ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY HUMANIST HUB OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS MICHAEL SHERMER October 28, 2020 THE BELIEVING BRAIN: From ghosts and gods to politics and conspiracies: How we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths by Michael Shermer. Times Books, 2011 (385 pages) BOOK OUTLINE QUOTE = "For the mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence; nay, it is rather like an enchanted glass, full of superstition and imposture, if it be not delivered and reduced." by Francis Bacon, in Novum Organum, in the year 1620. (unnumbered page at beginning) PART 1 — JOURNEYS OF BELIEF (page 9-55) QUOTE = "Every man is the creature of the age in which he lives; very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the times." by Voltaire (page 9) 1) MR. D'ARPINO'S DILEMMA (11-25) 2) DR. COLLINS'S CONVERSION (26-36) 3) A SKEPTIC'S JOURNEY (37-55) PART 2 — THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF (57- 4) PATTERNICITY (59-86) 5) AGENTICITY (87-110) 6) THE BELIEVING NEURON (111-137) PART 3 — BELIEF IN THINGS UNSEEN (139- 7) BELIEF IN THE AFTERLIFE (141-163) 8) BELIEF IN GOD (165-187) 9) BELIEF IN ALIENS (188-206) 10) BELIEF IN CONSPIRACIES (207-227) PART 4 — BELIEF IN THINGS SEEN (229- QUOTE = “When people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.” by Isaac Asimov in book The Relativity of Wrong, 1989. (229) 11) POLITICS OF BELIEF (232-255) 12) CONFIRMATIONS OF BELIEF (256-279) 13) GEOGRAPHIES OF BELIEF (280-303) 14) COSMOLOGIES OF BELIEF (304-333) EPILOGUE — The truth is out there (334-344) NOTES (345-368) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (369-371) INDEX (373-385) ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SUMMARY, AND BOOK DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR = Michael Shermer's latest book is Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia. He has also written many other books, including Why People Believe Weird Things, The Science of Good and Evil, The Mind Of The Market, Why Darwin Matters, Science Friction, How We Believe and many other articles on the evolution of human beliefs and behavior that appear most notably in the Skeptic magazine, of which he is the publisher. He is also the editor of Skeptic.com, and is a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University. He lives in Southern California. SUMMARY = This book is bestselling author Michael Shermer's comprehensive and provocative theory on how beliefs are born, formed, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. The world's best-known skeptic synthesizes 30 years of research and upends the traditional thinking about how human beings form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. BOOK DESCRIPTION = Shermer, who is a psychologist and historian of science, argues that the brain is a "belief engine." From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality. EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEWS PUBLISHERS WEEKLY = As the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, author of Why People Believe Weird Things, and a columnist for Scientific American, Shermer is perhaps the country's best-known skeptic. His position is as clear as it is simple: "When I call myself a skeptic I simply mean that I take a scientific approach to the evaluation of claims." But now Shermer is interested not only in why people have irrational beliefs, but "why people believe at all." Our brains, he says, have evolved to find meaningful patterns around us. But why do people believe they see patterns-whether "evidence" of angels, conspiracy theories, or UFOs-where none exist? Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Shermer considers not only supernatural beliefs but political and economic ones as well. He demonstrates how our brains selectively assess data in an attempt to confirm the conclusions we've already reached. Informative and difficult to put down, this book adds a compelling and comprehensive case to the growing number of arguments about the importance of scientific reasoning, marred only by Shermer's repeated citing of his own works and public appearances. BOOK LIST= Crusading against credulity, Shermer challenges popular beliefs in his books, television appearances, and Scientific American column. This encapsulation of his skeptical posture opens with a personal account of his development from Evangelical Christian to doubter of God's existence. The book's bulk then covers the insights into belief offered by experimental psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory. To condense Shermer's thesis, people form a belief first and find evidence for it second. Beliefs form, according to his interpretation of the research he describes, because of the brain's propensity to make patterns out of the sensory influx and assign agency to them. Covering convictions about religion, UFOs, conspiracies, and politics, Shermer elaborates on ways the believer buttresses belief via such mental habits as confirmation bias, which seizes on supporting facts and arguments and ignores conflicting evidence. If he succeeds in making readers feel beset by illusions, he commends to them the scientific method, illustrated by historical episodes from astronomy, for placing a foundation of proof beneath their beliefs.--Taylor, Gilbert. PROFFESIONAL BOOK REVIEWS [1] Michael Shermer has long been one of our most committed champions of scientific thinking in the face of popular delusion. In this book he has written a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief. We have all fallen more deeply in his debt. -- Sam Harris, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The End of Faith. [2] The physicist Richard Feynman once said that the easiest person to fool is yourself, and as a result he argued that as a scientist one has to be especially careful to try and find out not only what is right about one's theories, but what might also be wrong with them. If we all followed this maxim of skepticism in everyday life, the world would probably be a better place. But we don't. In this book Michael Shermer lucidly describes why and how we are hard wired to 'want to believe'. With a narrative that gently flows from the personal to the profound, Shermer shares what he has learned after spending a lifetime pondering the relationship between beliefs and reality, and how to be prepared to tell the difference between the two. -- Lawrence M. Krauss, Foundation Professor and Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University and author of The Physics of Star Trek, Quantum Man and A Universe from Nothing. [3] Michael Shermer has long been one of the world's deepest thinkers when it comes to explaining where our beliefs come from, and he brings it all together in this important, engaging, and ambitious book. Shermer knows all the science, he tells great stories, he is funny, and he is fearless, delving into hot-button topics like 9-11 Truthers, life after death, capitalism, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and the existence of God. This is an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of the beliefs that shape our lives. -- Paul Bloom, author of How Pleasure Works [4] The Believing Brain is a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences to explain how irrational beliefs are formed and reinforced, while leaving us confident our ideas are valid. This is a must read for everyone who wonders why religious and political beliefs are so rigid and polarized—or why the other side is always wrong, but somehow doesn't see it. Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, physicist and author of The Drunkard’s Walk and The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking) [5] We might think that we learn how the world works, because we take the time to observe and understand it. Shermer says that's just not so. We just believe things, and then make our world fit our perceptions. Believe me; you don't have to take my word for it. Just try clearing some space in your own Believing Brain. -- Bill Nye, the Science Guy ©, Executive Director of The Planetary Society [6] The Believing Brain is a fascinating account of the origins of all manner of beliefs, replete with cutting edge evidence from the best scientific research, packed with nuggets of truths and then for good measure, studded with real world examples to deliver to the reader, a very personable, engaging and ultimately, convincing set of explanations for why we believe. -- Professor Bruce Hood, Chair of Developmental Psychology, Bristol University and author of Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable. AMAZON READER REVIEWS [1] T. Ray Humphrey - A great book, and an important one for my process = I almost passed on this book because the cover looked a little silly. But I was intrigued by the TOC. Shermer did not disappoint. I have read other books on the brain vs. mind, Consciousness separate from our physical selves, etc. This book fits right on my e-shelf next to those others. Put me on the skeptical side of those topics, but know it's been a long journey for me to get here. I have believed all that in the past, but in the end it stopped adding up and stopped making sense. His simple answer is science. Shermer is not a scientist in a particular field, but he has talked to and read many scientists in many fields. My words, but supported by this book: Science tells us what we know about the world around us. Personal experience does exist, but if it cannot survive the scrutiny of the scientific method, it remains as personal experience. We build rocket ships and smartphones out of science, not personal experience. One of my favorite quotes from the book: "Just because we don't know the natural reason for something, that doesn't mean there is a supernatural reason for it." This book didn't change my thinking much, as I was leaning in this direction anyway. However, I learned useful things, and the book reinforced my position. It was a very important book to me at this time in my journey. [2] Herbert Gintis - Great Read by a Crusader for Common Sense = Like Shermer's other books and columns, this is a very informative and engaging volume. However, his central thesis is surely wrong, or at least incomplete. Here is his central thesis (p. 5): "We form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional, and psychological reasons ... after forming our beliefs we then defend, justify, and rationalize them with a host of intellectual reasons, cogent arguments, and rational explanations. Beliefs come first, explanations for beliefs follow. I call this process belief-dependent realism...Reality exists independent of human minds, but our understanding of it depends upon the beliefs we hold at any given time." If this were true, then "reality" could never lead us to change our beliefs. But we do change our beliefs, often in response to new information. The really critical question is when do we change our beliefs in response to reality, and when do we not? Note that if Shermer's thesis were correct, then he believes it and all of the book is a rationalization of his pre-existing belief. Why should we bother to read his rationalizations? More generally, why ever listen to anyone's arguments about the nature of reality? they are just rationalizations of pre-existing beliefs. At a minimum, we should add something about the costs of holding incorrect beliefs. For instance, it does not much matter what a non-scientist believes about evolution, so there is no cost to being a Creationist. By contrast, a biologist pays a high cost by believing in Creationism. He might, however, believe in God at very low cost. Problems arise when people believe in wrong things even when the costs are very high. For instance, parents may doom a child to disability or death by believing in faith cures. A more difficult problem is why people ever believe in things that are uncomfortable when the belief cannot help them in some way. For instance, a devout religious believer may still reject Creationism simply because the evidence is against it. [3] Nataša MV - Very convincing = I really enjoyed reading this book. If you want to know better how your brain works, then this is the book for you. According to the author the brain is a belief engine and once the beliefs are formed, the brain begins to look for evidence in support of those beliefs. Our brains are the most complex information processing machines in the universe but at the same time we are also more capable than any other species of self-deception and illusion, of fooling ourselves even while trying to avoid being fooled. [4] David P. Graf - Think of this book as a "tune-up" for your brain = By way of disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian who has corresponded in the past with Michael Shermer. However, I am not receiving consideration of any kind for this review. It's unfortunate that I have to even mention this but necessary considering how many "ringers" try to influence the rating of a book. Readers will be enlightened by Shermer's description of research which touches upon the connection between our experiences and the brain. Readers will be educated by Shermer's description of the many ways in which we can fool ourselves into thinking something is true. Plus, I find his style of writing both engaging and entertaining. That's why I think of a book as a "tune-up" for your brain. It will lead you to consider things you might otherwise have ignored such as the basis for the "mind" resting in the brain instead of a separate, invisible entity. For example, we can today replicate through experimental methods the same kind of experiences described by ordinary people. Shermer makes a good case as well that science is an effective tool for determining the difference between reality and bunk. However, I would not go as far as he does and make it THE way. Science is effective but it deals with "what is" instead of "what should be" and cannot effectively deal with any matter not easily amenable to the scientific method. That's why there will never be a true "science of history". Can we learn from history? Yes! Can we determine some points like the holocaust to be true beyond a reasonable doubt? Yes! However, that's not true for other points of history where the documentation is far more sparse. I think that we should recognize the limitations of the scientific method just as we should recognize the limitations of religious thinking which is divorced from the world around us. [5] M. Hillmann - Skeptics in the Pub justified = Skeptics in the Pub in Leicester, which I attend every month, gets supposed iconoclasts to talk about their take on a wide variety of subjects. Entertaining, but sometimes I get the feeling that their skeptiscm is another form of conventional wisdom. This book holds that the brain is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing through the senses the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns and then infuse those patterns with meaning, intention and agency. Once beliefs are formed, the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which adds an emotional boost of further confidence in the beliefs. How is it that people come to believe something that apparently defies reason? The answer is that beliefs come first; reasons for belief follow in confirmation of the realism dependent upon the belief. The vast scholarship that Michael Shermer brings to bear on the subject is impressive. He describes the neurological process. For example, of the chemical transmitter substances sloshing around in your brain, dopamine may be the most directly related to the neural correlates of belief. Dopamine is the reward system of the brain. It is critical in associated learning. Any behaviour that is reinforced tends to be repeated. Religion figures large. 84% of the World’s population belongs to one of the 10,000 distinct religions. America is the most religious tribe of the species. In the US 82% of people believe in God and more people believe in n angels and demons than believe in the theory of evolution. He looks at the overwhelming evidence that God is hardwired into our brains and the questions of what is God, does God actually exist, and Einstein’s God. But we are all susceptible. Belief in conspiracies, moral judgements and political beliefs are universal. The natural tendency of anyone with a political belief to search for and find evidence to support their case applies to us all. People divide themselves into liberals or conservatives (democrats or republicans) and then read, watch and listen to confirmatory evidence. Shermer’s solution is skeptiscm – a scientific approach to the evaluation of claims. Where philosophy and theology depend upon logic and reason and thought experiments, science employs empirics, evidence and observational experiments. It is the only hope we have of avoiding the trap of belief dependent realism. So my visits to the pub every month are justified! [6] Mr. N. J. Houchin - Very comprehensive = I have read quite a few books of subject of perceptions, belief, critical thinking etc. I enjoyed this it was very comprehensive & covers a lot of stuff including some things I hadn't read about before (such as some excellent explanations for Near Death Experiences and sensed presences etc) The stuff about agency was really nicely explained, if you are new to critical thinking then its probably worth reading just for that alone. I did find it hard going at times when reading about the scientific studies (whilst they are interesting I've read about many or similar one so may times before it may just be down to me re-hashing stuff I've seen before rather than a reflection on the book itself). I would definitely recommend this if the subjects new to you, if you've read a lot about this stuff before then maybe not so much. [7] Mr. Steve Lloyd - Interesting insights, if only into the mind of Michael Shermer = An interesting discussion on the reasons for belief, though I was surprised he didn't touch on certain key scientific belief principles, such as parsimony - the principle that says if you have two theories which both explain a certain aspect of the physical world, the more believable one is the one that is simpler, because is leaves fewer questions unanswered. I was also interested in what Mr Shermer believed as I'd always assumed (from reading his articles in Scientific American) that he and I were of the same mind (or should I say "brain", since he seems to think that "mind" is an illusion, though its not clear who the illusion is supposed to be acting on), which turned out not to be the case. I was quite taken aback when he dismissed what is (for me) the key question of reality, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" as "nonsensical", going on to say "Asking why there is something rather than nothing presumes 'nothing' is the natural state of things out of which 'something' needs an explanation. Maybe 'something' is the natural state of things and 'nothing' would be the mystery to be solved". I refer the author to the null hypothesis he eloquently argues for in his epilogue. He also claims elsewhere that "mind" is just "brain", as though the question "when I feel pain, what is this 'I' that is feeling pain" is explained by such an assertion. I would like to see Shermer write a book on the topic "what skeptics believe", as I suspect many people who call themselves skeptics, and are not conspiracy theorist nutters, actually have fundamental differences in the axioms on which they base their world views (assuming Mr Shermer himself is a typical skeptic) [8] Pearl A - A lot of interesting studies and theories = I really enjoyed this work, Shermer presents several studies and scientists to support his arguments. The only way I could have enjoyed it more is if Shermer had endeavoured to be less biased in his presentation of the evidence. It's interesting and maybe a little ironic that in a book about questioning beliefs and behaviours that his skepticism was never up for debate. I also felt the cosmology section could have been briefer, interesting and insightful as it was it was a major digression from the neuroscience and psychological basis for this book. I found it very comprehensive, having some basis in neuroscience, but I think information is presented in a way that is understandable and entertaining. This is pretty in-depth for an overview but if you have an interest in the mechanics of the brain and the evolution of human behaviours around religion and politics you will find this enlightening. [9] Dr. R. H. Webber - Chief skeptik = This is a very complete run through of all the various beliefs people have and how they can be adequately explained. The author's premise that beliefs are formed and then justified rather than the other way round as most people think happens, is a very valuable insight. Applying this principle to all the beliefs that have been developed certainly helps to clarify any doubts one might have had. Click or Tap to Return to Humanist Hub RETURN TO HUMANIST HUB OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS produced by Infinite Interactive Ideas™