BOOK RECOMENDATION

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and i just got done reading an advanced copy of THE BELIEVING BRAIN..It explains how you religious retards and Tea Baggers can believe things that simply fly in the face of logic and facts..

My friends, the easiest person to fool is yourself.

The new book by Michael Shermer is coming out to the genral public in a few weeks - THE BELIEVING BRAIN: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies - How we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths.

Some people might find what is discussed in the book relevant to their experiences at 285bound.com and certainly all religions are based on strongly-held beliefs - on their sacred scriptures, stories, dogmas, stupid stories, saints - and the more orthodox or cutlic the religion is, the more their beliefs are sacred cows that absolutely cannot be questioned or challenged, including the stature / myth of the guru / founder. To question, challenge or criticize is tantamount to heresy, sin, precept breaking, defaming the tradition, hell-fire awaits you or perhaps many lifetimes as a rat or cockroach, and so on. In some traditions like Islam, you can be put to death for dis-believing and living up here we all know Christian whacko's.

It seems to me that the main point of the Dharma - from the original teachings onward - was the extinguishing / removing of all beliefs, views, projections about "the eternal" or "emptiness" or gods, nirvana. As I always said: "The stilling of all conceptual support and the stilling of the projection of concepts onto reality is peace."


The book upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. The book outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths.

TYhe Author provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality.

“Michael Shermer has long been one of our most committed champions of scientific thinking in the face of popular delusion. In The Believing Brain, he has written a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief. We have all fallen more deeply in his debt.” –Sam Harris, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The End of Faith.

I'm a natural skeptic and If we all followed a maxim of skepticism in everyday life there would'nt be any religions, tea party people or republicans and the world would be a better place. But we don't. In this book the author lucidly describes why and how we are hard wired to 'want to believe'. With a narrative that gently flows from the personal to the profound, Shermer shares what he has learned after spending a lifetime pondering the relationship between beliefs and reality, and how to be prepared to tell the difference between the two

Heres some more revieiws

"Michael Shermer has long been one of the world's deepest thinkers when it comes to explaining where our beliefs come from, and he brings it all together in this important, engaging, and ambitious book. Shermer knows all the science, he tells great stories, he is funny, and he is fearless, delving into hot-button topics like 9-11 Truthers, life after death, capitalism, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and the existence of God. This is an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of the beliefs that shape our lives."—Paul Bloom, author of How Pleasure Works

"The Believing Brain is a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences to explain how irrational beliefs are formed and reinforced, while leaving us confident our ideas are valid. This is a must read for everyone who wonders why religious and political beliefs are so rigid and polarized—or why the other side is always wrong, but somehow doesn't see it."—Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, physicist and author of The Drunkard’s Walk and The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking)

"We might think that we learn how the world works, because we take the time to observe and understand it. Shermer says that's just not so. We just believe things, and then make our world fit our perceptions. Believe me; you don't have to take my word for it. Just try clearing some space in your own Believing Brain."—Bill Nye, the Science Guy ©, Executive Director of The Planetary Society

"The Believing Brain is a fascinating account of the origins of all manner of beliefs, replete with cutting edge evidence from the best scientific research, packed with nuggets of truths and then for good measure, studded with real world examples to deliver to the reader, a very personable, engaging and ultimately, convincing set of explanations for why we believe."—Professor Bruce Hood, Chair of Developmental Psychology, Bristol University and author of Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable

opps! Posted this on the wrong message board. It's a little too deep for this one, sorry. Go ahead and keep reading People magazine and stuff

Mods- you can delete this thread if you want

If you posted it on the wrong message board, why did you mention 285Bound in your review?

For those interested, it's available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-C ... 0805091254

I wouldn't read anything that was recommended by a douchebag.

WayneH wrote: If you posted it on the wrong message board, why did you mention 285Bound in your review?

For those interested, it's available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-C ... 0805091254

I went back and edited after I realized my mistake..I meant to post this elswhere, and

It won't be available to the general public until june 15th I believe

CriticalBill wrote: I wouldn't read anything that was recommended by a douchebag.

Just don't recomend it to yourself then.

Spelling for Dummies?

opps! Posted this on the wrong message board. It's a little too deep for this one, sorry. Go ahead and keep reading People magazine and stuff

OOOOOOOHHHHHH..... Burn

Science Chic wrote: Michael Shermer is the BOMB! He's the man who started The Skeptic Society, http://www.skeptic.com/ which publishes The Skeptic Magazine. VL, I am very impressed if you actually read this book!

Yeah SC, and I have some Ocean front property in Arizona that I want to sell you....... :bash