The Believing Brain : From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths (Hardcover)

from chaosmogony

I really enjoyed this. Shermer argues that the human capacity for self-deception, which is not only wired into the brain, but an unintended property of the neural circuitry responsible for abstract thinking, is why people think badly and believe "stupid" things. [Updated review below:]Thinkers of...

from neurodrew

I have read Shermer's columns in the Scientific American, and a previous book, and agree strongly with his stance as a skeptic, but have always thought he is a little dismissive and superficial in his approach. This was a more satisfying book, with a lot of information about psychological process...

from The_Hibernator

In The Believing Brain Michael Shermer, the founder and editor of Skeptic Magazine, shows the reader how and why we believe. He begins the book with a discussion of religious beliefs, providing a few examples of life-altering religious (or irreligious) experiences, including his own. I found thes...

from Spiceca

This was a very interesting read but it was not a perfect read. I must point out a couple things I noticed. The main concept of the book is based on how our brains are basically hardwired to see patterns regardless of if a pattern exists or not. There is some science jargon but everything is expl...

from psiloiordinary

A great book on the way people believe things. Should form part of your owners manual for your brain to help you improve performance and spot malfunctions before they cause too much damage. In a nutshell people* believe something first and then rationalise the reasons why they have the belief lat...