| Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief Contributor(s): Wolpert, Lewis (Author) |
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ISBN: 0393332039 ISBN-13: 9780393332032 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $20.85 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2008 Annotation: A unique, scientific look into why we are all believers. In Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass," the White Queen tells Alice that to believe in a wildly improbable fact she simply needs to "draw a long breath and shut [her] eyes." Alice finds this advice ridiculous. But don't almost all of us, at some time or another, engage in magical thinking? Seventy percent of Americans believe in angels; 13 percent of British scientists "touch wood"; 40 percent of Americans believe that astrology is scientific. And that is only the beginning. In "Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast," Lewis Wolpert tackles one of the most important causes on the horizon of public debate: the nature of belief. Looking at belief's psychological basis and its possible evolutionary origins in physical cause and effect, Wolpert expertly investigates what science can tell us about those concepts we are so sure of, covering everything from everyday beliefs that give coherence to our experiences, to religious beliefs, to paranormal beliefs for which there is no evidence. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | Life Sciences - Evolution - Philosophy | Epistemology - Philosophy | Social |
| Dewey: 121.6 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.4" W x 8.1" (0.70 lbs) 256 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Why do 70 percent of Americans believe in angels, while others are convinced that they were abducted by aliens? What makes people believe in improbable things when all the evidence points to the contrary? And don't almost all of us, at some time or another, engage in magical thinking? In Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, evolutionary biologist Lewis Wolpert delves into the important and timely debate over the nature of belief, looking at its psychological foundations to discover just what evolutionary purpose it could serve. Wolpert takes us through all that science can tell us about the beliefs we feel are instinctive. He deftly explores different types of belief those of children, of the religious, and of those suffering from psychiatric disorders and he asks whether it is possible to live without belief, or whether it is a necessary component of a functioning society." |
Contributor Bio(s): Wolpert, Lewis: - Lewis Wolpert is Professor Emeritus of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London. His books include Six Impossible Things before Breakfast, How We Live and Why We Die, and Malignant Sadness, the basis for a BBC television series. |