Reddit reviews The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths
We found 17 Reddit comments about The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
The author of that article recently released another book called The Believing Brain which covers agenticity, among other things, in great detail. I'm in the process of listening to the audio version and I recommend it.
Also, here's a link to a video where he covers an outline of what's covered in the book.
See Patton Oswalt and the Giant Invisible Anus for some of the psychology at work here, expressed in funny.
Your friend is on an emotional high that comes from a sense of surety, release, and joy. The best way I can describe it is to compare it to someone who gets found not guilty of a crime when they thought for sure they would be convicted. They feel like the whole world is theirs, like they have absolutely nothing to worry about (why would they? Their "eternal fate" is secured. All they have to do is love Jesus, "do his work," and wait for their coming reward). It's the feeling of knowing nothing TRULY bad can happen to you, and there being something awesome waiting for you. Imagine if you were both invincible and just won 200 million in the lottery. Something like that.
It almost certainly won't last. Something will eventually bring him down, back into the grind of everyday life. He'll crave that high again, and seek it out at revivals and retreats and missions.
TL;DR - There is no logical argument that will persuade them. They are wired on happy brain juice. See Michael Shermer's The Believing Brain.
I really enjoyed this book...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Believing-Brain-Conspiracies-How-Construct/dp/0805091254
My first actual submission to r/atheism and first attempt at a rage comic. I know these are pretty cliche nowadays, but I had fun expressing myself with this and I hope someone else enjoys it. I highly recommend the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-Conspiracies-How-Construct-Reinforce/dp/0805091254
Autobiography of a Yogi - While not mind altering, it gave me a new perspective on things I would have initially labeled as quackery.
The Believing Brain by David Shermer - explains the mechanics of why we believe in the things we do without any critical examination especially on topics like religion, politics, ghosts, and conspiracy theories.
Awareness by Osho - Osho might have been a controversial personality, but some of his writings were brilliant and refreshing. This book blew me away and provoked me to live life more consciously and with greater deliberation.
The Freedom of Choice by Tom Chalko - Simple but powerful read (only 100 pages)
Do you like a good read? If so:
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths
[An excellent book on the question] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Believing-Brain-Conspiracies-How-Construct/dp/0805091254)
It's a good read :]
Seconding this choice, since this book is more about science and skepticism rather than atheism.
The Believing Brain is another good one.
A good book that expands on this is The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer
http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-Conspiracies-How-Construct-Reinforce/dp/0805091254
The smarter a man is, the smarter are his rationalizations.
You don't have to be stupid to keep the faith.
I understand your perspective and in a perfect world it might have been correct but the reality we live in is not like that.
Arguing that those who believe are stupid is a lost battle.
Read Michael Shermer’s "The Believing Brain" I'm sure it will ease your hate. We have such a short time here on earth. It would be such a waste to use it on hate.
As Kanji said in Ikiru: "I can't afford to hate people. I don't have that kind of time."
>but I do see something that I'm 90% sure people who consider themselves religious can't see.
You mean like experiencing the Holy Spirit?
Yea, a few of us figured out that is a brain process. Michael Shermer recently wrote a whole book about it.
Short answer - don't believe everything you think.
Thank you for asking a question. I have to give you credit, most people don't care enough to search.
Emotions are nothing more than chemical reactions in the brain. They absolutely can be tested. "Feelings" is just the word we give to certain brain states. Each brain state is simply a mix of hormones in the brain.
Both Sam Harris and Michael Shermer reference these studies in their most recent books. To answer you question directly, oxytocin is the chemical responsible for love.
By the way, you're back to shifting the burden of proof again. I'm not saying your beliefs are either true or not. I'm simply saying you have no evidence for them so there's no good reason to believe them. As I simply said before, you can believe any thing you want, but until you have evidence, you could be as crazy as the people who think they are Napoleon Bonaparte.
Think about it for a moment. I know people who claim to have been abducted by aliens and sexually probed while on the ship. Are they telling the truth? For them, yes. They believe it, and it's as real as anything else in their life. But is it true? Probably not.
It seems you have an opportunity here. I get the feeling you're pretty smart and might be looking for answers. That's a powerful combination. The problem, however, is that the places you've been looking for answers up until now have been pretty bad. You can go deeper down the rabbit hole into things for which there is no evidence, or you can discover reality as it is.
If you're interested in living an evidence based life there are books that will help. Can I recommend one or two to get you started?
Michael Shermer has written two books that will get you started. Either would be excellent for you and your position at the moment.
The Believing Brain and Why People Believe Weird Things.
Once you get a foundation of how things work, then we can move on the fun stuff like physics, biology, philosophy, astronomy...and so on.
Do you listen to podcasts? There are a few of these you might try out as well.
Rationally Speaking
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
Point of Inquiry
Reasonable Doubts
In the end, as I said before, you're going to have to make a choice. Either the supernatural realm exists or it doesn't. And since there isn't any evidence now, nor has any evidence ever been shown that anything supernatural ever existed, it should be an easy choice.
It's pretty simple really. When someone says weird, crazy things they believe, I would believe them too, IF THEY HAVE EVIDENCE. If they don't, I'm sorry I'm going to withhold saying you're right or wrong until I have more information.
http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Brain-Conspiracies-How-Construct-Reinforce/dp/0805091254
This book might help you understand some things
this may answer some questions.
Thank you! This stuff was off the top of my head but strongly influenced by a recent reading of Michael Shermer's The Believing Brain. In this highly recommended book, Shermer pulls together a lot of neuro research including much that's fairly recent. Because of its up-to-date quality, I recommend this book over the "classic," The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan.
I believe I've correctly reproduced (or at least excerpted) what I learned from the book, but you (or rather the OP) will certainly be better off getting this directly from the horse's mouth.