Stories by Michael Shermer

The Case for Scientific Humanism

The case for scientific humanism

Kids Today Are Being Socialized to Think They’re Fragile Snowflakes

A looming crisis and how to avert it

Abortion Is a Problem to Be Solved, Not a Moral Issue

Education and birth control are slowly making the politics less relevant

The Singular of “Data” Is Not “Anecdote”

Why the singular of “data” is not “anecdote”

Why Do People Kill Themselves?

Why do people die by suicide?

What Personal Genome Testing Can and Can't Do

The limitations of personal genome service testing

Mysterianism Redux

A follow up to my Scientific American column on consciousness, free will and God…the final mysteries?

Will Science Ever Solve the Mysteries of Consciousness, Free Will and God?

Are consciousness, free will and God insoluble mysteries?

Web Searches Reveal (in Aggregate) What We’re Really Thinking

Google as a window into our private thoughts

Does the Philosophy of “the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number” Have Any Merit?

The Number of Americans with No Religious Affiliation Is Rising

The rise of the atheists

Is Truth an Outdated Concept?

Are we living in a post-truth world?

Our Actions Don’t Matter in a Cosmic Sense—but That Doesn’t Mean They Don’t Matter

Science reveals our deepest purpose

Science Denial versus Science Pleasure

Can We Agree to Outlaw War—Again?

Why “outcasting” works better than violence

Does Success Come Mostly from Talent, Hard Work—or Luck?

Does it come from talent, hard work—or luck?

Belief in Aliens May Be a Religious Impulse

Is belief in aliens a religious impulse?

The Unfortunate Fallout of Campus Postmodernism

The roots of the current campus madness

It Was Necessary to Use Nukes against Japan--but North Korea Is More Complicated

Kim Jong-un's increasing threats bring to mind the world's only nuclear attack, which happened 72 years ago this week

Are We All Racists Deep Inside?

Private thoughts and public acts