13 Reasons To Doubt

Extraordinary claims and extraordinary evidence.

The mainstream and social media feed our minds a diet of fringe science and outright pseudoscience. They relentlessly stream paranormal, supernatural, and otherwise extraordinary claims. Where do all these come from? They're spread by shysters and charlatans, by corporate propagandists with cynical eyes on the bottom line, by priests and preachers of all kinds, by axe-grinding cranks and ideologues, and frequently by well-meaning dupes.

This may be a scientific age, but all too often, science, well-grounded scholarship, evidence, and logic are ignoredor even denied.

Scientific skepticism offers a corrective: skeptics defend science and reason, while demanding the evidence for extraordinary claims.

In this volume, we offer you thirteen ways to scientific skepticism: thirteen reasons to doubt extraordinary claims. The authors discuss groupthink and cognitive biases, science denialism, weird archeology, claims about religion and free will, and many other topics. Within these pages, there is something for anyone who wants to avoid biases and fallacies, cut through the masses of misinformation, and push back against fakers and propagandists.

The chapters are as follows:

INTRODUCTION

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DOUBT: GREAT SKEPTICS FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE RENAISSANCE
PETER FERGUSON

SKEPTICISM IN AN AGE OF IDEOLOGY
RUSSELL BLACKFORD

ARE YOU A SKEPTIC?
MARIA MALTSEVA

WHY YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR BRAIN
CALEB W. LACK

BEING SUSPICIOUS OF OURSELVES: GROUPTHINK'S THREAT TO SKEPTICISM
JACQUES ROUSSEAU

SCIENCE: A MECHANISM FOR DOUBTING; A SOURCE OF RELIABILITY
KEVIN MCCARTHY

SCIENCE IS PREDICATED ON THE NON-MAGICAL NATURAL WORLD ORDER
JOHN W. LOFTUS

THE POWER OF HUME'S ON MIRACLES
ZACHARY SLOSS

ON DOUBTING THE EXISTENCE OF FREE WILL, AND HOW IT CAN MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
JONATHAN M.S. PEARCE

PSEUDOARCHAEOLOGY: SEVEN TIPS
REBECCA BRADLEY

THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS COMING FOR YOU!
STAKS ROSCH

WHY BELIEFS MATTER
DAVID OSORIO

SCIENCE DENIALISM AT A SKEPTIC CONFERENCE: A CAUTIONARY TALE
EDWARD K CLINT

APPENDIX: SCIENCE DENIALISM AT A SKEPTIC CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

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