Even Skeptics Can Be Overwhelmed With Wonder

Last week I reported that our local library had two new books relevant to making rational decisions. The books are:

• Chances Are… Adventures in Probability by Michael and Ellen Kaplan
• Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer

The book by the Kaplans was discussed last week. This week we look in more detail at Shermer’s book. From last week: Shermer started life as a Fundamentalist defender of creationism, but is now more widely known for his monthly column in the Scientific American and his association with skeptics in general. That is his background unless you happen to be a bicycle enthusiast… he has participated with honor in five races across America on bicycle.

This book is the archetypical slim volume of erudite writing — only Shermer does not write like that. His tone is similar to what he uses in Scientific American. The bulk of the book is a straightforward recital for non-specialists of the evidence that convinced the vast majority of educated people worldwide of the essential truth of cosmological, geological, and biological evolutions as contrasted to the various evidence-free explanations. Because America surprisingly has a significant fraction of the population that clings to a variety of alternative conjectures, Shermer must contrast the things we have learned in the physical world with things that are postulated by various beliefs without physical justification or experimental confirmation.

This approach is a bit dangerous because, if not done correctly, the author can give false impressions. One such false impression would be that the various forms of creationism (or ID) are actually theories and therefore worth considering (or teaching). He addresses this possibility in a short chapter called, “Equal time for whom?” Another false impression would be to assume that neither he nor any honest scientist cares about spiritual matters. In a sense, his whole book is a wonderful refutation of that false impression.

I suggest reading the whole book and then concentrating on the Epilogue and Coda. In these last chapters, he brings it all together in a way that makes clear what the powers and limitations of the scientific method are and the spiritual feelings they can produce. He tells an anecdote from his invitation to speak at the Esalen Institute. That sounds like a joke already since Esalen is not a haven for skeptics. He tells of a woman who warned him about the epidemic of satanic cults throughout Europe and America: “But there’s no evidence for such cults,” I countered. “Of course not,” she explained. “They erase all memories and evidence of their nefarious activities.”

How can you argue with that? The very lack of our knowledge supports her thesis.

At the other end of the scale, Shermer describes his own sense of awe and oneness with the universe when he considers that the atoms of which we are made were forged in the heart of stars. He wonders at the light reaching his eye from the Andromeda galaxy. It left 2.9 million years ago when our ancestors were “tiny-brained hominids roaming the plains of Africa.” Yes, skeptics can be overwhelmed with awe at the universe and our place in it. Even Richard Dawkins, the arch-anti-religionist, can be moved to tears when considering the advances in understanding represented by the large telescopes constructed to tease knowledge from incoming photons.

This is a good book.

In response to the interest my original tutorial generated, I have completely rewritten and expanded it. Check out the tutorial availability through Lockergnome. The new version is over 100 pages long with chapters that alternate between discussion of the theoretical aspects and puzzles just for the fun of it. Puzzle lovers will be glad to know that I included an answers section that includes discussions as to why the answer is correct and how it was obtained. Most of the material has appeared in these columns, but some is new. Most of the discussions are expanded compared to what they were in the original column format.

[tags]skeptic, skepticism, michael shermer, intelligent design[/tags]