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Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - the Brain Science of Belief
 
 
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Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - the Brain Science of Belief (Paperback)

by Bruce Hood (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Constable (7 May 2009)
  • ISBN-10: 1849010307
  • ISBN-13: 978-1849010306
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 76,184 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #37 in  Books > Reference > Fun Facts & Trivia > Curiosities, Imponderables & Wonders
    #51 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Science & Religion
    #67 in  Books > Science & Nature > Nature > Reference

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Product Description

Review

Bruce Hood s fascinating, timely and important book..Hood s presentation of the science behind our supersense is crystal clear and utterly engaging ....perhaps the millions who read and loved that book (Dawkins' God Delusion) can also read and learn to love - Supersense. - New Scientist<br /><br />An intriguing look at a feature of the human mind that is subtle in its operation but profound in its consequences. - Steven Pinker<br /><br />A fascinating cornucopia of weird and strange stories and incidents that combine to present both a physiological and psychological case for the human instinct to need to believe. I would thoroughly recommend this book. --Stephen Woolley<br /><br />Marvelous … chock full of real-world examples reinforced by experimental research, Hood builds a theoretical model to explain how the mind comes to sense that there is something beyond the natural world, something supernatural …. This book is an important contribution to the psychological literature that is revealing the actuality of our very irrational human nature. - Michael Shermer, Science <br/><br/>A fun and thought-provoking read … you will find something here to challenge the way you see yourself and others. --BBC Focus magazine<br /><br />A fascinating cornucopia of weird and strange stories and incidents that combine to present both a physiological and psychological case for the human instinct to need to believe. I would thoroughly recommend this book. --Stephen Woolley

A fascinating and readable book, and one of the best books on the subject of why everyone sometimes believes weird things. --Fortean Times

A fascinating cornucopia of weird and strange stories and incidents that combine to present both a physiological and psychological case for the human instinct to need to believe. I would thoroughly recommend this book. --Stephen Woolley

Book Description

A fascinating and engaging examination of why we believe in the supernatural.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - the Brain Science of Belief
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Supersense: From Superstition to Religion - the Brain Science of Belief 4.3 out of 5 stars (10)
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Irrationality
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and easy to understand, 22 May 2009
By Jules (Berkshire) - See all my reviews
Compared to some of the books of the same genre, which often seem to unravel into an angry rant against God/gods, this book is rational and scientific. Professor Hood's tone is gentle, endearing, and witty. He exposes and explains the evolutionary reasons for human superstition and religion, without any moral judgement, but with a lot of sense! I can't recommend highly enough to skeptics and believers alike.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, 3 May 2009
Fascinating book I really enjoyed it! It is quite a page turner from Chapter 1 but could also be dipped into for witty anecdotes throughout. There is no need to be a scientist as it is aimed at the general public and if you have an interest in why humans behave in the way they do, particularly around the superstitious and religion, then you will definitely want to read this book. I found it a very balanced view and smoothly written with excellent examples. A fascinating and accessible book that ought to be a best seller!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The most convincing explanation I have seen..., 20 Aug 2009
By P. S. Braterman "Chemistry Professor" (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
... for our openness to supernatural beliefs of all kinds, religious "psychic", or simply superstitious. Prof Hood develops his argument with repeated appeals to common experience and to experimental data.

The author, a professor of developmental psychology, relates these to the way our minds work, just as optical illusions are related to the way our visual cortex works. For example, from early in life, we regard physical objects as being moved by mental forces. That is the way we inevitably continue to feel about our own bodies, even if philosophically we know that this is absurd. Hence the supernatural belief that events must have a "why" as well as a "how".

This is only one of several important ideas developed here, but I won't go into more detail for fear of spoiling your pleasure in reading this book. Whether you are a believer or an unbeliever is not going to be changed by reading this book, nor is that the intention, but what will be changed is your degree of insight into your own mind and the minds of others.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The sense there is something more to reality
William James thought it natural to think that there was more to reality, something unknown, unseen and unmeasurable, in other words something beyond natural explanations: the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sphex

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book. Hats off to Bruce Hood!!
I purchased this book this couple of days back, and since then I have never looked back, I am almost coming to the end of a remarkable and informative journey. Read more
Published 3 months ago by H. Goswami

3.0 out of 5 stars Promises much but delivery a bit thin
I heard Bruce Hood talking on Radio 4 and was sufficiently interested in what he had to say to buy his book - after all, a popular science writer engaging on the question of *why*... Read more
Published 5 months ago by O. Buxton

4.0 out of 5 stars The spiritual dimension we all share!
Bruce Hood is far from a stuffy 'research fellow'; he is a skilled communicator and his book makes you sit up and think from the first paragraph! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Decuman

3.0 out of 5 stars Sense or supersense?
Hood is the Director of the Cognitive Development Centre at the University of Bristol. He has written a fascinating account of his theory that the human mind is `hardwired'... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kevin G. Tingay

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but no great revelations
This book is a very interesting read on the topic of superstitious beliefs and the idea that they originate from a side effect of our ability to reason. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mathew Partridge

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating study of the superstitious psyche
Would you refuse to wear an item of clothing worn by a killer? Do you avoid walking under ladders or knock on wood for luck? Do you believe in ghosts? Read more
Published 10 months ago by S. Begley

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