Michael Shermer is a hero in the world of skepticism, having founded the influential Skeptic Magazine. He comes off well on substance, but not so much on TV skills this time around. To be fair, if I had been debating that charlatan Chopra I would have done worse than bury my head in my hands one too many times. The biggest laugh of the event for me was hearing Deepak Chopra literally invoke the “god of the gaps” argument. But don’t miss the moment he’s questioned by an actual physicist during the Q&A.

I already knew that Chopra was a fraud. What was surprising was seeing what an inconsiderate, rude fraud he is. Check out the part where he’s tugging on the moderator’s arm like a toddler begging for attention.

The real winner of the evening was Sam Harris, who was new to me. His TV skills are very good, and on substance he really kills. A friend forwarded a link to a talk he gave at an Atheism conference which is really worth a listen – especially if you aren’t an atheist. He makes a very good case that the “atheist” label is worse than useless; it’s counterproductive. Do you know of a word that means “not a racist”? Neither does Harris. While I don’t agree with him 100%, and he falls for the false mormonism vs. christianity dichotomy, he’s a very thoughtful and thought-provoking speaker.

Parenthetically, if you think that a skeptical atheist is going to out of hand reject meditation or all things spiritual, then do yourself a favor and watch. In a bit of synchronicity a recent study seems to back him up on that.