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Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs
 
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Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs (Paperback)

by Andrew B. Newberg (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd; 1st Free Press Trade Pbk. Ed edition (18 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743274989
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743274982
  • Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 449,021 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"Our beliefs are the most precious things we possess. But how do we get them? Newberg and Waldman propose a thoughtful, well-documented, biological hypothesis...[that is] fascinating for believers and nonbelievers alike."

-- Dean Hamer, PhD, geneticist and author of "Living with Our Genes" and "The God Gene"



Product Description

Born to Believe is accessible, entertaining popular science, the first to explore human beliefs, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It presents the controversial argument that we human beings are biologically hardwired to create and maintain a system of beliefs. And it demonstrates that even our perception of reality is nothing more than a constructed belief filled with inaccuracies, assumptions, conjectures, and confabulations. Even our childhood memories are filled with beliefs about events that never occurred.

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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fruitful science, hesitant philosophy, 26 Mar 2008
By Michael Murauer "mmurauer" (Deggendorf; Niederbayern) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
My first impression of this book was a negative one. Hear the preface: "Many theories try to explain the psychological and sociological reasons why people nurture spiritual beliefs, but the answer is found in neuroscience - indeed, in the very synapses of our brain." Sounds like the personal bias of a scientist all too excited by his subject - and taken literally it is nothing more. Stick to the book nevertheless, it's worthwhile. You'll get a fine overview on what today's brain research is able to establish about the cerebral representation of different kinds of religious and spiritual experiences - including the rare case of an atheist seriously meditating on God. All these findings are presented in a well readable often even fascinating manner. The problems lie in the authors philosophical framework. On one side there is a solid piece of criticism in the book. In the chapter "Becoming a Better Believer" Bacon's teaching of the idols blurring our view of the world is extended to a list of twenty-seven biases by which we may be seduced to distort reality. Good reading for everybody. But where to does it lead the authors? They adopt a nearly constructivist theory of knowledge where everything might be biased and so everything might be wrong (or true). "Therefore, our subjective experience becomes the sole arbiter of what we consider real." (P. 278) So why list all the possible biases? It does only make half sense if we just do it to become aware of our limitations. If everything is incurably biased why do science? Getting aware of biases makes real sense only if we want to use this knowledge to avoid them as good as possible. In the line of the authors argument religious beliefs are first mixed up with any other concepts about the world and then judged exclusively according to their personal and social usefulness and wholesomeness. Truth is just unimportant because it can't be established. The Dalai Lama is hailed once more as a tolerant and open-minded model of a personality. (P. 212/213) Well - tolerant and open-minded religious leaders are by far preferable to fanatic and dogmatic ones who may seduce people to violence. But is there the slightest evidence or good reason that Buddhist ideas of for example rebirth and karma do represent reality adequately? In the search of truth it doesn't count that various religious experiences are represented similarly in the brain and appear to have equal justification under this aspect. The question is whether any of these ideas might be true in correspondence to reality under an overall judgement as impartial as possible. There is as little probability for rebirth and karma as for a Christian God supposed to be benevolent and almighty as well. Newberg and Waldman correctly acknowledge that most leading contemporary scientists don't believe in God (P. 242). Why? For lack of good reason to do so. Unfortunately the authors themselves don't reach an adequate naturalistic point of view. Perhaps psychological and sociological explanations for religious beliefs aren't that superfluous and readily replaceable by neuroscience after all?
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