Michael Shermer on Skepticism and Pseudoscience, from “TED Talks”

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Filed under: Illusion and Magic, Prank Busters

This video is from the TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) 2006 Conference and it lives exclusively on the TED Website. They also offer a 45.7MB video podcast of it you can download. Although there is an ad at the beginning and the end of the video, the content in between is well worth viewing. -SR


From the TED Website: “Skeptic Magazine founder Michael Shermer takes us on a hilarious romp through the strange claims we humans put forth as truth – from alien encounters to Virgin Mary sightings on pizza pies, to hidden messages revealed while playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ backwards – and explains the evolutionary and cognitive basis for these lapses in reason…

Shermer is the founder/publisher of Skeptic Magazine, and author of several books, including, Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, Owl Books; 2nd Rev edition, 2002. [Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:29].”

Click here to view this Michael Shermer video.