Why in an age of scientific enlightenment, do people seem to be more impressionable than ever? Why do so many believe in mind reading, past-life regression, extraterrestrial abduction and ghosts? What is behind the rewriting of science through Creationism and of history through Holocaust denial? Michael Shermer takes on contemporary superstitions and prejudices, exploring the human reasons why we are drawn to conspiracy theories and cults. Yet, he also exposes the more sinister side of wishful thinking, the consequences of the recovered memory movement, satanic rituals and ideologies of racial superiority. He confronts those who take advantage of people's gullibility to advance their own agenda, corrupting the scientific process in support of their own non-scientific belief systems.