TED, 2006: Michael Shermer on Auditory Illusions and Believing in Strange ThingsBackAs founder and publisher of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer has exposed fallacies behind intelligent design, 9/11 conspiracies, the low-carb craze, alien sightings and other popular beliefs and paranoias. But it's not about debunking for debunking's sake. Shermer defends the notion that we can understand our world better only by matching good theory with good science. Thus, in order to explore a conspiracy theory that pre-planted explosives caused the World Trade Center towers to fall on 9/11, the magazine called on demolition experts. Shermer's work offers cognitive context for our often misguided beliefs: In the absence of sound science, incomplete information can powerfully combine with the power of suggestion (helping us hear Satanic lyrics when "Stairway to Heaven" plays backwards, for example). In fact, a common thread that runs through beliefs of all sorts, he says, is our tendency to convince ourselves: We overvalue the shreds of evidence that support our preferred outcome, and ignore the facts we aren't looking for. Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe -- and overlook the facts Category: People Uploaded: January 18th, 2009 @ 2:50 am Author: JSKC3013 Length: 02:10 Rating: Views: Tags: michael shermer ted illusions faith satan led zeppelin Related Video Links:» View Video Comments For TED, 2006: Michael Shermer on Auditory Illusions and Believing in Strange Things » View JSKC3013's Other Uploaded Videos Video Thumbnails:Video Embedding Code:* Embed this video on your website, social bookmark, myspace, or blog. |
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