Michael Shermer: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational, Skeptic Movement, & More

Longtime friends Peter Boghossian and Michael Shermer sit down to talk about ideological capture in American institutions, skepticism, the Grievance Studies Affair, the Fermi Paradox, and more!

Dr. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. Michael wrote a monthly column for Scientific American for 18 years. He is the author of several books, including his most recent, "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational" His next book is set to be published in Fall 2025.

The Michael Shermer Show https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Why-Rational-Believe-Irrational/dp/1421444453/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2TO2ZFV7ZPUVK&keywords=Conspiracy,+shermer&qid=1665347083&sprefix=conspiracy,+shermer,aps,178&sr=8-4
Michael on X: https://x.com/michaelshermer

Chapters
0:00 Intro
3:30 What people in the future will think about 2024
10:02 Ideology in institutions
14:40 Michael’s podcast
19:50 Are we in a simulation?
31:15 Fermi Paradox (David Deutsch clip)
41:30 Michael Shermer’s book
49:10 AI thought experiment
1:01:07 What Michael has learned from his podcasts
1:03:04 Rapid-fire questions for Michael
1:12:55 Academia & Grievance Studies Affair
1:22:22 Substitution Hypothesis

⸺SUPPORT MY WORK⸺
Newsletter | https://boghossian.substack.com/
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⸺LINKS⸺
Podcast: "Conversations with Peter Boghossian": https://pod.link/1650150225
Website | https://peterboghossian.com/
National Progress Alliance | https://www.nationalprogressalliance.org/
Resignation Letter | https://peterboghossian.com/my-resignation-letter

⸺BOOKS⸺
“How To Have Impossible Conversations” | https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738285323/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_7DPKY2S21SSNAV8PCBW3_0
“A Manual For Creating Atheists” | https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Creating-Atheists-Peter-Boghossian/dp/1939578094/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1664805100&sr=1-2

⸺SOCIAL MEDIA⸺
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