Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, and the founding executive director of The Skeptics Society and publisher of Skeptic magazine, which he established in 1992. He holds a BA in Psychology from Pepperdine University, an MA in Experimental Psychology from California State University Fullerton, and a PhD in the History of Science from Claremont Graduate University. From 2001 to 2019, he wrote the monthly Skeptic column for Scientific American — one of the most widely read science columns in the world. He is the host of The Michael Shermer Show podcast and the author of numerous New York Times bestselling books on why humans believe things that lack supporting evidence.

Shermer's intellectual contribution to skepticism is primarily analytical: he is less focused on exposing specific frauds than on explaining the psychological, social, and evolutionary mechanisms that make humans prone to belief in conspiracy theories, paranormal phenomena, pseudoscience, and ideological narratives. His books Why People Believe Weird Things (1997), The Believing Brain (2011), and Conspiracy (2022) draw on cognitive psychology, evolutionary biology, and history of science to map the mental architecture of belief formation. This approach has made him particularly influential in understanding motivated reasoning, patternicity, and agenticity — terms he has popularized to describe how brains generate false beliefs.

The Skeptics Society has grown to over 55,000 members and Skeptic magazine has become one of the most important vehicles for skeptical scientific writing. Shermer's work spans television appearances, TED talks, academic lectures, and public debates, making him one of the most visible science communicators associated with organized skepticism for over three decades.