Vintage Skeptic Magazine (volume 21 number 1 2016 - Cover: The Con) by Michael Shermer (Editor)

Skeptic magazine Volume 21, Number 1 (2016) is a highly sought-after issue that explored themes of deception, critical thinking, and pseudoscience. The issue is widely recognized for its deep dive into identifying cons, spotting pseudoscience, and examining anomalous cosmic phenomena.

Key Features and Articles

The Con: The primary theme of the issue tackles the psychology of cons, analyzing how people fall for scams, hoaxes, and "bullshit" in daily life. (SOUNDS LIKE MAGA)
Tabloid Science: It features a piece analyzing the mystery of KIC 8462852 (Tabby's Star) and addresses the media frenzy claiming the dimming star was a sign of an extraterrestrial megastructure.
Divine Retribution: The issue touches on the scientific evaluation of cognitive biases, examining narratives like "Hurricane Strikes as Divine Retribution" to see how people apply pattern recognition to natural disasters.
The Psychology of the Con: In-depth essays exploring the cognitive mechanisms that make individuals susceptible to scams and fraudulent schemes. (IS THERE ANY HOPE TO DEPROGRAM MAGA?)
Prophet Without Honor: A look into pseudohistory, debunking myths and exploring figures who presented falsehoods as historical fact.
Winning the Vaccination War in California: An analysis of public health, focusing on the legislative battles that eradicated non-medical vaccine exemptions in the state.
Whose Burden of Proof?: A philosophical discussion about logical fallacies, including ad hominem and circular reasoning, written by philosopher Massimo Pigliucci.

ARTICLES:

America’s Stonehenge: Did Highly Developed Europeans Build a Sophisticated Astronomical and Religious Monument on the American East Coast More than 3000 Years Ago?;
Is It ET?: Is Star KIC 8462852 a Sign of an Extraterrestrial Civilization?;
Hurricane Strikes as Divine Retribution—An Empirical Test;
Ruins of Empires: Thomas Jefferson, Constantin-Francois Volney, and the Separation of Church and State;
Winning the Vaccination War in California;
Prophet Without Honor: Francis Galton and the Birth of Behavioral Genetics; 
When Cops Kill: An Insider’s Perspective;
Guns and Games: The Relationship Between Violent Video Games and Gun Crimes in America;
More on Morals: On Science and Morality (1) Deontologists are Covert Consequentialists, (2) Expanding Science to Include Morals, (3) Clarifying Confusions;
Alligators in the Sewers!

COLUMNS: Who’s Crazy Now?: DSM-5 and the Classification of Mental Disorders; The Delicate Dilemma of Defining Rape;

REVIEW: Red Team: How To Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy by Micah Zenko reviewed by David Priess;

JUNIOR SKEPTIC: Haunted Houses; Earliest Ghost Stories; Ghostly Evolution

Condition: Like new, never read, may have very slight shelf wear from storage, has some wear and tear on the covers and spine, pages are clean and crisp, see photos

Publication date ‏ : ‎ 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 74 pages