Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer (b. 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, and founder of The Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine. Trained in experimental psychology and history of science (PhD, Claremont Graduate University, 1991), he taught at Claremont and Chapman University and wrote a long-running 'Skeptic' column for Scientific American. Once an evangelical Christian, he later became a self-described skeptic and agnostic-leaning atheist, framing his stance as a default position pending sufficient evidence.

Shermer's books examine the cognitive and evolutionary origins of supernatural belief. Why People Believe Weird Things (1997) catalogs patterns of pseudoscience and credulity; How We Believe (2000) treats God-belief as a byproduct of evolved pattern-recognition; The Believing Brain (2011) develops 'patternicity' and 'agenticity' as mechanisms producing religious, paranormal, and conspiracy beliefs. The Moral Arc (2015) argues that science and reason, not religion, drive moral progress; Heavens on Earth (2018) critiques afterlife beliefs.

His position is broadly aligned with New Atheism, though more moderate in tone than Dawkins or Hitchens. Critics—including religious philosophers such as Alvin Plantinga and Edward Feser, and theologians like Keith Ward—argue that cognitive-science explanations commit a genetic fallacy and do not address classical theistic arguments. Shermer has also faced criticism within skeptic communities over interpersonal conduct allegations (2014). He remains a prominent popular voice for scientific naturalism and secular humanism.