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Compare atBuy it now| Synopsis | |
| Bestselling author Shermer presents a comprehensive and provocative theory on how beliefs are born, formed, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist and science historian 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. Using sensory data that flow in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning, forming beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, accelerating the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop. In The Believing Brain, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. And ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not our beliefs match reality. | |
| Product Identifiers | |
| ISBN-10 | 1250008808 |
| ISBN-13 | 9781250008800 |
| Key Details | |
| Author | Michael Shermer |
| Number Of Pages | 400 pages |
| Publication Date | 2012-08-07 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Dimensions | |
| Weight | 0.4 Oz |
| Height | 1.1 In. |
| Width | 5.8 In. |
| Length | 8.1 In. |
| Target Audience | |
| Group | Trade |
| Classification Method | |
| Dewey Decimal | 153.4 |
| Dewey Edition | 22 |
Average review score based on 1 user reviews
of customers recommend this product
Not what I would call an easy, casual read but books that deal with human delusions and their causes rarely are. The best part of it is that one can skip around without losing context or continuity and will gain some knowledge from virtually every page. As is too often the case, unfortunately, the people who need to read it the most are the ones who never would.