"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel
Revised and Expanded Edition.
In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science.
Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.
Michael Shermer is the author of The Moral Arc, Why People Believe Weird Things, The Believing Brain, and several other books on the evolution of human beliefs and behavior. He is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the editor of Skeptic.com, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He lives in Southern California.
- 本书深入剖析人类为何会相信超自然现象、阴谋论及伪科学，指出这并非源于智力低下，而是人类进化出的寻找事物间关联的本能，以及在面对死亡恐惧与不确定性时，对精神慰藉和永恒希望的心理需求。
- 作者系统梳理了思维出错的三大层级：因希望而盲目、一般性认知偏差及特定逻辑谬误。书中强调科学进步的本质在于通过不断证伪来积累可靠知识，并教导读者如何通过质疑证据质量、核查主张者资质来抵御伪科学诱惑。
- 作为怀疑论者的经典之作，本书不仅揭露了各种荒谬主张，更倡导一种理性的批判精神。它提醒读者，真正的怀疑论不是嘲讽他人，而是理解错误产生的社会文化根源，从而更客观地认识世界，避免陷入非理性思维的陷阱。
- 对心理学、认知偏差及人类非理性行为机制感兴趣的读者，希望从科学角度理解为何聪明人也会相信迷信、邪教或伪科学，并寻求提升自身批判性思维能力与逻辑判断力的人群。
- 关注科学传播、反伪科学议题的科普爱好者，以及希望了解科学方法论本质、区分科学与伪科学界限的读者。本书适合那些在信息爆炸时代，渴望建立独立判断标准、不被谣言和虚假宣传误导的人。
- 对哲学、伦理学及人类思维进化史有探索欲的读者。书中涉及斯宾诺莎、笛卡尔等哲学家的观点，适合希望深入思考知识获取、道德立场与科学进步关系，并愿意反思自身思维局限性的严肃阅读者。
- 本书部分案例涉及西方特定文化背景下的伪科学或宗教争议，若缺乏相关背景知识可能影响理解。建议读者保持开放心态，重点汲取作者分析思维谬误的逻辑框架，而非纠结于具体案例的文化细节。
- 书中部分章节内容较为冗长，案例堆砌且重复，阅读体验可能不够紧凑。建议读者跳过繁琐的个案描述，直接关注作者总结的思维错误类型及防范策略，以提高阅读效率，避免陷入枯燥的细节泥沼。
- 请注意本书中文版翻译质量参差不齐，部分表述可能存在晦涩或误译。若条件允许，建议参考英文原版或对照其他译本阅读，以确保准确理解作者关于科学方法、证据评估及批判性思维的核心观点。
- 读者普遍认为本书前几章质量极高，深刻揭示了人类心理弱点与伪科学泛滥的关联，具有极强的警示意义。但后半部分被批评为啰嗦、案例重复且琐碎，导致整体阅读体验下降，部分读者认为其重点分散，未能始终保持高水平的论述。
- 许多读者指出，书中关于批判性思维、证据评估及科学方法论的教导极具价值，有助于提升个人独立思考能力。然而，也有批评声音认为作者态度傲慢，缺乏对信仰者的人文关怀，且部分翻译版本质量低劣，严重影响了原著思想的准确传达。
- 尽管存在争议，读者仍认可本书在揭露思维陷阱、普及科学精神方面的贡献。大家共识在于，不应简单嘲笑相信怪诞事物的人，而应反思自身思维漏洞。本书作为了解人类非理性行为成因的入门读物，其核心警示意义仍值得肯定。
本导读基于书籍简介、目录、原文摘录、短评和书评生成，不等同于全文精读。
- "怀疑论者恰恰就热衷于去揭露那些胡说八道的异端邪说。意识到别人荒谬的逻辑推理是件很开心的事，但这不是问题的主旨所在。作为怀疑论者和具有批判精神的思想家，我们不应受情绪的干扰，而要试着去了解别人出错的原因，弄明白社会和文化传统对科学所产生的影响，只有这样我们才能更地了解世界发展的规律。 荷兰哲学家巴鲁克-斯宾诺莎说：“我曾进行过不懈的努力，其目的不是去嘲弄、哀叹或讥笑人们的某种行为，而是试着去了解他们。”"
- "Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest. The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home, Rest and expatiates in a life to come."
- "This hope is what drives all of us -skeptics and believers alike- to be compelled by unsolved mysteries, to seek spiritual meaning in a physical universe, desire immortality, and wish that our hopes for eternity may be fulfilled."
- "Life is contingent and filled with uncertainties, the most frightening of which is the manner, time, and place of our own demise. Under the pressure of reality, we become credulous. We seek reassuring certainties from fortune-tellers and palm-readers, astrologers and psychics. Our critical faculties"
- "three tiers why people believe weird things:(1) because hope springs eternal;(2) because thinking can go wrong in general ways;(3) because thinking can go wrong in particular ways."
- "Humans evolved the ability to seek and find connections between things and events in the environment (snakes with rattles should be avoided), and those who made the best connections left behind the most offspring. We are their descendants. The problem is that causal thinking is not infallible. We ma"
- "Balance can be found by answering a few basic questions: What is the quality of the evidence for the claim? What are the background and credentials of the person making the claim? Does the thing work as claimed?"
- ""One of the characteristics that sets man apart from all the other animals (and animal he indubitably is) is a need for knowledge for its own sake.""
