In the first section, Shermer discusses the ideas that he has towards
racism. He also explains his conversion to
Deism from
New Age mysticism (to which he had converted from being a
Fundamentalist Christian Baptist). In part two Shermer explains
paranormal thinking and how one comes to believe in things without evidence. He uses
Edgar Cayce as an example, and while he agrees with parts of
Ayn Rand's
Objectivism, he criticizes its
moral absolutism and argues that many follow her philosophy unquestioningly, which he believes contradicts
free thinking. Part three begins with Shermer describing several debates he had with
Duane Gish. He lays out some
creationist arguments in 25 separate claims, and attempts to debunk each one with his own evidence. He closes retelling how a constitutional ban on teaching creationism in public schools was
narrowly upheld at the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1987. Shermer shows that the
Holocaust deniers reject proven facts for, as he states,
ideological reasons. Like the creationists, he asserted, many Holocaust deniers believe that the evidence sides with them. He describes meeting and arguing with the deniers and lays out their arguments then shows evidence to support his own statements. In part five Shermer relates
Frank J. Tipler to
Voltaire's character
Pangloss to show how smart people deceive themselves. Shermer explores the psychology of scholars and business men who give up their careers in their pursuit to broadcast their paranormal beliefs. In his last chapter, added to the revised version, Shermer explains why he believes that "intelligent people" can be more susceptible to believing in weird things than others. ==Reception==