Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.

- Michael Shermer

Humans are, by nature, pattern-seeking, storytelling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns whether they exist or not.

- Michael Shermer

Anecdotal thinking comes naturally; science requires training.

- Michael Shermer

Myths are stories that express meaning, morality or motivation. Whether they are true or not is irrelevant.

- Michael Shermer

The whole point of faith, in fact, is to believe regardless of the evidence, which is the very antithesis of science.

- Michael Shermer

In science , all conclusions are provisional, subject to new evidence and better arguments, the very antithesis of religious faith.

- Michael Shermer

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

... In a free society, skeptics are the watchdogs against irrationalism - the consumer advocates of ideas. Debunking is not simply the divestment of …

- Michael Shermer

Religious faith depends on a host of social, psychological and emotional factors that have little or nothing to do with probabilities, evidence and l…

- Michael Shermer