[2] In spite of his lack of a college degree, Fair distinguished himself as an independent scholar by holding several prestigious positions and writing three books on neuroscience.
[4] He wrote three non-technical books on the subjects of the history of war (From the Jaws of Victory) and cultural criticism (The Dying Self; The New Nonsense: The End of the Rational Consensus).
[10] Fair's The New Nonsense critically examined pseudoscience and paranormal topics such as mind control, ESP, UFOs, and Velikovsky's cataclysm theory.
[2][11][12] He pleaded for "rational renaissance" and praised reason as a guard against looming fascistic revolution and cultural decay.
He worked as a jazz pianist, banana importer, computer company executive, editor, poet, writer, neuroscientist, and historian.