Dec 14, 2011
Michael Shermer is the founder of the Skeptics Society and
editor-in-chief of Skeptic magazine. He is the author of several
books on the topics of belief and the history of science. His
latest book is The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to
Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce
Them as Truths. "In this work synthesizing thirty years of
research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's
best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking
about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs
come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer
argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through
the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find
patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains
connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain
why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs
are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory
evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process
of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a
positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the
numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs
as truths. "Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides
countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from
politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the
supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why
science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a
belief matches reality." Join us on Sunday as we discuss why the
processes that help our brains makes sense of the world also trip
us up and make it easy to believe strange things. Interview by Carl
Hancock and August Berkshire. Hosted by Stephanie Zvan. Related
Links The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and
Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as
Truths
http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-Conspiracies---How-Construct-Reinforce/dp/0805091254
"The Believing Brain: Why Science Is the Only Way Out of
Belief-Dependent Realism"
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-believing-brain
The Believing Brain reviewed at Science-Based Medicine
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/the-believing-brain/
Michael Shermer's main page http://www.michaelshermer.com/ The
Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine
http://www.skeptic.com/