[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f_it07ePUEgGC3djg-QFANRLQzEMWzdRgai6Y7wySacE":3,"$ftfk2rjjaSfil8eqvJ5D8nVwRbNrEeqpgUlxkDdCwESw":33},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},21192,"Michael Shermer","M",186,null,"michael-shermer",[12,16,20,24,27,30],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},352,"science",12,{"tag_id":17,"tag_name":18,"tag_count":19},2867,"evolution",8,{"tag_id":21,"tag_name":22,"tag_count":23},56,"thinking",7,{"tag_id":25,"tag_name":26,"tag_count":23},102,"religion",{"tag_id":28,"tag_name":29,"tag_count":23},2955,"believe",{"tag_id":31,"tag_name":32,"tag_count":23},4304,"intelligent-design",{"quotes":34,"pagination":97},[35,43,49,55,61,67,73,79,85,91],{"id":36,"quote_text":37,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":40,"source":41,"quote_tag":42,"commentary":9},3287367,"The Realistic Vision recognizes the need for strict moral education through parents, family, friends, and community because people have a dual nature of being selfish and selfless, competitive and cooperative, greedy and generous, and so we need rules and guidelines and encouragement to do the right thing.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":44,"quote_text":45,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":46,"source":47,"quote_tag":48,"commentary":9},3287364,"If I make $100,000 a year and Elon Musk makes $100,000,000 a year and we both see a doubling of our incomes, while I should be thrilled at my newfound fortune of $200,000, if I compare it to Musk’s massive $200,000,000, that comparative difference may feel worse, even though I’m better off and no one is worse off for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s fortune.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":50,"quote_text":51,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":52,"source":53,"quote_tag":54,"commentary":9},3287362,"Survival machines could evolve to be completely selfish and self-centered, but there is something that keeps their pure selfishness in check, and that is the fact that other survival machines are inclined “to hit back” if attacked, to retaliate if exploited, or to attempt to use or abuse other survival machines first.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":56,"quote_text":57,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":58,"source":59,"quote_tag":60,"commentary":9},3287360,"The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition – thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":62,"quote_text":63,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":64,"source":65,"quote_tag":66,"commentary":9},3287358,"The ultimate problem of utopian logic begins with a utilitarian calculus in which everyone will live in perfect harmony once we get rid of any dissenters who don’t see as clearly as the collective.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":68,"quote_text":69,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":70,"source":71,"quote_tag":72,"commentary":9},3287356,"According to the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness – a statement issued in 2012 by an international group of prominent cognitive neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, neuroanatomists, and computational neuroscientists – there is a convergence of evidence to show the continuity between humans and nonhuman animals, and that sentience is the common characteristic across species.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":74,"quote_text":75,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":76,"source":77,"quote_tag":78,"commentary":9},3287354,"Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":80,"quote_text":81,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":82,"source":83,"quote_tag":84,"commentary":9},3287353,"What is the probability that Yahweh is the one true god, and Amon Ra, Aphrodite, Apollo, Baal, Brahma, Ganesha, Isis, Mithra, Osiris, Shiva, Thor, Vishnu, Wotan, Zeus, and the other 986 gods are false gods? As skeptics like to say, everyone is an atheist about these gods; some of us just go one god further.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":86,"quote_text":87,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":88,"source":89,"quote_tag":90,"commentary":9},3287352,"In science, however, “God did it” is not a testable hypothesis. Inquiring minds want to know how God did it and what forces or mechanisms were at work. “God works in mysterious ways” will not pass peer review. Even such explanations as “belief in God” or “religiosity” must be broken down into their component parts to find possible causal mechanisms for the links between belief and behavior that lead to health, well-being, and longevity.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":92,"quote_text":93,"author_id":5,"source_id":38,"has_image":39,"author":94,"source":95,"quote_tag":96,"commentary":9},3287350,"Rationality is the application of reason to form beliefs based on facts and evidence, instead of guesswork, opinions, and feelings. That is to say, the rational thinker wants to know what is really true and not just what he or she would like to be true.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":98,"totalPages":99,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":100},1,19,10]