There are checks and balances in science. There's somebody checking the people doing the science, and then there's somebody who checks the checkers and somebody who checks the checker's checkers. Michael Shermer More Quotes by Michael Shermer More Quotes From Michael Shermer But because we live in an age of science, we have a preoccupation with corroborating our myths. Michael Shermer preoccupationagescience The fate of the paranormal is to become the normal as our horizons of understanding expand. Michael Shermer horizonfateunderstanding The whole point of faith, in fact, is to believe regardless of the evidence, which is the very antithesis of science. Michael Shermer atheistbelievefacts Skepticism is not a position; skepticism is an approach to claims, in the same way that science is not a subject but a method. Michael Shermer methodclaimsway I am an atheist. There, I said it. Are you happy, all you atheists out there who have remonstrated with me for adopting the agnostic moniker? If "atheist" means someone who does not believe in God, then an atheist is what I am. But I detest all such labels. Call me what you like - humanist, secular humanist, agnostic, nonbeliever, nontheist, freethinker, heretic, or even bright. I prefer skeptic. Michael Shermer atheistmeanbelieve Accepting evolution does not force us to jettison our morals and ethics, and rejecting evolution does not ensure their constancy. Michael Shermer ethicsmoraldoe In science, if an idea is not falsifiable, it is not that it is wrong, it is that we cannot determine if it is wrong, and thus it is not even wrong. Michael Shermer determineifsideas We are a fluke of nature, a quirk of evolution, a glorious contingency. Michael Shermer quirksflukesevolution ...evolution is not a religious tenet, to which one swears allegiance or belief as a matter of faith.. It is a factual reality of the empirical world. Just as one would not say 'I believe in gravity," one should not proclaim 'I believe in evolution. Michael Shermer religiousbelievereality In science , all conclusions are provisional, subject to new evidence and better arguments, the very antithesis of religious faith. Michael Shermer argumentreligiousfaith The human capacity for self-delusion is boundless, and the effects of belief are overpowering. Michael Shermer capacitybeliefself So, of course, Gish's presentation was well received, which it would have been the case had he only gotten up and said "praise the Lord" and sat back down. Michael Shermer atheismlordpraise The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth century), is easily turned aside with just one more question: Who or what caused and moved God? Michael Shermer causesfirststhinking Mammals are sentient beings that want to live and are afraid to die. Evolution vouchsafed us all with an instinct to survive, reproduce and flourish. Michael Shermer mammalsevolutionwant We do not just blindly concede control to authorities; instead we follow the cues provided by our moral communities on how best to behave. Michael Shermer moralcommunityauthority Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios. Michael Shermer global-warmingenvironmentalopinion ... In a free society, skeptics are the watchdogs against irrationalism - the consumer advocates of ideas. Debunking is not simply the divestment of bunk; its utility is in offering a better alternative, along with a lesson on how thinking goes wrong. Michael Shermer offeringideasthinking When alien abductees recount to me their stories, I do not deny that they had a real experience. Michael Shermer ethosrealstories Are science and religion compatible? It's like, are science and plumbing compatible? They're just two different things. Michael Shermer soulgodtwo Science is not the affirmation of a set of beliefs but a process of inquiry aimed at building a testable body of knowledge constantly open to rejection or confirmation. In science, knowledge is fluid and certainty fleeting. That is at the heart of its limitations. It is also its greatest strength. Michael Shermer heartsciencethinking
