{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Jewish Ideas to Change the World","title":"Skepticism 101: How to Think Like a Scientist with Dr. Michael Shermer","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3419,"description":"ABOUT THIS EVENT: Despite our best efforts, we’re all vulnerable to believing things without using logic or having proper evidence—and it doesn’t matter how educated or well read we are. But there is a method for avoiding such pitfalls of human nature, and it’s called skepticism. By using rational inquiry and seeing subjects from a scientific perspective, we can approach even the most sensitive claims with clear eyes to ultimately arrive at the truth. In this lecture Dr. Shermer will surprise, challenge, and entertain you, you will learn how to think, not just what to think—and you’ll come to understand why extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You’ll discover how skepticism can help differentiate between real science and pseudoscience, as well as between “scientific” history and pseudohistory—distinctions that have serious educational and political implications. As you learn how our brains work to form beliefs, you’ll examine the classic fallacies of thought that lead us to experience mistakes in thinking and to form bad arguments in favor of our beliefs. Is there a God? Is there life after death? Is there a basis for morality without God? Skepticism 101 doesn’t shy away from controversial questions, nor does it give final answers. What it offers are methods and hard evidence for rationally evaluating various claims and positions, and an opportunity to understand why you believe what you believe.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the Science Salon podcast, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of a number of New York Times bestselling books including: Heavens on Earth, The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain, Why People Believe Weird Things, Why Darwin Matters, The Mind of the Market, How We Believe, and The Science of Good and Evil. His new book is Giving the Devil His Due, a defense of free speech and...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/rgXhZfTlnTjybGe2Y8VJvw1nIGugVMdj7wEKsMGYlrk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI5ODEyLzE2NTEw/Nzg1NjAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}