The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

I don't think it's really accurate to call this a dictionary. "Encyclopedia" might be a little closer, but it often lacks the fully objective tone that we expect an encyclopedia to have, as the author sometimes interjects his own thoughts, perspectives, and even his personal experiences. Really, I think the best way to describe it is as a series of very short articles, from a few sentences to a few pages, exploring various ideas and claims from a skeptical, critical-thinking perspective. How much these topics are explored varies a lot. Some broad subjects are glossed over with quick summaries, while some more obscure ones are examined in considerable detail. Every entry, however, does list resources for further reading, which is nice. show more The tone can occasionally get a little snarky, which sometimes comes across as a pointed and amusing salvo against a deserving target, but sometimes feels like the author is substituting a dismissive tone for actual analysis, which is not exactly useful in this context. Still, I approve of the basic idea.

Carroll says flat-out in his introduction that this book is not aimed at an audience of true believers, and that is unquestionably accurate. If you have any kind of personal investment in ideas such as the power of crystals, the authenticity of psychics, the existence of UFOs, or or the effectiveness of homeopathy, this book isn't going to change your mind, it's only going to piss you off. But for those who are interested in getting a critical perspective on subjects that mostly just bring up page after page of breathless testimonials from people trying to sell you stuff when you google them, this can be a good starting point. And, for the skeptically inclined, it can be kind of fun to browse through and see all the various nutty things people have believed at one point or another. show less

I just picked it up to look up one thing, and then had a bit of a browse, and then ended up reading the thing cover to cover.

This resource gives you loads of background facts to back up the claims and assertions it makes (unlike most of the kinds of woo it examines) and as such rises above most popular books which cover far less subject matter far more sensationally.

You will learn about the way thinking can go wrong with common logical fallacies and ways that people fool themselves, all covered in a very general sense, but then lots of details of the many fads, cults, cons, quacks, conspiracy theories and charismatic nut jobs which have more or less succeeded in the world are piled up for your digestion. You may start by sitting like me show more thinking how clever you are for not falling for them, until you come across things which you either have been taken in by, or, if you are honest, may well have flirted with if you encountered them in the wild. The whole read then becomes even more rewarding as you do now realise that you are arming yourself against woo for the future (bearing in mind you now know you are a poor human idiot like everyone else) and not just laughing at the poor human idiots who have fallen for it before.

I particularly loved the occasional bit of desiccated humour which is lightly sprinkled throughout.

A unique reference for anyone who prefers to live in the real world and plans on not being duped by woo. show less

Some of the articles are well written. Some are well researched and interesting. Unfortunately, many are no more based on 'science' than the beliefs he pokes fun at, and come down to 'I don't understand what they are talking about, and I think it is ridiculous.'

This is a valuable reference for any library. The author compiles all sorts of scientific, pseudoscientific, and fringe concepts in a single reference, and gives a good, thorough discussion of the evidence, or lack thereof, for each.

Eh, it was a good-ish "dictionary", but whatever was up with all of the other book ads-sorry, "recommendations"- in every page? They annoyed the hell out of me and made it a bit of a drag.
Blog-book indeed.