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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Controversial knowledge
From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring
past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in
contemporary culture? Robert Park, the best-selling author of
"Voodoo Science," argues that it has. In "Superstition," Park asks
why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science
has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs
from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and
faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and
concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the
world.
Park sides with the forces of reason in a world of continuing
and, he fears, increasing superstition. Chapter by chapter, he
explains how people too easily mistake pseudoscience for science.
He discusses parapsychology, homeopathy, and acupuncture; he
questions the existence of souls, the foundations of intelligent
design, and the power of prayer; he asks for evidence of
reincarnation and astral projections; and he challenges the idea of
heaven. Throughout, he demonstrates how people's blind faith, and
their confidence in suspect phenomena and remedies, are manipulated
for political ends. Park shows that science prevails when people
stop fooling themselves.
Compelling and precise, "Superstition" takes no hostages in its
quest to provoke. In shedding light on some very sensitive--and
Park would say scientifically dubious--issues, the book is sure to
spark discussion and controversy.
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