The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How To Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake
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- Create Date：2021-04-01 14:53:16
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Steven Novella
- ISBN：1473696429
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Summary
An all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking from podcast host and academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine Steven Novella and his SGU co-hosts。
It is intimidating to realize that we live in a world overflowing with misinformation， bias， myths， deception， and flawed knowledge。 There really are no ultimate authority figures-no one has the secret， and there is no place to look up the definitive answers to our questions （not even Google）。
Luckily， THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE is your map through this maze of modern life。 Here Dr。 Steven Novella-along with Bob Novella， Cara Santa Maria， Jay Novella， and Evan Bernstein-will explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths， fallacies， and conspiracy theories-from anti-vaccines to homeopathy， UFO sightings to N- rays。 You'll learn the difference between science and pseudoscience， essential critical thinking skills， ways to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy co- worker of yours， and how to combat sloppy reasoning， bad arguments， and superstitious thinking。
So are you ready to join them on an epic scientific quest， one that has taken us from huddling in dark caves to setting foot on the moon？ （Yes， we really did that。） DON'T PANIC！ With THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE， we can do this together。
It is intimidating to realize that we live in a world overflowing with misinformation， bias， myths， deception， and flawed knowledge。 There really are no ultimate authority figures-no one has the secret， and there is no place to look up the definitive answers to our questions （not even Google）。
Luckily， THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE is your map through this maze of modern life。 Here Dr。 Steven Novella-along with Bob Novella， Cara Santa Maria， Jay Novella， and Evan Bernstein-will explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths， fallacies， and conspiracy theories-from anti-vaccines to homeopathy， UFO sightings to N- rays。 You'll learn the difference between science and pseudoscience， essential critical thinking skills， ways to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy co- worker of yours， and how to combat sloppy reasoning， bad arguments， and superstitious thinking。
So are you ready to join them on an epic scientific quest， one that has taken us from huddling in dark caves to setting foot on the moon？ （Yes， we really did that。） DON'T PANIC！ With THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE， we can do this together。
Reviews
Jessie
，
2。5， unenthusiastically rounded up。 There is a lot of good information here， but the author's tone and some other weaknesses made it a struggle （and a relief） to finish。 2。5， unenthusiastically rounded up。 There is a lot of good information here， but the author's tone and some other weaknesses made it a struggle （and a relief） to finish。 。。。more
Lari
，
Good book， had a lot to think about。 My only problem was that they had a whole chapter on AIDS deniers yet didn't mention anything about AIDS originally considered the 'gay disease'， which seems like an oversight as it's exactly the kind of bias and misconception they talk about。 Good book， had a lot to think about。 My only problem was that they had a whole chapter on AIDS deniers yet didn't mention anything about AIDS originally considered the 'gay disease'， which seems like an oversight as it's exactly the kind of bias and misconception they talk about。 。。。more
Jill
，
With all the craziness of conspiracy theories regarding the COVID-19 pandemic， it was refreshing to read a book about skepticism and how to question and pursue facts。 This book is not political but addresses the research and scientific goal of testing theories。 The authors invite us to question ourselves and others （including the authors themselves）。 We all have biases and being aware of them helps us be open to change or when information arises that necessitates an alternative view。
Chris Wilby
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It's all about the truth as we know it It's all about the truth as we know it 。。。more
Jason Bushnell
，
An introduction to scientific skepticism， this book hashes out the details of what it means to be a skeptic in a world that is rather full of misinformation， fake news， alternative facts， and pseudoscience presented as Truth。 Started out strong from a writing/interest standpoint， and petered out for me by the end。。。 Nevertheless， opened my eyes to a good deal in the world of science that I had never explored before。 Most of the topics were interesting—others were highly， highly technical （and th An introduction to scientific skepticism， this book hashes out the details of what it means to be a skeptic in a world that is rather full of misinformation， fake news， alternative facts， and pseudoscience presented as Truth。 Started out strong from a writing/interest standpoint， and petered out for me by the end。。。 Nevertheless， opened my eyes to a good deal in the world of science that I had never explored before。 Most of the topics were interesting—others were highly， highly technical （and therefore mind-numbingly dull。。。 looking at you， GMOs）。3。5 stars rounding down。 。。。more
Christian Hartman
，
The world would be infinitely better off with deep skeptical scientific thinking， careful reviews of evidence and endless curiosity about how we know what we know， what valid sources and information are and look like， and how to doubt yourself and all the way your brain tries to fool you as it pieces together the world。
Jacob Jackson
，
Worth a readThis book is a great read for anyone wanting to learn to be more skeptical。 Whether you're just starting out or you have long considered yourself a skeptic， this book will help you sharpen your critical thinking skills if used correctly。 Worth a readThis book is a great read for anyone wanting to learn to be more skeptical。 Whether you're just starting out or you have long considered yourself a skeptic， this book will help you sharpen your critical thinking skills if used correctly。 。。。more
Lindsay Robinson
，
This book broke my brain in the best way possible。 I have heard the term skeptic thrown about and largely behaved as one for most of my life without pausing long enough to recognize I am one。 This 'guide' talks through all of the 'big questions' in life in ways that help you peel the wool from your eyes and examine or reexamine your view and understanding of the world。 Fair warning， depending on your current faith/belief status， this text will leave you a bit miffed and a lot bewildered。 As if t This book broke my brain in the best way possible。 I have heard the term skeptic thrown about and largely behaved as one for most of my life without pausing long enough to recognize I am one。 This 'guide' talks through all of the 'big questions' in life in ways that help you peel the wool from your eyes and examine or reexamine your view and understanding of the world。 Fair warning， depending on your current faith/belief status， this text will leave you a bit miffed and a lot bewildered。 As if the Matrix opened in front of you， you will not consider thoughts， the mind， or the concept of soul in the same way。 The commentary and insight presented is sensitive yet straightforward， gentle yet unrelenting。 I found it largely disconcerting but in a way that liberates。 If you struggle to consider the 'big questions' in life and/or approach situations/beliefs/conspiracies through a framework that strips things down to their essence and allows for authentic evaluation void of cultural or traditional influence， then this is the book for you。 I've since moved on to one of the Great Courses by Steven Novella and find his expertise and approach very insightful and practical in the best ways。 I wholeheartedly recommend everyone read this book so you are coming at your life with fully opened eyes and a firmer grasp on how the mind actually functions。 That being said， brace yourself for a rather aggressive boat rocking of many of the beliefs you hold and consider steady。 。。。more
Leila Chandler
，
This was a great book， packed full of very useful knowledge to help you navigate fake news， bad science reporting， pseudoscience， conspiracy theories， and quack medicine。 If you read this book you will potentially save yourself a lot of time， money， and potential heartbreak seeking after bogus cures and treatments。 Skepticism is a useful skill and this book is a handy and interesting guide。 When I first saw its size I thought oh no， is this going to be a massive slog to get through？ But it is no This was a great book， packed full of very useful knowledge to help you navigate fake news， bad science reporting， pseudoscience， conspiracy theories， and quack medicine。 If you read this book you will potentially save yourself a lot of time， money， and potential heartbreak seeking after bogus cures and treatments。 Skepticism is a useful skill and this book is a handy and interesting guide。 When I first saw its size I thought oh no， is this going to be a massive slog to get through？ But it is not， the chapters are pretty short and light， and the writing is fascinating。I have a couple complaints。 One is that there was no chapter on vaccines， and there really ought to be。 Another is that sometimes he stepped into the realm of religion and philosophy， and I felt that was really not needed in a book about science。 Sure， the parts about logical fallacies were useful and relevant， but not so much the chapters on materialism， the soul， and demonology。 Those are mostly philosophical questions， and many books have been written on those topics， so a few pages in this book doesn't really do them justice。 That being said， I never got the impression that Dr。 Novella was trying to be rude or provocative towards religious individuals。 He was just trying to honestly explain his own beliefs。 However， I don't think this book is really the place to argue if God or the soul exist。 It might appeal to more readers， especially those who REALLY need to hear this message， if it didn't have those sections。Also， some sections relied heavily on psychology studies， even though psychology is notorious for poorly designed studies and "soft" science。So remember， it's good to be skeptical， even about the book on skepticism。 。。。more
Olga
，
3。5*As an avid listener of the podcast， I was excited to read the book and got it as soon as it came out。 The book is a high level primer on a broad set of sceptical topics。 For me， the book failed to dive deep enough into any particular topic。 I realize it probably delivered on authors’ intentions， but somehow I had different expectations。 My hope was to gift this book to some pseudoscience believing family members and hope that it’ll open their eyes。 Having read the book， I can’t use it for th 3。5*As an avid listener of the podcast， I was excited to read the book and got it as soon as it came out。 The book is a high level primer on a broad set of sceptical topics。 For me， the book failed to dive deep enough into any particular topic。 I realize it probably delivered on authors’ intentions， but somehow I had different expectations。 My hope was to gift this book to some pseudoscience believing family members and hope that it’ll open their eyes。 Having read the book， I can’t use it for that intent， as it just doesn’t go into enough depth on any topic to convert the extreme quacks I was hoping to work on。 I now realized it was probably not their intention， but it was my expectation / hope of this book。 。。。more
Jake
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4/5A critical book to read for dealing with all the poor discussions out there these days。 Sadly， those who probably would benefit the most will likely never read this。
Thom
，
Absolutely incredible。 I loved this book from start to finish。 I loved how unintelligent the book reminded me I am。 This was also a brilliant book for during the lock downs and pandemic。 It clears up a lot of what I was thinking about and hearing from people around me regarding conspiracies， media and pseudoscience。 Thank you！
Maddie Di Benedetto
，
Some sections annoyed me but I think that was the point of the book。 It made me realise that being skeptical is a good thing and how important critical thinking is and keeping an open mind。 The book has really concise yet informative descriptions of the different kinds of arguments that exist。 I have never read anything so science heavy but the philosophy in there made it really enjoyable
Malcolm Balster
，
Having really enjoyed and had thoughts confirmed by Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science " it was great to realise on reading this book that my skeptical approach to life would be the best way forward 😅 Having really enjoyed and had thoughts confirmed by Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science " it was great to realise on reading this book that my skeptical approach to life would be the best way forward 😅 。。。more
Griffin Strain
，
Very enjoyable and exactly what was expected and hoped for by anyone who is a fan of the podcast。 The material is well presented， as always， and the examples help the reader to understand how the material can be used in every day life。 I would highly recommend this guide！
Sebastian Sanchez
，
¡FANTÁSTICO！
Sam Homan
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Everyone should read this book。
Rishab
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Will probably re read as there are plenty of tools and very basic fallacies that are we commit ourselves that it’ll take-a while to identify when we are doing it and break that habit。 Must read if we have to look at a future where facts are considered facts by everyone
Leah
，
I listened to 3+ hours on the drive to and from a hike， but did not like this enough to listen to it all the way through to the end。。 The subject matter was interesting， but there was something about the author's presentation and attitude that I disliked。 Life is too short to waste on books you don't love。 I listened to 3+ hours on the drive to and from a hike， but did not like this enough to listen to it all the way through to the end。。 The subject matter was interesting， but there was something about the author's presentation and attitude that I disliked。 Life is too short to waste on books you don't love。 。。。more
Lindsay P
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What a great book！！ So glad I bought a copy that I won’t need to return to the library， as I can definitely see myself referring back to this repeatedly for the science classes I teach and in my personal life。 I found myself often thinking of the people in my life I’d like to give it to （*cough* antivaxxers）， but the authors were thoughtful enough to remind me repeatedly that the person I should be holding in check the most is myself。The only point on which we disagree is religion （they didn’t o What a great book！！ So glad I bought a copy that I won’t need to return to the library， as I can definitely see myself referring back to this repeatedly for the science classes I teach and in my personal life。 I found myself often thinking of the people in my life I’d like to give it to （*cough* antivaxxers）， but the authors were thoughtful enough to remind me repeatedly that the person I should be holding in check the most is myself。The only point on which we disagree is religion （they didn’t outright say anything supernatural is impossible - probably would alienate too many potential audience members - but they danced pretty close to that line）。 Some of their attitudes toward pseudoscience-believers came off pretty condescending too， though in the end they did a good job of describing appropriate and helpful approaches when dealing with those types of people in real life。 None of that was enough to put me off the book though， there was so much good stuff in there — I’d highly recommend it！！If I can ever muster enough auditory attention span to become a podcast person， this one will be at the top of my list！ 。。。more
Sarah Poynter
，
This was pretty good！ I would have liked more detailed “case studies” but over all I learned a lot！
Dana W Cook
，
Late 2005， a friend introduced me to the podcast of Steven Novella， Perry DeAngelis， Evan Bernstein， Bob Novella and Jay Novella。 I went back and listened to all past episodes and continue to keep up-to-date。 When the book became available， I purchased the hard cover and spent an afternoon working in a book store in Hamden in order to meet Steve and the Rogues to have it signed。 Today's podcast makeup includes Steve， Evan， Bob， Jay and Cara Santa Maria and as the line-up evolved， so did I train Late 2005， a friend introduced me to the podcast of Steven Novella， Perry DeAngelis， Evan Bernstein， Bob Novella and Jay Novella。 I went back and listened to all past episodes and continue to keep up-to-date。 When the book became available， I purchased the hard cover and spent an afternoon working in a book store in Hamden in order to meet Steve and the Rogues to have it signed。 Today's podcast makeup includes Steve， Evan， Bob， Jay and Cara Santa Maria and as the line-up evolved， so did I train my brain to evaluate the information presented to me。 I am still fooled by the workings of my own mind and desires but this book lays out how our brain and desires work against our understanding of truth and how and why we need to remain vigilant against the same in order to not be duped into believing non-sense， even the benign。 Plenty of examples to work from and self-reflection by the rogues themselves。 Details about select fallacies， psychological phenomena and social circumstances that lead our minds down the rabbit hole。I would recommend anyone and everyone read this book if for no other reason to sort out truth from fiction in your own life。 If not enough， you can use it as a starting point on your journey in understanding how our brains work in specific circumstances and how to combat。 The last portion of the book provides guidance on how to communicate with family and friends regarding their beliefs in less-than-cogent ideas。 I plan to primarily remedy my own absurdities。There are nearly 300 references （I had to count as they are not numbered） supporting the work。 。。。more
Jeremy Young
，
Great as a compendium
Ivan Nešković
，
Highly compelling read！ I definitely recommend it！
David Budge
，
Fantastic book that is a great entrypoint into skeptical thinking。 I have bought this for multiple people and will continue to do so！
Stephen Wicklund
，
This book touches on a great many subjects where I think the analysis is incomplete/shallow， and thus have the subjects prematurely categorized as "solved" （or soon to be solved）， despite the offered explanations being starkly insufficient for multiple reasons。 （Many of these I laid out in private comments， which ended up growing to a length of 8000 words。 This tells you that the book was successfully "provocative" for me， as the authors had hoped！）That said， it also undeniably brings up many ca This book touches on a great many subjects where I think the analysis is incomplete/shallow， and thus have the subjects prematurely categorized as "solved" （or soon to be solved）， despite the offered explanations being starkly insufficient for multiple reasons。 （Many of these I laid out in private comments， which ended up growing to a length of 8000 words。 This tells you that the book was successfully "provocative" for me， as the authors had hoped！）That said， it also undeniably brings up many cases of pseudoscience and flawed thinking that are properly analyzed （at least given the length restrictions）， and more generally， it effectively explains many principles of good thought （even if many of the specific examples are imperfect implementations of those principles）。Overall it is helpful reading -- especially if one hasn't read other books of this type before （those dealing with training in critical thinking）。 I'm largely part of this category， as while I am familiar with most of the critical thinking concepts the book raises， I think this is the first time I've read a book specifically targeting those subjects。 （previous familiarity was from general reading online）So I recommend it。 But I also urge readers to not assume that the author's summary of various subjects are representative of the full data-set。 Anyone can come up with examples of flawed cases for a certain idea; it takes much more work to analyze the full data （or even a broad cross-section of it）， and to dig into the details of the most interesting cases， to see if the explanation types listed can actually account for them。 （I think for many of the cases， they do not）Granted， I'm sure the authors have done this for most of the subjects （a deeper dive than can be related in the book）， and just came to different conclusions in the end。 That's fine。As the authors say toward the end:==========Don’t trust us。 This might sound strange after reading the book， but the point is， you shouldn’t really trust anyone when it comes to empirical knowledge。 Think for yourself。 If something is important， verify it as best you can。 We do all need to rely on experts and other people as sources of information， but at the same time we should strive to understand how we know what we know。 Why do experts have the opinions they do？ Is there more to the story？Everyone makes mistakes， including us。 I hope we didn’t make any here。 We try our best， but error is unavoidable。 All we can do is be open to correcting them when they come to our attention。==========A good perspective to end on。 。。。more
Anna
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High 3。5 stars - A book I've been "reading" for a long time now， and finally got around to finishing。 Thorough and thoughtful， but could have used a good edit。 High 3。5 stars - A book I've been "reading" for a long time now， and finally got around to finishing。 Thorough and thoughtful， but could have used a good edit。 。。。more
Ash Sinclair
，
Entertainingly written guide to critical thinking， without getting bogged down in the minutiae of philosophy as many of these types of books do。It would serve very well as an introduction to skeptical thought and inquiry to those just dipping their toes into the field， however it offers just as much to the seasoned skeptic。Highly recommended。
Angela
，
4。5 ⭐️
Gabriel Deschambault
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