Michael Shermer

Dear @ohdahlia.bsky.social
Are you familiar with polydactyly?
It's a congenital condition resulting in extra fingers or toes caused by genetic mutations.
Does this mean that 5-fingers is not the norm—that digits is on a spectrum between 1 & 6?
Intersex people are not a 3rd sex.
Sex is binary

Dear @grumblekitty.bsky.social
I say that there are only 2 sexes: male and female.
You say I'm wrong.
Is there a 3rd sex of which I (and all biologists) are unaware?

Dear @profrichardson.bsky.social
You say you "do not engage with inflammatory personal attacks & threats," but in Lancet you said anyone who thinks sex is binary (me, Pinker, Hooven & almost all biologists) is bigoted and driven by "political aims".
That seems inflammatory & a personal attack.
No?

Dear @profrichardson.bsky.social
You: "The goal of my work is to build conversations across fields and disciplines...."
O-kay, but in Lancet you say anyone who thinks sex is binary is a bigot & "it facilitates their political aims"
I think sex is binary (as do almost all biologists)
Am I a bigot?

"menstruating individual"
If only we had a word for such a person

What do you call a menopausal individual?
A "post-menstruating individual"?

What if they're pregnant?
A "temporarily-paused menstruating individual"?

A child?
A "pre-menstruating individual"?

The Hoax of the Century: Iron Mountain New on the podcast: Iron Mountain and its influence on the perceptions of the military-industrial complex. Listen now.

I really enjoyed this chat with @michaelshermer.bsky.social about the epic Report from Iron Mountain hoax, its strange afterlife and what it tells us about the roots of the 'deep state' fear. Have a watch/ listen:

www.skeptic.com/michael-sher...

Conspiracy and belief In this intimate interview, Michael Shermer explores how conspiracy theories undermine objective truth or the generally accepted scientific, materialist paradigm. He covers everything from his most…

Why are conspiracy theories so good at creating cult followings?

In this interview, @michaelshermer.bsky.social explores how conspiracy theories undermine the generally accepted scientific, materialist paradigm. iai.tv/video/conspi...

#philsky #socsky

My convo with
@phil_tinline
author of one of my favorite books, out Tuesday.
Must read in the context of current Military Industrial Complex.
Hoax worked because there was so much truth in it!
My copy of the original assigned in college as real!
skeptic.com/michael-sher...

Getting some queries about the April 18–20, 2025 workshop on science & spirituality at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur that I am hosting. 3/4 full. Will sell out. It's a magical place (if a skeptic can use such language).
Register here:
www.esalen.org/workshops/sc...

Sage of Sex and Psyche Remembering Don Symons (1942–2024).

The slew of new books on female-male differences in sexual psychology all owe a debt to the late Donald Symon's 1979 book The Evolution of Human Sexuality. Excellent obit/overview of evolutionary psychology's history by
@sapinker.bsky.social
quillette.com/2025/02/04/s...

Can Science Find God? Meyer vs. Shermer | Evolution News Humans seem to be drawn in a certain direction toward truth and beauty. Is that an accident of nature?

Can Science Find God?
Stephen Meyer vs. Michael Shermer
evolutionnews.org/2025/02/can-...

502. Brook Urick — Sex Work, Ethics, and Evolutionary Psychology: What Really Happens on Sugar Daddy Websites? Brook Urick reveals the hidden risks of sugar dating, from her experience as a sugar baby to becoming a company insider. She exposes how these platforms protect exploiters and mislead young women. Uri...

What's it like to be a sugar baby?
Who are sugar daddies?
Can young women really put themselves through college or make a great living on sex work?
Brook Urick pulls back the curtain on the reality of what really goes on behind closed doors.
Watch/listen:
www.skeptic.com/michael-sher...

Wokeness Poisons Science Part II of my series on why I am no longer woke

Wokeness Poisons Science
Part II of my series on why I am no longer woke
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Dear @sobekhotep97.bsky.social
Here is a study in the journal for the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine:
"The finding of low suicide rates and no evidence of benefits of gender reassignment continues to challenge the practice of youth transitions"
segm.org/Suicide-Gend...

Dear @sobekhotep97.bsky.social
Here is the biologist Colin Wright on why biological sex is binary and not on a spectrum:
www.realityslaststand.com/p/sex-is-not...

Dear @sobekhotep97.bsky.social
Here is a general overview of all the trans issues in the debate, which we released free in Skeptic. It is politically/ideologically neutral, best piece I've read on the subject:
www.skeptic.com/reading_room...

You will be called a transphobe for even suggesting this @mrsamericano.bsky.social
The counter is: these adolescents will commit suicide if they don't get gender affirming care.
"Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?"
But new studies debunk the suicidality claim.

Coleman Hughes: My Mom—and the Case for Assisted Death My dying mother chose to end terrible suffering. I want others to have that choice, too.

The case for assisted death for the terminally ill is well made here by Coleman Hughes that includes a deeply moving account of his mother's agonizing death from cancer.
IMO, the government has no business controlling people's choices on how they want to die.
www.thefp.com/p/coleman-hu...

Key points screen shots:
www.realityslaststand.com/p/the-truth-...

The Truth About ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ ‘Gender-affirming’ doctors are medicalizing distress in the name of social justice.

Re Gender Affirming Care, study finds minors undergoing gender dysphoria are fast-tracked into puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones & surgery, ignoring comorbid conditions: autism, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, suicidality
www.realityslaststand.com/p/the-truth-...

493. Amir Raz — The Suggestible Brain World-renowned cognitive psychologist Amir Raz explores the power of suggestion, showing how it can shape perception, memory, and even physical health. Using insights from neuropsychology, magic, and ...

Hypnosis, mind control, MK-Ultra, altered states of consciousness, suggestibility vs. gullibility, magic and illusion, and how rational an animals are humans anyway?
My convo with psychologist Amir Raz:
www.skeptic.com/michael-sher...

The real mystery of the drone wave over New Jersey is how the Chinese, Iranians, Russians, & aliens are able to cloak their advanced UAPs to look so similar to airliners, planes, helicopters, commercial drones, and the bright planets Venus & Jupiter (in the early night sky now). DARPA beware!

Science and Spirituality The Search for Meaning in a Secular Age workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, April 18–20, 2025, led by Dr. Michael Shermer and Dr. Ralph Lewis

If you're so inclined come join us for a weekend workshop on Science and Spirituality April 18-20, 2025, at what is surely one of the top 10 most beautiful places on the planet...
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Dear @queenwaifu.bsky.social
Please read the Cass Report. European and UK medical institutions and practitioners are ceasing gender affirming care on minors for lack of evidence that it works + considerable evidence that it harms.
Practice watchful waiting
cass.independent-review.uk/home/publica...

Dear @lancecstcuddy.bsky.social
I am a classical liberal.
I am not a conservative.
My positions are based on what is true and just.
The vast majority of liberals today do not endorse far-left illiberal positions.
I am simply reflecting old-school liberalism in my posts on DEI & trans issues.

Dear @ree81.bsky.social
What disinformation? What lies? Can you be more specific?
I posted an article summarizing the research showing DEI programs not only don't work but make people more racist & another on a woman who regrets transitioning & is suing her doctors.
Where's the lying?

UCLA student sues California doctors, says she was 'fast-tracked' into transgender surgery The lawsuit alleges Kaya Clementine Breen, 20, was misdiagnosed with gender dysphoria and rushed into “irreversibly damaging” transition-related treatment and surgery.

Here's an idea: instead of cutting off her breasts, how about getting her the professional help she needs for PTSD from sexual abuse?
A school counselor?
A successful verdict here should open the legal floodgates and bury these butchers in lawsuits and end this madness.
nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...

UCLA student sues California doctors, says she was 'fast-tracked' into transgender surgery A UCLA student is suing multiple California health care providers and hospitals for medical negligence, alleging she was wrongly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and then “fast-tracked onto the conveyo...

“I wish that somebody had suggested real, genuine therapy first, instead of gender-specific therapy, because really the only therapy that I received until much later was specifically focused on gender dysphoria, and didn’t connect my gender dysphoria to anything else.”
yahoo.com/news/ucla-st...

The Great Drone Panic of 2024...and 1914 Guest columnist Robert Bartholomew, one of the world’s leading scholars of mass hysterias and social panics, considers the panic over the recent drone sightings in the skies over New Jersey

The Great Drone Panic of 2024...and 1914
Guest columnist Robert Bartholomew considers the panic over New Jersey drone sightings (as Chinese or Iranian threats) and compares it to the panic of 1914 (people worried it was the Germans)
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Does the DEI Paradigm Do More Harm Than Good? Our new report at the Network Contagion Research Institute sheds some light.

Not only do DEI training programs make matters worse:

1. The vast majority of Americans are not racist/misogynist
2. The few who are either don't take DEI training programs or if they do just ignore the message
open.substack.com/pub/paresky/...