#Consciousness is a self-organised emergent property of billions of neurons firing in patterns in the brain.

#Language is a self-organised emergent property of thousands of words spoken in communication between language users.

#Economy is a self-organised emergent property of millions of people pursuing their own self-interests without any awareness of the larger system in which they work.

Free will, #volition, and choice are not to be found in atoms, molecules, or individual neurons, but in the collective action of billions of neurons bundled into neural networks of information out of which real choices are made.

-- #MichaelShermer, The Truth About Free Will

#quote #freewill

Interesting take on the whole #Epstein thing showing some of our hideous leading atheists' strong connections to him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoO9FZXUgv4

#RebeccaWatson is ace - as is #PZMyers - the pair having consistently called out the privileged sex criminals in their midst and broken friendships thereby.

So #RichardDawkins , #LawrenceKrauss , #MichaelShermer et al - we see you.

Interesting article from 2013:

“Even [Michael] Shermer must concede that the people he is talking about are ‘far-left progressives.’ What power do they have? Whom do they influence? Who listens to them? Well, no one, really.

“On the Right, however, not only have the nutcases taken over the GOP, they essentially *are* the #GOP. Climate denial is the sine qua non of GOP leadership. In the 2010 election cycle, for example, not a single Republican nominee for a Congressional seat was willing to accept the theory of anthropogenic climate change.” — Jonathan Zasloff

#MichaelShermer has been a big voice in the skeptical community that I consider myself a part of, but AFAICT his greatest talent is tiling at windmills.

#ClimateChange #GlobalWarming

https://legal-planet.org/2013/02/10/false-equivalence-watch-michael-shermer/

#MichaelShermer is scum

"I was surprised/not at all surprised to learn that Michael Shermer is defending the murder of #ReneeGood, as well as being generally #proTrump and pro- #ICE. I do not read anything by #Shermer anymore, so good on Rebecca for having the intestinal fortitude to dig through the shit he vomits up."

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/01/14/michael-shermer-is-scum/

Amid 3I/ATLAS Buzz Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb Challenges Skeptic Michael Shermer On Alien Technology

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://in.mashable.com/science/102353/amid-3iatlas-buzz-harvard-astrophysicist-avi-loeb-challenges-skeptic-michael-shermer-on-alien-techno

If you want a proper criticism of woke ideology, refer to people like @yascha_mounk , who recently wrote a comprehensive book about it, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, @michaelshermer , Steven Pinker, David Deutsch.

E.g., in contrast to Musk, they won't call their own child 'dead' in order to pander to another insane cult that is MAGA and far-right.

#samharris #dawkins #RichardDawkins #stevenpinker #daviddeutsch #michaelshermer

#MichaelShermer - Is #Consciousness #Irreducible?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6-iA3T7PM

#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Brain #Brains #LawsOfNature #LawsOfPhysics #Dualism #Monism #Metaphysics #Language #Forces #ForcesOfNature #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#MichaelShermer - What’s the #NewAtheism?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLDywmDlfbE

#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #Atheist #Atheism #Theist #Theism #Theology #God #Gods #Hume #DavidHume #Agnostic #Agnosticism #Science #FineTuning #Universe #Sceptic #Skeptic #Sceptics #Skeptics #Scepticism #Skepticism #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#MichaelShermer - What are the #Ultimate #Questions of All #Reality?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ViKckEmEGI

#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #Causality #Logic #God #Scepticism #Skepticism #LawsOfPhysics #LawsOfNature #Creation #Universe #Multiverse #Sociology #Psychology #Religion #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn