How we believe : science, skepticism, and the search for God
Michael Shermer (Author)
"Drawing on studies that bring scientific fact to such phenomena as out-of-body experiences, coincidence, and extrasensory perception, best-selling author and science historian Michael Shermer dissects the workings of the human mind, exploring how and why humans put their faith in a higher power, create rules of morality, turn to apocalyptic myths, and negotiate compromises between science and religion. In this new edition, Shermer explores findings and theories from neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and epidemiologists, as well as recent polls on religious belief, to illuminate how reason and skepticism can shape our understanding of the universe and our place in it. An all-new afterword covers the latest scientific research on how the brain makes us believers or skeptics."--Jacket
xxxii, 330 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
9780805074796, 0805074791
51755850
Preface : the God question : a moral dilemma for Dr. Laura
Introduction to the paperback edition
Do you believe in God? : the difference in our answers and the difference it makes
Is God dead? : why Nietzsche and Time magazine were wrong
The belief engine : how we believe
Why people believe in God : an emprical study on a deep question
O ye of little faith : proofs of God and what they tell us about faith
In a mirror dimly, then face to face : faith, reason, and the relationship of religion and science
The storytelling animal : myth, morality, and the evolution of religion
God and the ghost dance : the eternal return of the messiah myth
The fire that will cleanse : millennial meanings and the end of the world
Glorious contingency : Gould's dangerous idea and the search for meaning in the age of science
Afterword to the second edition : God on the brain
Appendix 1. What does it mean to study religion scientifically? : or, how social scientists "do" science
Appendix 2. Why people believe in God
the data and statistics
A bibliographic essay on theism, atheism, and why people believe in God
"A W.H. Freeman/Owl book."