Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (60 page)

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Authors: Michael Shermer

Tags: #Creative Ability, #Parapsychology, #Psychology, #Epistemology, #Philosophy & Social Aspects, #Science, #Philosophy, #Creative ability in science, #Skepticism, #Truthfulness and falsehood, #Pseudoscience, #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Belief and doubt, #General, #Parapsychology and science

BOOK: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
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Table of Contents

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

FOREWORD | The Positive Power of Skepticism

INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION

PROLOGUE | Next on Oprah

PART 1: SCIENCE AND SKEPTICISM

1. I Am Therefore I Think | A Skeptic's Manifesto

2. The Most Precious Thing We Have | The Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience

3. How Thinking Goes Wrong | Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things

PART 2: PSEUDOSCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION

4. Deviations | The Normal, the Paranormal, and Edgar Cayce

5. Through the Invisible | Near-Death Experiences and the Quest for Immortality

6. Abducted! | Encounters with Aliens

7. Epidemics of Accusations | Medieval and Modern Witch Crazes

8. The Unlikeliest Cult | Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and the Cult of Personality

PART 3: EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM

9. In the Beginning | An Evening with Duane T. Gish

10. Confronting Creationists | Twenty-five Creationist Arguments, Twenty-five Evolutionist Answers

11. Science Defended, Science Defined | Evolution and Creationism at the Supreme Court

PART 4: HISTORY AND PSEUDOHISTORY

12. Doing Donahue | History, Censorship, and Free Speech

13. Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened, and Why Do They Say It? | An Overview of a Movement

14. How We Know the Holocaust Happened | Debunking the Deniers

15. Pigeonholes and Continuums | An African-Greek-German-American Looks at Race

PART 5: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

16. Dr. Tipler Meets Dr. Pangloss | Can Science Find the Best of All Possible Worlds?

17. Why Do People Believe Weird Things?

18. Why Smart People Believe Weird Things

Bibliography

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