Michael Shermer, Ph. D., is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine (www.skeptic.com), the director of the Skeptics
Society, the host of the Skeptics Lecture Series at the California Institute of Technology, and a contributing
editor and monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of How We Believe: The Search for God in
an Age of Science, Denying History and The Borderlands of Science.
Summary
In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression
theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices,
with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores
the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely
new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries
like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science.
Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking,
including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes.
Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want
to protect them.