Why people believe strange things
January 5th, 2008 | Published in Philosophy, Science, Truth | 3 Comments
Here is a 13 min video by Michael Shermer on why people believe strange things:
January 5th, 2008 | Published in Philosophy, Science, Truth | 3 Comments
Here is a 13 min video by Michael Shermer on why people believe strange things:
January 5th, 2008 at 5:28 pm (#)
Dang, he’s cocky.
January 6th, 2008 at 12:43 pm (#)
I guess if presenting clear and simple arguments in a humorous manner is cocky, he is definitely one cocky man. :)
January 10th, 2008 at 8:16 am (#)
His arguments make complete sense when discussing the rationale Universe. It is important to not make sensory claims without first understanding our “Cognitive biases” as he put it. However, I find skeptics arguments regarding God (funny they won’t even use this word; instead saying Creationist theory- as if to put the argument of God into the scientific playing field)to be extremely smug. The argument they make can be summarized like this: “If God cannot be proven using the rules of Science then God cannot be proven to exist, since only Science can Know the Truth.” Ironically, this statement is itself philosophical since it claims that the Truth is bound to the prestige of theories; prestige not derived from their inherent truth, but from their usefulness and the degree to which they are accepted by other scientists. He says religion and science are seperate, yet our society worships science so strongly that any criticism of science is seen as “ridiculous religious fanatacism…”