments to gently push them in a more critical direction. Read this book yourself: buy it for someone whose mind you care about."
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reasons. Like the creationists, he asserted, many
Holocaust deniers believe that the evidence sides with them. He describes meeting and arguing with the deniers and lays out their arguments then shows evidence to support his own statements.
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arguments in 25 separate claims, and attempts to debunk each one with his own evidence. He closes retelling how a constitutional ban on teaching creationism in public schools was
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Why People
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Why People
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Why People
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edition, he gives a powerful argument for taking the sceptical viewpoint". According to the
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of humans). You'll also find cogent debunkings of strange phenomena such as
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thinking and how one comes to believe in things without evidence. He uses
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Part three begins with
Shermer describing several debates he had with
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In the first section, Shermer discusses the ideas that he has towards
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wrote, "This is a book that deserves to be widely read. Skeptics and
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be more susceptible to believing in weird things than others.
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407:(1993). "The Unlikeliest Cult in History".
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333:(through UFOlogy's newest twist,
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516:Why People Believe Weird Things
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298:In part five Shermer relates
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27:1997 book by Michael Shermer
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595:Popular psychology books
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575:Books by Michael Shermer
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80:Henry Holt and Company
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391:References
378:Skepticism
356:jitters."
269:Duane Gish
242:paranormal
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228:mysticism
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372:See also
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279:at the
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211:Summary
115:306 pp.
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61:English
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