Few can talk with more personal authority about the range of human beliefs than
Michael Shermer. At various times in the past, Shermer has believed in fundamentalist
Christianity, alien abductions, Ayn Rand, megavitamin therapy, and deep-tissue massage.
Now he believes in skepticism, and his motto is "Cognite tute--think for yourself."
This updated edition of Why People Believe Weird Things covers Holocaust denial and
creationism in considerable detail, and has chapters on abductions, Satanism,
Afrocentrism, near-death experiences, Randian positivism, and psychics. Shermer has
five basic answers to the implied question in his title: for consolation, for immediate
gratification, for simplicity, for moral meaning, and because hope springs eternal.
He shows the kinds of errors in thinking that lead people to believe weird (that is,
unsubstantiated) things, especially the built-in human need to see patterns, even where
there is no pattern to be seen. Throughout, Shermer emphasizes that skepticism (in his
sense) does not need to be cynicism: "Rationality tied to moral decency is the most
powerful joint instrument for good that our planet has ever known."

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