8 Comments

Michael, your work over the years to advance reason, science, and truth has been outstanding. Congratulations on 30 years! I hope this will continue far into the future.

Expand full comment

Michael, keep doing what you do. That is why I keep sending you money each year. : )

Expand full comment

Please check Bret and Heather out; they are on the front lines now with regard to vaccination. They appeared at a D.C. rally in late January with Robert Kennedy Jr., the leading anti vax

spread of misinformation today, and with Robert Malone,who has publicly lied about his work and credentials. They are evolutionary biologists, not medical doctors, and initially were more conservative and careful about their pronouncements on Covid, but then they became much more insistent and emphatic about the risks of the vaccine. Bret interviewed one woman who suffered very bad side effects from the vaccination (at least that is what she claimed), as proof that vaccination is dangerous. What he failed to do was actually look at the statistics (which are maintained in a government agency that receives and files reports of adverse effects from vaccination; however there is no independent investigation of these claims, how long after vaccination these effects occurred, or the prior health of the individuals). Equally bad was his failure to look at the history of adverse effects from OTHER vaccines, such as measles and polio, for which there are undoubtedly records. After the principled position during the Evergreen College fight that they took, which was admirable, they have now totally changed their tune and become irresponsible rather than measured, honest, fair, and their

statements have strengthened the deniers and anti fax people immeasurably. Please go and check their history and the podcasts yourself. This is not an issue that lends itself merely to differences of opinions. This is an issue of scientific honesty and credibility, statistics, credible sources and sadly they have politicized it to the point where it is dangerous. It is up to us, the public, to look critically and skeptically at these claims and do the research without joining our peer group and swallowing things without question.

Expand full comment
Feb 22, 2022·edited Feb 22, 2022

Mr. Shermer,

“Today, arguments and evidence are secondary or even tertiary; the goal is to bring them down, utterly destroy them professionally and, if possible, personally.” There are hundreds of such horror stories that have come to light the past several years, leading most scholars and scientists to keep their mouths shut and their heads down out of fear of losing their livelihoods and reputations.”

In my world view this comes under the heading of “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

Here is just one of the many supporting pieces of evidence of this from “History Quiz hello@historyquiz.com."

“Galileo’s Masterwork

February 22, 1632

On February 22, 1632, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei presented the first printed copy of his masterwork “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.” The book follows a four-day conversation among three characters — Salviati, Sagredo, and Simplicio — as they discuss the two theories explaining the solar system. Unlike other scientific works of the time, “Dialogue” was written for the masses, as Galileo hoped to explain the ideas of heliocentricity to the general public. Today, it’s regarded as one of the most important pieces of popular science ever published.

The “two systems” include the Earth-centric Ptolemaic model and the heliocentric model, discovered by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). In “Dialogue,” Salviati, a narrative stand-in for Galileo, champions Copernicus’ view that the planets revolve around the sun, while Simplicio parrots the Earth-centric view of the Catholic Church. The book angered Pope Urban VIII, who saw a bit too much of himself in the unflattering Simplicio. Within a few months, the church forbade the distribution of the book and eventually forced Galileo to recant his life’s work. But great ideas cannot be silenced, and for 400 years, Galileo’s “Dialogue” has inspired an untold number of scientists, including Albert Einstein, who wrote a foreword for the book in 1953, and referred to Galileo as the “father of modern science.”

While I agree that “great ideas cannot be silenced,” it is historically obvious that “determining the way things really are,” and attempting to “enlighten” believers with facts, truths, and great ideas is fraught with personal peril in a world of “flawed beings susceptible to all the cognitive foibles and motivated reasoning that come bundled with the software running the brains of Homo sapiens 1.0”

So I thank you and offer my support for your continuing efforts to speak out on behalf of yourself and those of us who do not have a public voice. And for the “raison d'être to figure out what is right, not to be right; And “to know what is actually true, not what you want to be true.”

Expand full comment

Your work is incredibly important. I have admired you for years and am glad to support your Substack columns. It is outrageous that Scientific American let you go, but they have turned a formerly wonderful magazine into dreck. To quote Mad Magazine. Keep it up.

Expand full comment

Re Paul Offit: he is co author of a paper saying that someone who has had Covid 19 need not get three shots. I am curious as to his sources and whether there has been disagreement with other scientists or doctors about this.

Expand full comment

I appreciate wisdom from any direction so I thank you for homing in on the controversies of today. However, I must warn you that there are educated progressives who for some reason have bought into the latest fantasies, mainly about Covid vaccines and the truckers' protests in Canada. I personally try my hardest to send them credible information and evidence that contradicts their belief, but unfortunately a few voices like mine have no chance of being accepted as even partially credible when there are podcasts of purported credible people like Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying supporting their paranoia and distrust of science and government. I do not include Joe Rogan because it is his guests who are questionable; Rogan needs to boost his skepticism towards everyone on his show. But when evolutionary biologists like Weinstein/Heying line up with fraudsters like Robert Malone and is ilk, it is nigh impossible to convince people that their views are flawed or even outride false. What is needed is people like you to expose them with evidence and qualified experts. In sum I urge you to become a

podcaster but in writing (people read faster than the time of a podcast and can refer to something written and pass it on to others). These are desperate times and call for more aggressive action and rebuttal. I hope you can facilitate this.

Expand full comment