We are a fluke of nature, a quirk of evolution, a glorious contingency. 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 preoccupation age science The fate of the paranormal is to become the normal as our horizons of understanding expand. Michael Shermer horizon fate understanding The whole point of faith, in fact, is to believe regardless of the evidence, which is the very antithesis of science. Michael Shermer atheist believe facts 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 method claims way 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 atheist mean believe Accepting evolution does not force us to jettison our morals and ethics, and rejecting evolution does not ensure their constancy. Michael Shermer ethics moral doe 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 determine ifs ideas ...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 religious believe reality In science , all conclusions are provisional, subject to new evidence and better arguments, the very antithesis of religious faith. Michael Shermer argument religious faith The human capacity for self-delusion is boundless, and the effects of belief are overpowering. Michael Shermer capacity belief self 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 atheism lord praise 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 causes firsts thinking 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 mammals evolution want 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 moral community authority Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios. Michael Shermer global-warming environmental opinion ... 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 offering ideas thinking When alien abductees recount to me their stories, I do not deny that they had a real experience. Michael Shermer ethos real stories Are science and religion compatible? It's like, are science and plumbing compatible? They're just two different things. Michael Shermer soul god two 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 heart science thinking The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago this month. Michael Shermer molecules atoms brain
