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Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine ''Skeptic'', which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members. Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism. Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family television series ''Exploring the Unknown''. Since April 2001, he has been a monthly columnist for ''Scientific American'' magazine with his ''Skeptic'' column. He is also a scientific advisor to the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).〔("About ACSH: Scientific Advisors" ). American Council on Science and Health. Retrieved December 31, 2013.〕 Shermer was once a fundamentalist Christian, but ceased to believe in the existence of God during his graduate studies. He accepts the labels agnostic,〔Shermer, Michael (2002). ''Why People Believe Weird Things''. Henry Holt. p. 136〕 nontheist,〔Shermer, Michael (November 14, 1999). ("Response To Positive Atheism's December, 1999, Column 'Atheism & Fundamentalism'" ). Positive Atheism〕〔Shermer, Michael (July 25, 2007). ("Is tenure justified? Testing Tenure" ). ''Skeptic''〕 atheist and others.〔("Michael Shermer Interview" ). April 27, 2015. TheBestSchools.org. Retrieved May 2, 2015.〕〔Stossel, John. ''Stossel''. December 16, 2010 Fox Business Channel.〕〔Shermer, Michael (June 2005). ("Why I Am An Atheist" ). michaelshermer.com〕 He has expressed reservations about such labels for his lack of belief in a God, however, as he sees them being used in the service of "pigeonholing", and prefers to simply be called a skeptic.〔 He also describes himself as an advocate for humanist philosophy as well as the science of morality.〔Shermer, Michael (January 2011). ("The Science of Right and Wrong" ). michaelshermer.com〕 ==Early life== Michael Brant Shermer was born on September 8, 1954.〔Shermer, Michael (September 2004). ("Mustangs, Monists & Meaning" ). MichaelShermer.com.〕〔Meyer, Ronald Bruce ("September 8: Michael Shermer (1954)" ). Freethought Almanac. Retrieved May 2, 2015.〕 He was born an only child, and raised in Southern California, specifically the La Cañada area in the foothills surrounding Los Angeles.〔〔Shermer, Michael. ''The Believing Brain''. 2011. Times Books. Chapter 4〕〔Shermer, 2002, p. 127〕 His parents divorced when he was four〔 and later remarried, his mother to a man with three children, who became Shermer's step-sister and two step-brothers, and his father to a woman with whom he had two daughters, Shermer's half-sisters. His father died of a heart attack in 1986, and his mother of brain cancer in 2000.〔〔Shermer, ''The Believing Brain'', Chapter 6〕 Although Shermer went to Sunday school, he says that neither his biological stepparents nor siblings were religious nor non-religious, as they did not discuss that topic often, nor did they attend church or pray together. Shermer began his senior year of high school in 1971, when the evangelical movement in the United States was beginning to gain popularity. One night at the behest of his best friend George, whose parents were Christian, Shermer converted to Christianity. The next day the two friends attended the Glendale Presbyterian church, where a sermon was given by what Shermer describes as "a very dynamic and histrionic preacher who inspired me to come forward at the end of the sermon to be saved." For the next seven years he would evangelize door-to-door as part of his profoundly held beliefs.〔〔 Shermer attended an informal Christian study fellowship group at a place called "The Barn" in La Crescenta, which Shermer describes as "a quintessential ’70s-era hang-out with a long-haired hippie-type, guitar-playing leader who read Bible passages that we discussed at length." Shermer enjoyed the social aspects of religion, and particularly relished its theological debates.〔 Shermer was raised with guns. His stepfather was a hunter who took Shermer and their black Labrador hunting dogs with him on hunting excursions half a dozen times a year, shooting game such as dove, duck and quail with a 20-gauge and 12-gauge shotguns. They ate everything they killed, for which Shermer's stepfather also displayed culinary skills. Growing up Shermer owned a BB gun, then a pellet gun, then a 20-gauge shotgun, and then a 12-gauge shotgun.〔Shermer, Michael (2013). "The Sandy Hook Effect". ''Skeptic''. Vol. 18 No. 1. p. 39〕 Shermer graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in 1972.〔 Desiring serious theological training, he enrolled at Pepperdine University with the intent of becoming a theologian. He initially majored in Christian theology. In addition to taking courses on the Bible, Shermer studied the writings of C.S. Lewis, and attended chapel twice a week, which was required for all students. Despite the restrictions imposed on students, such as a ban on dancing and visiting the dorm rooms of opposite sex, Shermer found the university a good experience, and he accepted its teachings as a valid guide for behavior.〔 However, when he learned that the Ph.D. needed to be a professor of theology required proficiency in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic, Shermer, who did not find foreign languages to be his forte, switched to psychology.〔〔 He mastered statistics, which he calls "one of the languages of science", and through it, learned about forming hypotheses, the null hypothesis and testing hypotheses, which led to a change in his thinking.〔 He completed his bachelor's degree in psychology/biology at Pepperdine in 1976. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Shermer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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