Michael Shermer

«Las personalidades heréticas, tan presentes en las pseudociencias, tienen que atemperar sus creencias. Los escépticos, que tanto abundan en la ciencia, necesitan que cierta audacia modere su escepti

Las ideas más peregrinas tienen hoy que adoptar una vestidura "científica" para obtener credibilidad. No son ahora extrañas las "pruebas" de abducciones extraterrestres o de poderes telepáticos o los "documentos" que respaldan que el Holocausto nunca ocurrio. Schermer se interna en ese mundo de profetas y visionarios, fundamentalistas religiosos e "historiadores" racistas, y nos ofrece un analisis de sus credos y metodos, que desmonta pieza a pieza, aplicando nada mas que el pensamiento cientifico.

A scientific exploration into humanitys obsession with the afterlife and the quest for immortality from the bestselling author and sceptic Michael ShermerIn his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans belief in life after death. For millennia, the awareness of our own mortality and failings has led to religions concocting comforting notions of an afterlife, of heaven and hell, utopias and dystopias, and of the perfectibility of human nature.Heavens on Earth explores the numerous manifestations of the afterlife - a place where souls might go after the death of the physical body. Religious leaders have toiled to make sense of this place that a surprisingly high percentage of people believe exists, but from which no one has ever returned to report what it is really like.This is one of the most profound questions of the human condition and has long driven philosophers and theologians to try to understand the meaning and purpose of life for mortal beings, and how we can transcend mortality. Shermer details recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality by radical life extentionists, extropians, transhumanists, cryonicists and mind-uploaders, along with utopians who have attempted to create heaven on earth. Heavens on Earth concludes with an uplifting paean to purpose and progress and what we can do in the here-and-now, whether or not there is a hereafter.

These simple math secrets and tricks will forever change how you look at the world of numbers.Secrets of Mental Math will have you thinking like a math genius in no time. Get ready to amaze your friendsand yourselfwith incredible calculations you never thought you could master, as renowned mathemagician Arthur Benjamin shares his techniques for lightning-quick calculations and amazing number tricks. This book will teach you to do math in your head faster than you ever thought possible, dramatically improve your memory for numbers, andmaybe for the first timemake mathematics fun. Yes, even you can learn to do seemingly complex equations in your head; all you need to learn are a few tricks. Youll be able to quickly multiply and divide triple digits, compute with fractions, and determine squares, cubes, and roots without blinking an eye. No matter what your age or current math ability, Secrets of Mental Math will allow you to perform fantastic feats of the mind effortlessly. This is the math they never taught you in school.

Synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist and science historian, Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. Using sensory data that flow in through the senses, the brain naturally looks for and finds patterns - and then infuses those patterns with meaning, forming beliefs. Once beliefs are formed, our brains subconsciously seek out confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop.In The Believing Brain, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not our belief matches reality.