The Believing Brain From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies-How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths
Aus der Reihe
St. Martin's Griffin
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- Taschenbuch
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Form:Einzelkauf Download
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Sprache:Englisch
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Verlag:Times Books
19,25 €
inkl. gesetzl. MwSt.Beschreibung
Produktdetails
Format
ePUB
Kopierschutz
Nein
Family Sharing
Nein
Text-to-Speech
Ja
Erscheinungsdatum
24.05.2011
Verlag
Times BooksSeitenzahl
401 (Printausgabe)
Sprache
Englisch
EAN
9781429972611
"A wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief." -Sam Harris,
New York Times-bestselling author of
The Moral Landscape and
The End of Faith
In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's best-known skeptic Michael Shermer 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. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths.
Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer 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.
"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)
New York Times-bestselling author of
The Moral Landscape and
The End of Faith
In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's best-known skeptic Michael Shermer 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. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths.
Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer 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.
"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)
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