Title: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and other Confusions of Our Time
Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
ISBN: 0805070893
Pro:
• Specific irrational beliefs explained and refuted
• Logical fallacies and errors in thinking explained
• Good introductions to Holocaust Denial and Creationism
Con:
• Not enough ‘why’ in comparison to ‘what’
Description:
• Specific irrational beliefs explained and refuted
• Logical fallacies and errors in thinking explained
• Some general discussion on the psychology of belief
Book Review
Very little of Shermer’s book actually addresses such issues. Instead he does what most authors of skeptical books do, which is debunk specific irrationalities and pseudoscientific claims. This is not bad, especially because Shermer does a very good job of it, and most would benefit from the insights he offers.
It is unfortunate, however, because a book about the psychological and social basis for strange beliefs would be very useful, and Shermer could probably provide it. Nevertheless, that disappointment is the only serious problem with the book, and it is very good for what it actually is.
Whereas most debunkers usually look at weird claims from the outside, Shermer has a unique perspective as someone who was once a “true believer” in many of the stranger ideas common today. He’s been abducted by aliens and had colonic irrigation. He’s been to the chiropractor to get aligned and balanced. He’s been to alternative health practitioners to get “purified” and “detoxified.” He’s been rolfed and wrongly diagnosed by an iridologist.
Shermer also isn’t afraid to critique things he partially believes in. For example, even though he agrees with much of the objectivist philosophy, he shows how the actual movement took on a life of its own. He details some of the worst excesses of the “inner circle” of objectivists around Ayn Rand and argues that Objectivism has become something of a nonreligious cult of personality which incorporates characteristics usually found in religious cults, like “veneration of the leader, inerrancy of the leader, omniscience of the leader, absolute truth, and absolute morality.”
But Shermer does more than debunk strange claims — he also offers a cure, which is skepticism. Skepticism is not the same as cyncism, and it is not a dogmatic position. Skepticism is a method of assessing claims and ideas:
- Modern skepticism is embodied in the scientific method, which involves gathering data to test natural explanations for natural phenomena. A claim becomes factual when it is confirmed to such an extent that it would be reasonable to offer temporary agreement. But all facts in science are provisional and subject to challenge, and therefore skepticism is a method leading to provisional conclusions.
It is worth noting that weird beliefs and the abandonment of skepticism are not problems which merely result in harmless beliefs like astrology. They also lead to more dangerous pseudoscientific and pseudohistorical beliefs, like repressed memory therapy and Holocaust Denial. Both can cause a lot of harm, and the former already has; but both can be stopped if people exercised more care and skepticism in their thinking:
- Rationality tied to moral decency is the most powerful joint instrument for good that our planet has ever known.
In the final chapter, Shermer returns to the theme suggested in his title and offers five basic answers to the question of why people are inclined to believe weird things: for consolation, for immediate gratification, for simplicity, for moral meaning, and because hope springs eternal.
Whatever the object of belief, even when it involves more political issues like Holocaust Denial, we can find these common factors operating.Unfortunately, those are primarily psychological factors, and he does not address some of the other things which lead to beliefs like those discussed in his book. For example, there is the problem of ignorance. Most people have too little knowledge of history and science, making it difficult for them to assess pseudohistorical and pseudoscientific claims. People are also ignorant of the basic principle of scientific and skeptical inquiry which are necessary if any substantive evaluation of claims is to take place.
In the end, Shermer’s book is very much worth reading. He provides an excellent defense of skepticism and rationality in the face of superstitious and weird claims which are believed by too many people around the world. But his critiques are not mean-spirited because he has some understanding for why people find such beliefs attractive. He does offer them and us a way out of the morass of confused thinking, if we only are willing to put in the effort required for independent and critical thought.
