- Prayer
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- Nov 07, 2020
Michael Shermer Quotes
Most Famous Michael Shermer Quotes of All Time!
We have created a collection of some of the best michael-shermer quotes so you can read and share anytime with your friends and family. Share our Top 10 Michael Shermer Quotes on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Human
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- Nov 07, 2020
Human history is highly nonlinear and unpredictable.
- Pattern
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- Nov 07, 2020
But there is only one surefire method of proper pattern recognition, and that is science.
- Process
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- Nov 07, 2020
No single discovery from any of these fields denotes proof of evolution, but together they reveal that life evolved in a certain sequence by a particular process.
- Portrait
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- Nov 07, 2020
We know evolution happened because innumerable bits of data from myriad fields of science conjoin to paint a rich portrait of life's pilgrimage.
- Experience
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- Nov 07, 2020
When alien abductees recount to me their stories, I do not deny that they had a real experience.
- Causal
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- Nov 07, 2020
We should be exploring consciousness at the neural level and higher, where the arrow of causal analysis points up toward such principles as emergence and self-organization.
- Problems
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- Nov 07, 2020
For solving a surprisingly large and varied number of problems, crowds are smarter than individuals.
- Nov 07, 2020
The reason is that in a group, individual errors on either side of the true figure cancel each other out.
- Brilliant
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- Nov 07, 2020
In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued by the number of links to their page of origin.
- Morality
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- Nov 07, 2020
Myths are stories that express meaning, morality or motivation. Whether they are true or not is irrelevant.
- Live
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- Nov 07, 2020
But because we live in an age of science, we have a preoccupation with corroborating our myths.
- Historical
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- Nov 07, 2020
Plato wove historical fact into literary myth.
- Born
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- Nov 07, 2020
The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago this month.
- Body
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- Nov 07, 2020
Dualists hold that body and soul are separate entities and that the soul will continue beyond the existence of the physical body.
- General
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- Nov 07, 2020
The principal barrier to a general acceptance of the monist position is that it is counterintuitive.
- Either
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- Nov 07, 2020
Either the soul survives death or it does not, and there is no scientific evidence that it does.
- Earth
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- Nov 07, 2020
Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever known.
- Factors
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- Nov 07, 2020
Religious faith depends on a host of social, psychological and emotional factors that have little or nothing to do with probabilities, evidence and logic.
- Eyes
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- Nov 07, 2020
We think of our eyes as video cameras and our brains as blank tapes to be filled with sensory inputs.
- Power
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- Nov 07, 2020
But the power of science lies in open publication, which, with the rise of the Internet, is no longer constrained by the price of paper.
- Matter
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- Nov 07, 2020
Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.
- Closed-Minded
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- Nov 07, 2020
In principle, skeptics are neither closed-minded nor cynical. We are curious but cautious.
- Just
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- Nov 07, 2020
Being a skeptic just means being rational and empirical: thinking and seeing before believing.
- Disprove
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- Nov 07, 2020
Skeptics question the validity of a particular claim by calling for evidence to prove or disprove it.
- Go
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- Nov 07, 2020
Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.
- Events
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- Nov 07, 2020
Mysteries once thought to be supernatural or paranormal happenings - such as astronomical or meteorological events - are incorporated into science once their causes are understood.
- End
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- Nov 07, 2020
When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the identification of such mysteries is only the beginning. Science picks up where theology leaves off.
- Expressed
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- Nov 07, 2020
Flawed as they may be, science and the secular Enlightenment values expressed in Western democracies are our best hope for survival.
- Confidence
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- Nov 07, 2020
Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one's focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no longer visible, thereby transforming data collection into bias confirmation and morphing self-deception into self-assurance.
- Explains
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- Nov 07, 2020
In order to displace a prevailing theory or paradigm in science, it is not enough to merely point out what it cannot explain; you have to offer a new theory that explains more data, and do so in a testable way.
- Food
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- Nov 07, 2020
The case for exploiting animals for food, clothing and entertainment often relies on our superior intelligence, language and self-awareness: the rights of the superior being trump those of the inferior.
- Live
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- Nov 07, 2020
Mammals are sentient beings that want to live and are afraid to die. Evolution vouchsafed us all with an instinct to survive, reproduce and flourish.
- Faith
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- Nov 07, 2020
One of the features of a democracy is the disentanglement of the sacred from the secular because in religiously pluralistic countries, no one can legitimately claim special status by faith membership.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
My libertarian beliefs have not always served me well. Like most people who hold strong ideological convictions, I find that, too often, my beliefs trump the scientific facts.
- Fiscally
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- Nov 07, 2020
Ever since college, I have been a libertarian - socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I believe in individual liberty and personal responsibility.
- Always
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- Nov 07, 2020
I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric of minimal restrictions on individuals.
- Long
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- Nov 07, 2020
In the long run, it is better to understand the way the world really is rather than how we would like it to be.
- Mind
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- Nov 07, 2020
The reason people turn to supernatural explanations is that the mind abhors a vacuum of explanation. Because we do not yet have a fully natural explanation for mind and consciousness, people turn to supernatural explanations to fill the void.
- Friends
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- Nov 07, 2020
As a social primate species, we modulate our morals with signals from family, friends and social groups with whom we identify because in our evolutionary past, those attributes helped individuals to survive and reproduce.
- Control
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- Nov 07, 2020
We do not just blindly concede control to authorities; instead we follow the cues provided by our moral communities on how best to behave.
- Habits
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- Nov 07, 2020
Providentially, learned habits can be unlearned, especially in the context of moral groups.
- Because
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- Nov 07, 2020
Conspiracies are a perennial favorite for television producers because there is always a receptive audience.
- Nature
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- Nov 07, 2020
I say you don't need religion, or political ideology, to understand human nature. Science reveals that human nature is greedy and selfish, altruistic and helpful.
- Outside
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- Nov 07, 2020
The natural inclination in all humans is to posit a force, a spirit, outside of us. That tendency toward superstitious magical thinking is just built into our nature.
- Experience
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- Nov 07, 2020
In my experience, people are usually fired for reasons having to do with budgetary constraints, incompetence or not fulfilling the terms of a contract.
- Business
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- Nov 07, 2020
Tenure in any department is serious business, because it means, essentially, employment for life.
- Checking
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- Nov 07, 2020