Library:Why People Believe Weird Things
| Why People Believe Weird Things | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Shermer |
| First published | 1997 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7167-3090-3 |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Culture, Religion & Society Science & Environment |
| Tactics | Pseudoscience / Junk Science Conspiracy Theory |
Why People Believe Weird Things is a 1997 book by Michael Shermer.
Summary
Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptics Society and publisher of Skeptic magazine, wrote this book in 1997, with a revised edition in 2002. It is less a catalogue of strange beliefs than an attempt to explain the psychology behind them, written by someone who admits to having believed several of them himself.
How thinking goes wrong
An early chapter sets out a list of common errors that lead people astray: treating anecdotes as evidence, mistaking scientific language for science, assuming bold statements must be true, relying on unexplained coincidences, appealing to ignorance, and moving the goalposts when evidence goes against a belief. Shermer presents these as normal features of human reasoning rather than signs of stupidity.
The cases
The book examines a wide range of beliefs: near-death experiences, alien abductions, recovered-memory therapy and the satanic-panic accusations it fuelled, the witch crazes of early modern Europe, the circle around Ayn Rand that came to function like a cult, creationism and "creation science," and Holocaust denial. The section on Holocaust denial is among the most detailed, showing how deniers selectively use evidence and why historians can establish what happened with confidence.
Why we believe
Shermer's answer to the title question centres on what beliefs provide. Weird beliefs offer immediate gratification, simple explanations for complicated events, a sense of meaning and moral order, and above all hope. People believe things because believing helps them, not because the evidence compels them.
Smart people
The 2002 edition added an important chapter on why smart people believe weird things. Shermer's argument is that intelligence does not protect against false beliefs; it makes people better at defending beliefs they adopted for non-rational reasons. That insight anticipates later research on motivated reasoning.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The book helps explain why debunking alone so often fails: belief serves needs that evidence does not address. It anchors the Culture, Religion & Society domain and the Conspiracy Theory tactic, and it is a reminder that entries should treat believers with understanding while being unsparing about the claims.