Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Sep 8, 2017

: Episode 893 - Dr. Michael Shermer joins Vinnie to discuss several interesting topics such as skeptics, religion, psychics, and a shared connection with the Badwater 508.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

DR. SHERMER

  • Does a lot of work in the sphere of morality 
  • Publisher of Skeptic magazine
  • Has written a number of books, including The Moral Arc
  • While he discusses a lot of morality, religion, and less tangible things, he also believes that science is incredibly important 
  • Also very into health and fitness 

SKEPTICS

  • Lots of cultural elements involved with religious
  • Finding meaning in random things
    • Auditory, visual illusions 
  • People can make signs out of nothing 
    • The patterns, the illusions, the non-randomness all in our minds
      • Really it is random 
  • Veganism - another thing to be skeptical about
    • PETA doesn't care about your health, they only care about animals (and even then that's questionable)
  • The Standard American Diet is another thing to be skeptical about
    • Gary Taubes is a truther 
  • Psychic shows are also largely BS
    • They only select out of 12 hours, about 45 minutes that confirms their "psychic prowess" 
    • They figure out patterns and generalities 
    • Dogs have good intuition, too
  • Usually "spooky" things, or things that seem to good to be true, are just that 

DIET AND RELIGION

  • Many people treat diet as a religion
  • Just like old time religion, certain food is taboo, etc.
  • People also get this attachment to food similar to some's attachment to food
  • There is a church of food
  • This also can make breaking bad eating habits more difficult