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eSkeptic

the email newsletter
of the Skeptics Society

Wednesday, January 8th, 2008
ISSN 1556-5696

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To view this newsletter with graphics and formatting,
visit the permanent url:
<www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/08-01-08.html>

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In this week's eSkeptic:

- announcing: MichaelShermer.com
- announcing: Michael's latest book, The Mind of the Market
- announcing: the book tour schedule

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ANNOUNCING
MICHAELSHERMER.COM
The Work of Michael Shermer

Happy New Year 2008! We are pleased to start the year off with an
announcement of our new website: <www.MichaelShermer.com> . Dr.
Michael Shermer is the Publisher and Editor of Skeptic magazine and
the co-founder of the Skeptics Society. This site features the
writings and work of Michael Shermer, including FREE posts of:

- his lecture schedule & touring information
<www.michaelshermer.com/tour/>

- his monthly Scientific American column
<www.michaelshermer.com/category/sciam-columns/>

- excerpts & reviews from his 11 books, plus how to order
<www.michaelshermer.com/books/>

- essays <www.michaelshermer.com/category/essays> & book reviews
<www.michaelshermer.com/category/reviews/> that have appeared in
Skeptic magazine, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Science,
Scientific American, Toronto Globe & Mail, American Scientist,
and elsewhere

- video from his many media appearances, including clips from
his 13-hour TV documentary series on science and the unknown
<www.michaelshermer.com/category/multimedia/>

COMMENT

Each column, article, book review, essay, video is available to
leave a comment on or to discuss online. Please do leave your
thoughts on the topics -- we'd like to hear them.

CHECK BACK WEEKLY!

We've started off by posting content in reverse chronological order
(oldest to newest) and will continue to add three new FREE items
(articles, columns, videos) every week throughout the year!

LINK TO US

Support the work of Michael Shermer, an activist and essayist, much
of whose work is available free online. Link to us using these
resources <www.michaelshermer.com/about-michael/link-to-this-site/>
we've created for you.

SUBSCRIBE

You can also subscribe to the website's RSS feed
<www.michaelshermer.com/feed/atom/> which will be automatically
updated with all new additions, or to our eSkeptic newsletter
<www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/signup> which will also list the new
additions of the week.

VISIT <www.michaelshermer.com>

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ANNOUNCING
MICHAEL'S LATEST BOOK
THE MIND OF THE MARKET

How did we evolve from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern
consumer-traders? Why are people so emotional and irrational when it
comes to money and business decisions? Bestselling author Michael
Shermer believes that evolution and evolutionary psychology provides
an answer to both of these questions through the new science of
evolutionary economics.

Drawing on research from neuroeconomics, Shermer explores what brain
scans reveal about bargaining, snap purchases, and how trust is
established in business. Utilizing experiments in behavioral
economics, Shermer shows why people hang on to losing stocks and
failing companies, why business negotiations often disintegrate into
emotional tit-for-tat disputes, and why money does not make us
happy. Employing research from complexity theory, Shermer shows how
evolution and economics are both examples of a larger and still
somewhat mysterious phenomenon of emergence, where one plus one
equals three.

Along the way, Shermer answers such provocative questions as, Do our
tribal roots mean that we will always be a sucker for brands? How is
the biochemical joy of sex similar to the rewards of business
cooperation? How can nations increase trust within their borders?
Finally, Shermer considers the consequences of globalization and
what will happen if nations allow free trade across their borders.

Throughout this entertaining and surprising book Shermer considers
the morality of markets in a discussion of what he calls virtue
economics. Although we are selfish and altruistic, cooperative and
competitive, peaceful and bellicose, in the main the balance is
heavily on the side of good over evil. For every random act of
violence that makes the evening news, there are 10,000 nonrandom
acts of kindness that go unrecorded every day. Markets are moral and
modern economies are founded on our virtuous nature. The Enron model
of business is the exception and the Google motto of "Don't Be Evil"
is the rule. The Mind of the Market will change the way we think
about the economics of everyday life.

GET IT AUTOGRAPHED!

Michael is happy to personally autograph your copy of the book.
Simply, place your order in Shop Skeptic and in the "comments"
section of the checkout process, tell us you'd like it signed. If
you want the autographed personalized, just say so!

ORDER the book:
<www.skeptic.com/productlink/b126HB>

READ the New York Post review of the book:

<www.nypost.com/seven/12302007/postopinion/postopbooks/monkey__business_524631.ht...>

READ other reviews & endorsements:
<www.michaelshermer.com/the-mind-of-the-market/reviews/>

READ an excerpt from the book:
<www.michaelshermer.com/the-mind-of-the-market/excerpt/>

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ANNOUNCING
MICHAEL'S NORTH AMERICAN BOOK TOUR
FOR THE MIND OF THE MARKET

Cambridge, MA
January 8, 2008 at 7 pm

New York, NY
January 9, 2008 at 6 pm

Washington, DC
January 11, 2008 at 12 pm

Washington, DC
January 12, 2008 at 7 pm

Chicago, IL
January 14, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Philadelphia, PA
January 15, 2008

Denver, CO
January 17, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Portland, OR
January 21, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Seattle, WA
January 23, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Mountain View, CA
January 25, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Menlo Park, CA
January 29, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Los Angeles, CA
January 30, 2008 at 12 pm

Pasadena, CA
January 30, 2008 at 7 pm

Del Mar, CA
January 31, 2008 at 7 pm

REFER to the latest schedule for updates:
<www.michaelshermer.com/tour/>

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