Santa Monica College will take a look at good and evil from a scientific view.
The free presentation is the third in SMC’s spring “Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series” and will be held at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 in the science lecture hall 145 at SMC, 1900 Pico Blvd.
“Skeptic” magazine founding publisher Dr. Michael Shermer will present his lecture “The Science of Good & Evil: Why People Lie and Cheat, Share and Care, and Follow the Golden Rule” — also the title of Shermer’s recently published book.
Shermer is the director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, host of the Skeptics Lecture Series at Caltech and co-host and producer of the 13-hour Fox Family television series, “Exploring the Unknown.”
Shermer’s other books include “In Darwin’s Shadow,” “The Borderlands of Science” and “Denying History,” which is about Holocaust denial and other forms of historical distortion.
Shermer’s book “How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God” presents his theory on the origins of religion and why people believe in God. Shermer also is the author of the best-selling “Why People Believe Weird Things” and other books.
He has appeared as a skeptic of weird and extraordinary claims on television shows including “20/20,” “Dateline,” “Charlie Rose,” “Donahue,” “Oprah” and “Unsolved Mysteries” — as well as on documentaries aired on A&E, Discovery and The Learning Channel.
The lecture series is sponsored by the SMC Associates, a private organization that funds speakers and special events on campus. For information, call (310) 434-4003.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 24, 2004. Read the original PDF.