Michael Shermer
Author Giving the Devil His Due, Host Science Salon Podcast, Publisher Skeptic Magazine, Presidential Fellow Chapman University.
Thought Leader
#8 The New Center
Last synced from Twitter 5m ago
Possible Good News: Fewer Fevers Reported Nationwide, Says Smart Thermometer Company
Reason.com 15h 5 tweets
Social distancing and lockdowns appear to be working to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael Shermer with Bart Ehrman — Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife
Michael Shermer - Skeptic 16h 1 tweets
Nearly everyone wonders about what, if anything, comes after death. In Science Salon # 110 Michael Shermer speaks with Bart Ehrman about his book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife in which Ehrman investigates the powerful instincts that...
Michael Shermer Science Salon #110 Bart Ehrman Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife —What the bible says about the afterlife —What Jesus really said about heaven —Myths: their original purpose —Real meaning of the resurrection —Is the Kingdom of Heaven within us? 16h
When Disease Comes, Rulers Grab More Power
The Atlantic 9d 34 tweets
In countries around the world, the pandemic is giving leaders an excuse to entrench themselves. And the public is going along with it.
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Michael Shermer "At times when people fear death, they go along with measures that they believe will save them—even if that means a loss of freedom. Liberals, libertarians, democrats, & freedom-lovers of all kinds should not fool themselves: They will be popular now too." 17h
Poll: 15% of Sanders supporters will vote for Trump if Biden is nominee; 80% would back Biden
USA TODAY 28h 1 tweets
The poll also found Biden with a 16-percentage-point advantage (55%-39%) over Sanders among registered Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.
Michael Shermer Liberals wonder why they keep losing elections. Republicans who detested Trump voted for him anyway ("holding my nose and pulling the handle" was the meme). Politics is a team sport. Vote your principles like libertarians do and guess what? You lose. 28h
The Road to Coronavirus Hell Was Paved by Evangelicals
Katherine Stewart - Nytimes.com 5d 54 tweets
Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his ultraconservative religious allies.
Michael Shermer “Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not" —Miami Megachurch "apostle" Guillermo Maldonado Disturbing OpEd by Hosting her on my podcast about her new book The Power Worshippers 3d
A Single Gesture Behind Trump Fuels an Online Conspiracy Theory
Sheera Frenkel - Nytimes.com 4d 52 tweets
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the administration’s most outspoken advocate of emergency virus measures, has become the target of claims that he is mobilizing to undermine the president.
Michael Shermer “Sorry liberals but we don’t trust Dr. Anthony Fauci.” Research shows conspiracism flourishes in uncertain environments. In addition to conspiracy theories about the origin of coronavirus, Anthony Fauci is targeted by Far Right as a deep-state operative 3d
Young Ohio siblings stage cello concert for elderly neighbor self-quarantined over coronavirus
Cbsnews.com 14d 3 tweets
"We love playing the cello for other people," 9-year-old Taran Tien said. "Then we thought about how she was stuck in her house, so we thought it was a great idea and might make her happy."
The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
Nature Medicine 15d 63 tweets
The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
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Michael Shermer "It is improbable that SARS-CoV-2 emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus." Just in case anyone is contemplating the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is an artificially designed bio-weapon. Nature Medicine: 3d
Cognitive Biases & How Thinking Goes Wrong (& Right!)
Panopto 5d 3 tweets
Michael Shermer My Chapman University Skepticism 101 Lecture now posted for general viewing (for your quarantine edification and, hopefully, pleasure): Cognitive Biases and How Thinking Goes Wrong (and Right!) 5d
Michael Shermer Getting interesting feedback to my online Chapman course "Cognitive Biases & How Thinking Goes Wrong" this from an actual bar tender who has to actually solve the Wason logic puzzle (bartender version) in real life. His comments & my PPT slides. Lecture: 4d
Michael Shermer ICYMI... More content for your isolation consumption: My Chapman Skepticism 101 lecture on: "Cognitive Biases and How Thinking Goes Wrong (and Right!)" 3d
What Good Is Chinese Soft Power?
National Review 9d 7 tweets
Silencing whistleblowers, strong-arming the WHO, spreading propaganda, and threatening to withhold medications from the West are acts of arson, not ‘soft power.’
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Michael Shermer "Chinese consumers eat bats & pangolins for superstitious reasons. Just one year after a SARS outbreak that panicked East Asia, China reopened these markets despite many warnings from scientists & health authorities that they were a public-health menace." 5d
Coronavirus ‘fuelling spike in doomsday bunkers while rich build to panic rooms'
The Sun 5d 1 tweets
THE coronavirus has seen surge in demand for doomsday bunkers while the super-rich seek to isolate themselves in panic rooms, it has been reported. As the number of people with the deadly virus hit…
Michael Shermer With gun/ammo sales up it wasn't long before doomsday prepper companies got in on the action. Amazing how fast people go from best of times to the worst of times: weeks. Six months from now: "can I get a refund on my bomb shelter deposit of $35,000?" 5d
Is the Coronavirus as Deadly as They Say?
WSJ 7d 43 tweets
Current estimates about the Covid-19 fatality rate may be too high by orders of magnitude.
Michael Shermer Could it be that the denominator (number of real COVID-19 cases) is an order of magnitude (10x) higher than thought (people don't know they have it, think they have the flu, can't get tested...) so death rate is 10x lower? Isolation good but don't panic. 6d
An Incarceration Nation?
Law & Liberty 24d 3 tweets
Barry Latzer on the question: Is America the "incarceration nation"?
Michael Shermer "Is the United States the incarceration nation? Compared to Europe, Canada & Australia the honest answer is 'yes—but with good reason'.” Those 3 reasons are "recidivism, guns, and murder" Data-driven analysis comparing US to other countries reveals causes 8d
Michael Shermer with Neil Shubin — Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA
Michael Shermer - Skeptic 8d 2 tweets
In Science Salon # 109 Michael Shermer speaks with Neil Shubin about his new book Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA — a lively and accessible account of the great transformations in the history...
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Michael Shermer Science Salon #109 Neil Shubin Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life from Ancient Fossils to DNA —epigenetics —origins of life —information increase in genomes —microevolution to macroevolution —women in science —anomalies in science 8d
Michael Shermer ICYMI—My conversation with Neil Shubin Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA The Science Salon podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, or here: 3d
How Pathogens Affect Cultural Values and Religious Edicts
Psychology Today 8d 5 tweets
Exploring COVID-19 via the evolutionary lens
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Michael Shermer How (and why) different cultures respond differently to COVID-19 suggests how (and why) we individualistic Westerners might emulate more collectivist societies for a brief period. Good analysis by 8d
Trump's ‘China Virus’ Coronavirus Phrase -- Needlessly Antagonistic | National Review
Nationalreview.com 8d 7 tweets
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Michael Shermer I agree with , especially her point that calling it the Chinese virus "needlessly plays into the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to divide us and deflect our attention from their bad actions." But what about: Spanish Flu? German Measles? 8d
Amid Hydroxychloroquine Hopes, Lupus Patients Face Shortages
Undark Magazine 10d 2 tweets
Limited evidence that the common lupus drug might combat Covid-19 is rapidly driving up demand, leaving many lupus patients in a lurch.
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Michael Shermer More evidence (or lack thereof) on hydroxychloroquine has led me to adjust my priors about its effectiveness, plus the implications of a run on it that could harm people who really need it led me to change my credence and quit taking the drug. 9d
Cosmos: Possible Worlds Season 2 Trailer | 'Now In Production' | Rotten Tomatoes TV
YouTube 9d 1 tweets
Check out the new Cosmos: Possible Worlds Trailer starring Neil deGrasse Tyson! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Learn more about this sho...
Michael Shermer More quality content to consume: Mondays: Cosmos Possible Worlds Written by Ann Druyan, hosted by & produced by & & Just binge-watch all 13 episodes in prep of having Ann on my podcast. Outstanding 9d
Niall Ferguson’s Networld: Episode 1 – “Disruption” | PBS
YouTube 14d 2 tweets
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Michael Shermer More quality content well worth consuming in isolation: new 3-part PBS series Networld. Unintentionally relevant for understanding pandemics (filmed long before COVID-19) via Network Theory. Break those links between nodes! Features 9d
Why We Should Abolish the Electoral College
Nytimes.com 14d 2 tweets
Jesse Wegman’s “Let the People Pick the President” is a readable account of how the Electoral College distorts our political system.
Michael Shermer Arguments for the Electoral College are stronger than this review reveals, but I have to agree: "The Electoral College as we have it now should go." "If it didn’t exist, no one today would consider creating it." We should vote for presidents not electors. 9d