Michael Shermer

I care what is actually true, even more than what I hope is true.

— Michael Shermer

Science is the best tool ever devised for understanding how the world works.

— Michael Shermer

“the belief that the government can impose top-down measures to rescue the”

— Michael Shermer

Absolute morality leads logically to absolute intolerance.

— Michael Shermer

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

— Michael Shermer

Anecdotal thinking comes naturally; science requires training.

— Michael Shermer

Plato wove historical fact into literary myth.

— Michael Shermer

I just witnessed an event so mysterious that it shook my skepticism.

— Michael Shermer

Since humans are by nature tribal, the overall goal is to expand the concept of the tribe to include ALL members of…

— Michael Shermer

No single discovery from any of these fields denotes proof of evolution, but together they reveal that life evolved in a certain…

— Michael Shermer

Tenure in any department is serious business, because it means, essentially, employment for life.

— Michael Shermer

There is a significant difference between having no belief in a God and believing there is no God.

— Michael Shermer

Skeptics question the validity of a particular claim by calling for evidence to prove or disprove it.

— Michael Shermer

Are science and religion compatible? It's like, are science and plumbing compatible? They're just two different things.

— Michael Shermer

We know evolution happened because innumerable bits of data from myriad fields of science conjoin to paint a rich portrait of life's…

— Michael Shermer

The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born…

— Michael Shermer

We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such…

— Michael Shermer

Believing that the rustle in the grass is a dangerous predator when it is only the wind does not cost much, but…

— Michael Shermer

Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an…

— Michael Shermer

Mysteries once thought to be supernatural or paranormal happenings - such as astronomical or meteorological events - are incorporated into science once…

— Michael Shermer

As a social primate species, we modulate our morals with signals from family, friends and social groups with whom we identify because…

— Michael Shermer

Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one's focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no…

— Michael Shermer

In the past 10,000 years, humans have devised roughly 100,000 religions based on roughly 2,500 gods. So the only difference between myself…

— Michael Shermer

“The almost universal nature of within-group amity and between-group enmity, wherein the rule-of-thumb heuristic is to trust in-group members until they prove…

— Michael Shermer

Myths are about the human struggle to deal with the great passages of time and life--birth, death, marriage, the transitions from childhood…

— Michael Shermer

“Unfortunately, there’s a downside to the dopamine system, and that is addiction. Addictive drugs take over the role of reward signals that…

— Michael Shermer

“1. The clear and quantitative physical differences among people in size, strength, speed, agility, coordination, and other physical attributes that translates into…

— Michael Shermer

“The Realistic Vision acknowledges that people vary widely both physically and intellectually—in large part because of natural inherited differences—and therefore will rise…

— Michael Shermer

Myths, whether in written or visual form, serve a vital role of asking unanswerable questions and providing unquestionable answers. Most of us,…

— Michael Shermer

“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic…

— Michael Shermer

“Of all the chemical transmitter substances sloshing around in your brain, it appears that dopamine may be the most directly related to…

— Michael Shermer

“Creationists have also changed their name ... to intelligent design theorists who study 'irreducible complexity' and the 'abrupt appearance' of life—yet more…

— Michael Shermer

“For Paley, a watch is purposeful and thus must have been created by a being with a purpose. A watch needs a…

— Michael Shermer

“There may be a genetic basis to how much dopamine each of our brains produces. The gene that codes for the production…

— Michael Shermer

“In addition to localized neural networks, hallucinogenic drugs have been documented to trigger such preternatural experiences, such as the sense of floating…

— Michael Shermer

“What science offers for explaining the feelings we experience when believing in God or falling in love is complementary, not conflicting; additive,…

— Michael Shermer

“Checking a box on a form for race—"Caucasian," "Hispanic," "African-American," "Native American," or "Asian-American"—is untenable and ridiculous. For one thing, "American" is…

— Michael Shermer

“In 1963, Skinner’s Harvard colleagues Charles Catania and David Cutts put humans through the pigeon paces by instructing each of twenty-six undergraduate…

— Michael Shermer

“Dr. Mark Crisplin, a Portland, Oregon, ER doctor, reviewed the original EEG readings of a number of patients claimed by the scientists…

— Michael Shermer

“Dopamine enhances the ability of neurons to transmit signals between one another. How? By acting as an agonist (as opposed to antagonist),…

— Michael Shermer