The Skeptics Guide to the Universe Book Review
If the blueprint of the cover didn't already give information technology away, the instruction to Not PANIC on the dust jacket makes information technology articulate this volume is riffing on the famous Hitchhiker'south Guide to the Galaxy. And merely as Douglas Adams's book was intended to exist an indispensable guide to navigating the galaxy, so The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is an indispensable guide to navigating a earth gone mad with pseudoscience, culling medicine, fake news, and conspiracy theories. Don't let the volume's bulk put you off, this is an incredibly engaging read with a nearly humble outlook on life.
I cannot review this volume without mentioning the eponymous podcast that is run past neurologist Steven Novella and his co-authors, as information technology is a companion to that testify explaining the many concepts that are regularly mentioned there. This weekly podcast, which started in 2005, has a back catalogue of over 700(!) episodes at the moment of writing. I was unfamiliar with this podcast, and… wait, I tin can see something, the mists are clearing, at that place is a binge-podcasting session of ballsy proportions in your hereafter.
As the name implies, this podcast takes a sceptical await at superstitions, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, etc. It has featured interviews with, and contributions from a broad range of sceptics, such equally philosopher Massimo Pigliucci (author of Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk ), noted sceptic Michael Shermer (author of Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition & Other Confusions of Our Time and Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Center ), and sorcerer James Randi.
Ever since terms like "post-truth" and "faux news" entered our collective vocabulary a few years ago, there has been a veritable outpouring of books that sometimes seem to edge on hand-wringing (I have included a selection of relevant titles below). So, practice nosotros really demand another book on the perils of pseudoscience? I would say "yep!" and at that place are two reasons why this book stands out.
"Information technology is easy for sceptics to exist snarky and poke fun at or even humiliate their adversaries. Understandable, but rarely helpful in engendering dialogue."
First, it gives an attainable simply almost encyclopaedic overview of the many ways in which our brains can fool the states. Just over half of the book, some 230+ pages in 28 chapters deal with a long list of mental weaknesses and proclivities that lead people astray. From the unreliable nature of retention and eyewitness testimony, confirmation bias, and the powerful siren phone call of coincidence and anecdotes, to pareidolia (seeing patterns in random noise), logical fallacies, and appeals to nature or artifact. It's all there. Just it also takes a difficult-nosed look at science going wrong, dealing with more philosophical topics such equally Occam's Razor, p-hacking, the reproducibility crunch (see my review of Stepping in the Aforementioned River Twice: Replication in Biological Research ), postmodernism, denialism, the scientific discipline-pseudoscience demarcation problem (encounter Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem ), or the placebo outcome.
The second strong suit of this book is its tone. Novella is surprisingly humble. It is piece of cake for sceptics to be snarky and poke fun at or even humiliate their adversaries. Understandable, but rarely helpful in engendering dialogue. Instead, Novella regularly reminds the reader that we all, scientists and sceptics included, fall prey to these mental weaknesses. When discussing the Dunning-Kruger outcome (the inability to guess your own incompetence, oftentimes leading to overconfidence in your ain abilities), he points out that we are all incompetent in many areas of knowledge. Possibly nowhere does Novella articulate this sentiment more plain and powerfully than in his last chapter, where he cautions the reader that all the concepts discussed in this book "are non weapons to attack other people and brand yourself feel superior, they're the tools you need to minimize the bias, error, and nonsense clogging up your own encephalon".
Once the readers have been properly briefed on how to think critically, the other 4 sections of this book take a await at cautionary tales. This includes everything from historical blunders such as Clever Hans (the equus caballus that could count), gratis energy, or Northward-rays; your typical New Historic period off-white such as cold readings and positive thinking; to topics that are still very electric current, such as intelligent design, nine/11 conspiracy theories, or the logical fallacies surrounding the discussion most GMOs (encounter also my review of Seeds of Science: Why Nosotros Got It So Wrong on GMOs ). In all of these capacity, the authors testify how faulty reasoning and sloppy thinking can lead people astray.
"[…] when nosotros start talking anti-vaxxers or AIDS denialism it stops being fun and people die."
Here over again, science and scientists are not let off the hook and several other chapters deal with scientific discipline reporting gone wrong, including the hyperbole effectually new topics such every bit epigenetics or the microbiome.
Finally, an oft-heard defense is: "what harm tin can it practise, leave these people." As was also highlighted in my review of Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science , when we starting time talking anti-vaxxers or AIDS denialism information technology stops being fun and people die. During their years of podcasting, Novella and his co-hosts have regularly received emails from people dealing with spouses or family members who abandon reason when falling seriously ill and get downwards the road of naturopathy or homoeopathy. These are not piece of cake conversations to have, and Novella provides tips on how to best arroyo this.
Obviously, quite a few believers in conspiracy theories and other bunk are so far gone that they are not open to reasonable discourse. But in my opinion Novella and his co-authors (mostly) avoid preaching to the choir here. Yes, science is held aloft equally a model for finding out what'south really real, simply I don't think they can be accused of scientism (encounter my review of Scientific discipline Unlimited? The Challenges of Scientism ): they equally accept aim at fallacious thinking amidst scientists, and indicate out the provisional nature of our knowledge.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a big book, but I was surprised how quickly I finished it – this is very well written and very accessible. The volume's non-combative tone and approach speak of a genuine desire to engender critical thinking skills in people. Many of the topics treated here could form classroom material, and in an alternate universe this book, together with Douglas Adams's guide, would find its mode into the haversack of every student.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book. The opinion expressed here is my own, notwithstanding.
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Other recommended books mentioned in this review:
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Some recent books on scepticism and misinformation:
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Source: https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/
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